Silver change

[1] [2] I almost didn't go.

I was feeling a bit tired after lunch so I debated with myself if I really wanted to hit the convenience store and get some Coke [3]. I'm not sure if I won or lost as I ended up going to the convenience store. I was most surprised to find myself with a 1952 U.S. (United States) quarter in the change I received.

As a kid, I had one of those books that list the prices collectors are willing to pay for coins of certain years and there was a remarkable difference between the 1964 and 1965 U.S. quarters. The 1965 quarter was the first year the U.S. mint stopped [4] using silver to make the quarter; therefore the price differential.

I no longer have the book (which was the price guide for something like 1979 or some such year) so I have no idea how much exactly my 1952 quarter is worth, but it shouldn't be hard to figure out—a quarter weighs 5.670g [5] (those are the current quarters, but they can't have changed that much in weight over time and that's the first figure I found with Google [6]) and the current price of silver [7] is $4.445 an ounce, but that's Troy ounces of which there are 12 per pound, not 16, so you have 38 grams/ounce and not the usual 28 grams/ounce … so you divide … then multiply … but the quarters back then were 90% silver, not 100% so you adjust accordingly and you get … 59¢ worth of silver!

Um … yea.

But it's still neat!

[1] /boston/2002/11/23/usq.1952.jpg

[2] /boston/2002/11/23/usq.1966.jpg

[3] http://www.coke.com/

[4] http://www.coinresource.com/articles/FRB_united_states_coins.htm

[5] http://www.coinmag.com/50states/statehoodquarters.html

[6] http://www.google.com/

[7] http://www.kitco.com/market/

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