Expert: Dmitry Livshits - 9/20/2009

Question
I recently picked up 4 silver coins in a junk silver box, a 1915 Peru 1 Sol, a 1966 France 10 Francs, a 1936 Venezula 25G, and an Israel 1958 5 Lirot.  All of them were .7234 ounces of silver (when minted) and I also saw that $1 in US 90% is also .7234 ounces of silver when minted.  What was the significance, apparently over a long period of time, for having ,7234 ounces of silver in a coin?  Thanks Bob

Answer
Hi Bob,
The unusual amount is something that was specifically done for any real purpose. It's just a consequence of the math for the standard coin sizes that were used internationally (for example, 27 grams for a silver dollar or crown sized foreign coin). Also, since the standard for all of these coins is .900 coin silver, you have .7234 ounces of actual pure silver weight.
These coins were meant as currency and not to be hoarded for their siulver value at the time of minting. When you see silver rounds that are specifically for hoarding, they are nearly always 1 ounce even of actual silver weight.
I hope that I was able to answer your question.
Thanks! =)