To tell if a coin is silver, start with the date: U.S. dimes, quarters, and half dollars dated 1964 and earlier are 90% silver, and no test you run will beat that one fact. Then confirm with the edge, the weight, and the magnet — in that order — because each test rules out a different kind of fake.
Test 1: The Date (the Answer for Most Coins)
American circulating coinage followed a hard line at 1964. Dimes, quarters, and half dollars struck in 1964 or earlier are 90% silver. Half dollars from 1965 to 1970 are 40% silver — the only post-1964 circulating U.S. coins with meaningful silver besides the 35% silver war nickels of 1942–1945, identifiable by the large mintmark over the dome on the reverse. Silver dollars run from the 1800s through 1935 at 90%, and the Eisenhower dollars of 1971–1974 exist in a 40% silver collector version sold in Mint packaging. Anything dated 1965 or later in dimes and quarters is copper-nickel clad — no silver — no matter how bright it looks. For the denomination-by-denomination lists, see what years quarters were silver and which dollar coins are silver.
Test 2: The Edge
Roll the coin to its edge. A silver coin’s edge is a uniform silver-gray all the way around. A clad coin shows a copper stripe sandwiched in the middle of the edge — the copper core showing through. This ten-second test settles most pocket-change questions, and it works on worn coins where dates are hard to read. The 40% silver half dollars are the exception that proves the rule: their edge can show a faint line too, so halves from 1965–1970 get decided by date and weight, not the edge alone.
Test 3: Weight and Size
Silver is dense, and real silver coins weigh what the Mint said they weigh: a Morgan or Peace dollar is 26.73 grams, a pre-1964 quarter 6.25 grams, a dime 2.5 grams, a 90% half dollar 12.5 grams (worn examples run slightly light). A coin that is dramatically underweight is either heavily worn, a copy, or a different coin than it appears. A cheap pocket scale plus the published specification settles most doubts; our coin sizes guide lists the standard dimensions alongside the weights.
Test 4: The Magnet
Silver is not magnetic. If a coin snaps onto a magnet and sticks hard, it is not silver — it is steel or a plated base-metal copy, full stop. The subtlety is the reverse test: a genuine silver coin slid down a strong magnet at an angle falls noticeably slowly, because silver’s conductivity creates eddy-current drag. That slow-slide effect confirms silver-like metal; a hard stick eliminates it. Use the magnet to reject, not to approve.
Test 5: Sound (the Ping) and Ice
A silver coin balanced on a fingertip and tapped with another coin rings with a long, high, bell-like tone; clad and plated coins answer with a short, dull tick. The test takes practice and works best against a known genuine coin, but experienced hands identify silver blindfolded with it. For bars and chunky rounds, the ice test is the classic companion: silver’s thermal conductivity melts an ice cube on contact far faster than any base metal. Neither test beats a scale for certainty — both are fast screens before the scale comes out.
Foreign Coins: Dates Lie, Stamps Don’t
World coinage has no single cutoff year: Britain dropped from sterling (.925) to .500 silver in 1920 and to no silver in 1947, Canada stepped down through .800 and .500 before eliminating silver in 1968, and Mexico issued everything from .903 classics to the .999 fine Libertad. With foreign coins, work from the denomination and date against a reference, then confirm with weight. Our foreign silver coin melt value guide walks the major countries’ fineness by era, and our full bullion verification guide covers the deeper test sequence for bars and rounds.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can you tell if a coin is silver without any tools?
Check the date against the silver years, then look at the edge: no copper stripe means consistent with silver. Those two checks identify the overwhelming majority of U.S. silver coins and need nothing but your eyes.
Does a magnet stick to silver?
No. Silver is non-magnetic. A coin that sticks firmly to a magnet is not silver, whatever it looks like.
Are 1964 quarters silver?
Yes — 1964 was the last year of 90% silver quarters (and dimes and halves). Quarters from 1965 onward are copper-nickel clad with no silver content.
How do you tell if a foreign coin is silver?
By country, date, and denomination against the fineness tables — there is no universal year. British, Canadian, and Mexican silver all follow different schedules, so confirm with weight after the lookup.