2016-07-07 Thu

Silver coins were almost getting extinct in 1960s and commemorative coins filled the vacuum until bullion coins were introduced. These commemorative coins were used till World War II by several nations.

The elimination of silver circulating coins happened at a very slow pace in Britain as the fineness of the metal was gradually reduced. It was finally completely eliminated in 1946.

The 1-peso coins issued in Mexico from 1957 to 1967 contained silver of the lowest fineness - .100 fine silver. Austria, West Germany and Switzerland followed Mexico to restrict the use of silver in coinage. Silver coins stayed for the longest time in German-speaking areas.

Switzerland’s half- and 1-franc coins maintained the same fineness (.835) of silver from 1875 to 1967. Austria’s 10-schilling .640 coins lasted until 1973. West Germany’s silver 5-mark coin lasted till 1974.

Austria and West Germany issued a lot of silver commemorative coins since then. 50-schilling and 5-mark coins were issued for circulation at face value in post offices. They were completely directed towards a collecting market. A larger 100-schilling coin became more popular in 1979 before a 12-year break. In 1970s its target market were interested in silver and not in rarity which is why large number of commemorative coins were struck with various themes. 5-mark coins were called back in 1979 by Germany but were reintroduced 8 years later in 1987.

Canada issued 28 silver coins to celebrate the 1976 Olympic Games held in Montreal to raise money for the event. The program was promoted heavily and was the best one by the Royal Canadian Mint.

1965 to 1969 Kennedy half dollars contained 40 percent of silver. The “Ike” dollar with 40 percent silver was introduced in 1971.

The 25- and 50-cent coins were modified for the national party with silver-copper clad versions for collectors only.