Decline of the British Silver Coinage…
Silver .925…
In the reign of good Queen Bess it was decided that from 1582, British silver coins would be composed of .925 fine silver… that means the coin is then made up of . 925 parts silver per 1000 parts of material, with the remaining balance being copper. resulting in a standard silver product renowned worldwide whether it is coins or artefacts as sterling silver, this .925 standard was maintained for coinage until 1919, whilst all coins issued prior to 1582 had various amounts of silver due to the economy of the time…
Silver .500…
In 1920, two years after the Great War it was decided most British silver coins, like the half-crown, florin, & shilling were debased to .500 fine, that is it contained only 50% silver, with the rest made up with 50% copper. if you are lucky you might still find a .925 sixpence or threepence as these two denominations were struck in both alloys for 1920, after then all “silver” coins from 1921 to 1946 were minted in .500 fine silver..
1947 Onwards…
Two years after the Second World War, from 1947 going forward all the silver coins were replaced & made in cupro-nickel, an alloy of copper and nickel, cupro-nickel, is an alloy of copper that contains nickel with iron and manganese to give the alloy added strength… The copper content typically varies from 60 to 90 percent, although the coins have a high copper content the nickel allows the coins to maintain the colour of silver…
udigidig.com 
Leave a comment