Okay! Now what?

[cpm9ball]

I'm preparing to consign some medals to a friend of mine on eBay. Most of these are from (unknown) private mints here in the states, and some of them do not identify the metal composition. I didn't think this would be a problem because I always thought that it was easy enough to identify silver from white metal using a magnet, though I've never bothered trying this before.

 

Anyway, I separated all those that had the "heft" of, say, a silver dollar or half dollar and started checking them with a magnet. When all of these medals proved to be non-magnetic, I started questioning this method. So, I tried using the magnet on some clad quarters, and I discovered that all of them, too, were non-magnetic.

 

What should I do, now? I don't want to test any of these in a way that could damage them, and I certainly don't want to spend $10-15K on a fancy machine like they did on "Hardcore Pawn" . Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

Chris

[bsshog40]

I wonder if you can't reference metal weights Chris. May be you can measure the medal size and and compare to a weight chart of metal that you think it may be? Most the times a magnet will only stick to non precious metals. I use to work a metal recycle yard years ago and most times our magnets only stuck to iron, tin and stainless steel. Then it was usually aluminum or brass that would have been scrapped.

[Kurtdog]

Interesting little "who-done-it," Chris. I like Bobby's idea a lot. I think you want to start right there, with the precise metal weights. Check them against the known metal compositions in U.S. coins and medals, and see how they weigh-up. Proceed on the assumption there are standardized compositions, and you're looking for a match, by weight, to draw reasonable inferences on the compositions.

 

Hey, I don't watch Nick and Nora Charles for nothing.

[cpm9ball]

Interesting little "who-done-it," Chris. I like Bobby's idea a lot. I think you want to start right there, with the precise metal weights. Check them against the known metal compositions in U.S. coins and medals, and see how they weigh-up. Proceed on the assumption there are standardized compositions, and you're looking for a match, by weight, to draw reasonable inferences on the compositions.

 

Hey, I don't watch Nick and Nora Charles for nothing.

 

Yeah, she was hot in those days!

 

I gave that some thought, too, Kurt. I do know that most medals struck in silver by private mints were either .925 or .999 FS. I guess I could weigh some of my silver medals and classify them by weight, diameter and thickness for comparisons.

 

Thanks.........and Bobby, too!

 

Chris

[Coindude]

Chris how about specific gravity. From personal experience and probably not exact, I have found that 10oz of silver will displace approximately 1 oz of water. I'm sure someone can come in with an exact number.

[coinman_23885]

Chris how about specific gravity. From personal experience and probably not exact, I have found that 10oz of silver will displace approximately 1 oz of water. I'm sure someone can come in with an exact number.

 

This sounds like a winner to me. Just make sure that you acquire proper values for the correct alloy of the metal.

[Coindude]

Found this on the Kitco message board.

 

[Conder101]

I use to work a metal recycle yard years ago and most times our magnets only stuck to iron, tin and stainless steel.

A magnet will not stick to tin and will not stick to some stainless steels. Aluminum is actually repelled by very strong magnetic fields.

[bsshog40]

I use to work a metal recycle yard years ago and most times our magnets only stuck to iron, tin and stainless steel.

A magnet will not stick to tin and will not stick to some stainless steels. Aluminum is actually repelled by very strong magnetic fields.

Sheet metal is what I should have said. Heck, that was 28 yrs ago Conder. Gimme a break!

Btw, we just used those little magnets on key chains. I dealt with mostly walk-ins with aluminum cans, brass, and small loads of junk scrap metal. Our magnets used to stick to old SS silverware.

[jonathanb-migration]

There are relatively few medals that were produced in compositions that could be confused for one another. As long as you provide good pictures, anyone bidding on your medals should know what they're getting.