Silver coins: which common pieces are worth their metal value

Common silver coins: the list that helps you avoid paying a collector's premium

A 25-gram 900-fine duro versus five peseta coins that weigh the same but contain less silver. That is the trap running through the whole debate about which pieces are worth stacking when the goal is not collecting but holding metal. The starting premise is simple: list coins that actually circulated in each country, that can still be found, and that trade close to their silver value, without getting into uncirculated grades, proofs or odd years, because that is where prices skyrocket.

Which silver coins by country make the list

The inventory starts in Spain with the **100-peseta Franco coins**, 19 grams at 800 fine, and the centenary duros, 25 grams at 900. From France come the 10 and 20 francs at 680, the 25-gram 900-fine 5-franc Hercules coins and the 12-gram 835-fine 5-franc Sower coins. Italy contributes the 25-gram 900-fine 5-lira coins and the 12-gram 835-fine 500-lira coins. The Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States round out the map: the US half dollar at 12.5 grams and 900 fine, the quarter at 6.25 and the dime at 2.5.

The list then expands with Russia —the 10 and 5 rubles from the 1980 Moscow Olympics, at 33.3 and 16.6 grams and 900 fine—, Panama with the 20 balboas at 3.8 ounces and 925 fine, Venezuela with the bolívars at 835 and 900, Mexico with the 30-gram 900-fine 5-peso Cuauhtémoc coins and Canada with the Montreal 10 and 5 dollars, at 48.6 and 24.3 grams and 925 fine.

Why peseta fractions contain less silver than the duro

The most technical question in the debate: a duro weighs 25 grams and five peseta coins weigh the same, but the duro has more silver. The explanation points to the 835 standard, equivalent to 10/12, which was kept for the smaller denominations while the duro moved to decimal 900. The underlying suspicion, according to one participant, is that lowering the fineness serves to cheapen production and take a bigger cut: the 10-euro coins were launched at 12 grams and 900 fine, moved to 12 grams at 500 and today are 17 grams at 333.

The fineness threshold: where to draw the line

The practical consensus is not to go below 800 fine, and even then with reservations. For silver, at least 835 is required and, if possible, 900. Below that, only lots at a good price and in acceptable condition. When the condition is dreadful —candelabra, cutlery, heavily circulated lots— the way out is to refine and melt into 999-fine grain: the starting fineness matters little if the destination is the crucible.

The 1987 500-peseta proof that is not in the catalogs

Among Spanish silver pieces there is a rarity: the **1987 500-peseta proof**, 12.5 grams at 925 fine and 28 millimeters, with a declared mintage of 200,000 pieces. It does not appear in the editions of World Coins consulted nor in the catalogs of the Hermanos Guerra (a Spanish numismatic publisher). It came in a cardboard case that the FNMT (Spain's royal mint) released that year with the 500-peseta design, proofs and another in silver, coinciding with the royal couple's anniversary. It was neither expensive nor rare, but it went unnoticed by those who bought every issue at the Banco de España.

The striking fact: the coin that appears most often on the lists is not the scarcest, but the one you can buy by the kilo without paying a collector's premium.