Sell silver coins and silver bars

The two dates that matter

Britain struck its circulating silver at sterling standard until 1919. In 1920 the standard was halved, and the coins looked the same. In 1947 silver went out of circulating coinage and cupro-nickel replaced it, again without any change to the design. Maundy money was struck at 500 from 1921 to 1946, like the circulating coins, went back to sterling in 1947 and is still struck in it, and the Royal Mint has struck silver proof and commemorative coins since. On a circulating shilling, only the date records either change.

Silver in British circulating coins, by date

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Foreign silver, commemoratives and things that are not coins at all

Jars are rarely all British. Holiday change, coins brought back from service abroad, and commemorative issues bought at the time all end up in the same tin. Some foreign silver carries its fineness; the rest is identified from its type and date. It is kept apart from the British coins.

• Continental and colonial silver at 800, 835 or 900, which is common in pre-war European change.
• American, Canadian and Australian silver coinage, each with its own dates at which the silver stopped.
• Crowns issued for royal events from 1953 onwards, usually cupro-nickel however impressive the packaging.
• Commemorative medallions in plastic capsules, frequently silver-plated base metal rather than silver.
• Coin-shaped ingots and “first day covers” (envelopes or cards with a coin sealed in), which are identified but rarely silver.
• Maundy money, proof sets and coins in original mint packaging, which are set aside and flagged.

You do not need to work any of that out before you send it. It is here so that you do not throw away a jar of what looks like foreign small change, because the silver in a jar like that is quite often foreign.

Silver bars, rounds and sealed tubes

Silver bars run from an ounce to a kilo and beyond, cast or minted, and almost all of them carry a refiner's mark and a stated fineness. Minted bars are usually sealed in card; cast bars are poured and stamped. Silver rounds are coin-shaped but are not currency, and they say so, usually with “one troy ounce .999 fine silver” written across them.

• Dimensions and weight are compared with the refiner's published specification where one exists. A plated base-metal bar of the right size is usually the wrong weight.
• Leave sealed minted bars sealed; the seal ties the bar to its number. A sealed bar is checked through the pack as far as that allows, and the list says so.
• Sealed tubes of bullion coins are left sealed and identified through the tube where possible.
• A kilo bar, or a box of tubes, is heavy and awkward to post. Tell us what you have first; when you are ready to post, we arrange the postage with you and confirm the service and its cover in writing before anything is sent. Posting safely and cover explains more.

The checks are the same as on gold bars and bullion. A bar that fails one is described and photographed, and returned to you at our cost with the results.

Send the jar, sorted or not

You can sort by date at the kitchen table if you want to, but you do not have to. Every coin is read whatever order it arrives in, and a jar tipped straight into a bag gets the same care as one arriving in three labelled envelopes. A photograph of the dates first helps us tell you what is worth posting.

• If you do sort, use three bags: up to 1919, 1920 to 1946, 1947 onwards. Label them and do not worry about the ones you cannot read.
• Do not clean, polish or rub anything. Cleaning a coin can cost it its collector value.
• Keep albums, folders and sets in their arrangement. The order may matter to a collector.
• A full jar weighs more than people expect, so it may need more than one parcel. Parcels are priced separately unless you tell us in writing (WhatsApp, email or letter) that they belong together; then we wait for the last one and make one offer for all of them (the terms, clause 3.3).
• Circulating coins dated 1947 onwards are separated out, named on the list and posted back to you with anything else not bought. Maundy and proof silver is set aside and listed.

If the jar came out of a house you are clearing, it can go with everything else rather than on its own. A jar of change, a canteen and a jewellery box can be one lot, and dealing with them together is quicker for you. House clearance gold and silver covers that, or inherited jewellery if the coins came to you directly.

The coins in the jar that should never be treated as bulk

• Crowns and double florins were struck in far smaller numbers than shillings, and every one is looked at by date.
• Coins in unusually good condition, with full detail and some original shine, are set aside; condition and date together decide what a collector would pay.
• Coins from before Queen Victoria, milled or hand-struck, are always looked at one by one and flagged.
• Maundy money, proof coins and anything in an original case or presentation pack is flagged.
• Foreign, colonial and Commonwealth silver is kept apart, and anything we cannot judge is flagged for a coin dealer.
• Medals with a named recipient are always set aside, because their history may matter more than their metal; war medals, badges and regimental silver explains why.

What happens to a jar of coins when it arrives

1. Tipped out and photographedThe lot is recorded as it arrived, count and all, before anything is separated. Albums and folders are photographed in their arrangement.
2. Read through for collector interestEvery coin is looked at before any of it is grouped. This takes care, and it is there to protect anything collectable in the jar.
3. Separated by date and originBritish coins go into their three date bands; foreign silver, bullion coins and anything that is not a coin are kept apart from all of it.
4. Weighed by group, checked by sampleCoins are weighed in their date groups, and some from each group are checked to confirm the standard. If any result is unexpected, every coin in that group is checked one by one.
5. Listed, then one offerYou get a list with a line for each coin and its date, the count and weight of each group, which coins were checked, and anything set aside as possibly collectable. One written offer for the lot follows, to accept or turn down.

The post-1946 circulating coins stay on that list, named as cupro-nickel, so you can see they were looked at rather than assumed. The list accounts for every pile, including the coins that are not bought, so you can check it against what you sent. Offers, returns and payment covers the offer and what follows it.

What we buy, and what we leave out

Stopped before anything is treated as scrap

• Any coin in very good condition, any coin from before Victoria, and any crown, double florin or Maundy piece is looked at before anything else
• We never buy a coin as scrap if it may be worth more to a collector, unless we have told you and you have asked us to go ahead
• Complete date runs, proof sets and coins in original packaging are kept together
• Foreign and colonial coins we cannot judge are flagged so a coin dealer can see them
• Sealed bullion coins in original tubes are kept sealed and identified through the tube where possible
• Medals with a named recipient are always set aside
• Where a coin may do better with a coin dealer we say so in writing, and post it back free if you would rather take it there