Canadian Dimes - Which are silver?

[MentalUnrest]

What years were these silver? I hate coming across these in rolls as it looks like you got a silver, because the rims look just like a silver Rosie or Merc. I think after 67 they have no silver - Is this correct?

Anyone else get frustrated by these when you think you have silver only to discover it is a Canadian?

 

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[Rich Hartford]

Some 1968 are 50% silver. Only way to tell is with the magnet test. If the magnet sticks it's not silver.
HH
Rich

 

[fistfulladirt]

You can usually tell the difference in the silver '68's by the patina. Or like Rich says, the magnet test. I usually do the drop test.
I always get between 10-50 canadians per box. So far this year I've found 18 silver canadian dimes, maybe 4 or 5 silver 68's.

 

[MentalUnrest]

Thanks for clearing this up!

 

[greg23]

The Canadian Mint made both 80% and 50% silver dimes in 1967.What most people do including myself is split the difference between 80% and 50%.We call it .650 or 65% .

 

[thurmownator]

The Canadian Mint made both 80% and 50% silver dimes in 1967.What most people do including myself is split the difference between 80% and 50%.We call it .650 or 65% .

They do that for there is absolutely no way to tell a 80%er from a 50%er. Same weight, same diameter, same thickness; no difference in 1967 . This applies to both the dimes and quarters.

http://www.coinscan.com/technical/canasp.html

Strange, but true.

 

[sitman]

The Canadian Mint made both 80% and 50% silver dimes in 1967.What most people do including myself is split the difference between 80% and 50%.We call it .650 or 65% .

They do that for there is absolutely no way to tell a 80%er from a 50%er. Same weight, same diameter, same thickness; no difference in 1967 . This applies to both the dimes and quarters.

http://www.coinscan.com/technical/canasp.html

Strange, but true.

I've often wondered about this. Scientifically, there is enough difference between an alloy of 50% silver/50% copper and an alloy of 80% silver/20% copper that one should be able to come up with a meaningful measurement to differentiate the two. I have access to an analytical laboratory where I work, so I brought in one 1966 and one 1968 silver Canadian quarters. They both weighed about the same (5.880 g for the 1966 and 5.840 g for the 1968) and had about the same diameter (0.943 inch for the 1966 and 0.936 inch for the 1968). The density, though, was measurably different (10.076 g/cm**3 for the 1966 and 9.599 g/cm**3). This makes sense and is close to the theoretical calculation since silver is more dense than copper.

It appears that the Canadian Mint was concerned about the potential effect on the vending machine industry, so more of the less dense 50% silver alloy was used to make up for the lower density and produce coins that weighed the same. Whatever concerns that may have existed must have been worked out, for the 100% nickel quarter produced later in 1968 weighed considerably less (5.07 g) while keeping the diameter the same.