translation and a brief history about the man on the coin.
translation and a brief history about the man on the coin.
It's worth about $4 for its silver content.
It's currently worth about $4 for its silver content.
It is a quarter of a Balboa, the unit of currency in Panama.
Silver Australian coins were first issued in 1910 and were made from sterling silver which has a 92.5% silver content. This changed from 1946 onwards and the silver content was reduced to 50%. No Australian general circulation coin has had any silver content since 1966, except for the round 1966 50 cent coin. The silver content of the older predecimal coins possibly values the coins at more than face value, however, if the coins are in good condition, the collector value may be higher.
The short answer is 1966. Australias last "silver" predecimal coins contained 50% silver. The last of these coins were minted in 1963 and 1964 and were withdrawn soon after decimalisation in February 1966. The only Australian decimal general circulation to ever contain silver, was the 1966 (round) 50 cent coin which had an 80% silver content. Due to the soaring price of silver a short time later, and with the benefit of the wisdom of hindsight, this was a terrible blunder since the silver content of the coin was worth much more than 50 cents, and these coins were withdrawn very quickly.
The 1966 Philippines 25 Centavos is composed of copper, nickel and zinc, with no silver content.
My best guess is that your coin is a one-half ("medio") balboa piece from Panama. Panamanian balboas track the U.S. dollar on a one-for-one basis and are struck on the same planchets. Your 1966 coin was thus struck on the same 40% silver blank used for Kennedy halves of the time, so it would be worth $3 or $4 for its metal content.
Zero. A 1966 U.S. quarter is 0% silver.
Silver coins dated before 1920 are sterling (.925%) silver. Dollars, half dollars, quarters and dimes from 1920 - 1966 are all 80% silver by weight. An easy calculation to figure out the pure silver weight: Multiply .6 oz per dollar of coinage. Example: $10 of 1966 dimes would be .6 x 10 or 6 oz's of pure silver. Multiplying the total by today's price would give you "melt" value of the coins.
The only Australian decimal general circulation coin to contain any silver was the 1966 "round" 50 cent coin. It was made from 80% silver and 20% copper. The price of silver soared in 1966/67 and the silver content became much more valuable than the face value of 50 cents. The coins were soon withdrawn from circulation and replaced in 1969 with the more familiar 12 sided cupro-nickel 50 cent coin.
1966 Kennedy half dollar is 40% silver and valued at about $2.50 for the silver.