Which countries were the last to use Silver in their GENERAL coinage issues [solved]

This has always vexed me, as my country heave hoed the silver early on (1946 and it was base)

By this question, I exclude all commemoratives and one off alloys like Mexican 20 New Peso coins from the 1990s. Also any coin with less than 50% fine silver as I know there are Mexican pesos from the 60s that were like 10% silver.

I mean general circulation coins that were used by everyone, not one offs like the 100 Franc coins of France in the mid 1970s. Also no bullion or expensive gimmick coins - so no Krugerrands, Mapleleafs, Mexican oro pesos etc.

My list so far (Last years of silver coinage, not 1st year of base metal)

New Zealand, UK, Ireland, Ceylon - all 1946
Australia - 1966 - Predecimals 1964 for 3d, 1963 for others and 1966 50c coin, but 1c to 20c were base metal.
USA - 1964 but 50 cent coins until 1970 were 40% silver and some Ike dollars of 70s were commems not standard.
Austria, Switzerland, Canada - 1967 (Silver 25, 50, 100 schilling commems don't count)
Netherlands - 1966 or 1967?
Mexico - Last fine silver coins over .500 - 1956
South Africa 1964 for coins to 50c and 1969 for the Rand coin
PNG, Bahamas and any other country with 1970s Franklin Mint sets, don't count as often NCLT coins were silver, standard coins like with PNG 1t to 1kina were base metals.
Germany - seriously 1939 (All later NCLT 5mark to 20mark don't count)
Spain - Not sure this country issued any silver at all after 1930
Italy - same as above - no silver other than commems after 1940ish?

Can anyone come up with silver coins after 1969/1970 that were standard circulation?

Netherlands Antilles 1970 1/4 Gulden was made of silver. only 150k ex., but still a standard coin as I see it.
Also 1/10 Gulden.

Sweden: 1971 5 Kronor 0.400 Silver 712,5k :)

I don't know were you got your information for Germany but in West-Germany the 5 Mark was produced until '74.
For Japan it was 1966 with the 100 yen.

I remember a similar topic from a year or so ago: https://en.numista.com/forum/topic59898.html

My answer here will be the same as there: Hungary minted .500 silver 200 Forint coins in 1993. and 1994. These were standard circulating coins. https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces10042.html

Quote: "Moneytane"​​Italy - same as above - no silver other than commems after 1940ish?

​The Italy 500 lire coin (https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces2716.html) was struck for circulation until 1966-1967.

Well it looks like Hungary is winning, although I note the coin was only issued for 2 years and mintage numbers of 2 million were quite low.

Quote: "Moneytane"​Spain - Not sure this country issued any silver at all after 1930

Spain did issue silver coins until 1970. Then, the 2000 pesetas coins issued from 1994 to 2001 are in a limbo here. They were not initially intended to circulate, but they were legal tender and they indeed circulated a bit, especially in 1994 and 95.

My vote would be for the Austria 10 schilling (KM2882) issued in 1973 in the quantity of 14.5 million.

For France, the last silver coin that circulated widely was the Semeuse 5 Francs minted 1960-69:
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces679.html
But the silver 10 and 50 Francs Hercules, as well as the 100 Franc commemoratives produced from 1982 to 2001, were all legal tender- they sometimes turned up in change (though very rarely).

For Russia or rather the USSR, their last circulating silver coins were produced in 1930, in 10, 15 and 20 kopeck denominations; in 1931 they stopped using silver, which was becoming expensive to import and was being hoarded by the public. So the silver denominations were replaced by CuNi ones that year, and the silver was recalled and melted down (with hoarders being denounced in state propaganda).

That is amazing about Russia/USSR as they may have been first to heave ho silver completely.

The great famines of 1920 - 23 and 1928 - 1933 may have put pat to that, given the general poverty and misery in the place until the later 1930s (Blame Stalin and his collective farms and megalomania).

But I see that the Baltic states were issuing coins of at least half silver until 1938/39 (Silver 5 lats of Lithuania and 5 Kroon of Estonia), then again, they only were annexed in 1940.

India abandoned silver early too, with silver coins finishing in 1945 - Quarter to whole rupee coins of 1946/47 were base metal, although I think they issued a 100 Rupee silver coin with Gandhi on it in 1969, but are not sure if this was a commem.

Thanks for all the input guys - apologies for getting Spain and Germany so wrong.

I think Brazil ended their silver very early (Like 1920ish) as their coinage went through several inflation crises and even later Reis (1921 - 1942) coins were all muck metal, like brass, steel, aluminium etc.

I knew about the French high values, they were legal tender, but chances of getting one was quite low. I saw a large silver 100 Francs dated 1977 that had the 3 ladies on it (Liberte, Egalite, Fraternitie?) - sorry our keyboards here do not have those accent marks.

The problem with the 100 Francs and other big french modules was that they were hoarded when they entered in circulation. During the seventies, a huge coin of 50F "Hercule" was minted by the governement, but soon its melted value worth more than its face value due to the increase of the silver price.

People starting to bringing them in belgium for melting them there to make some profits as it was illegal to deteriorate a coin in France until 1992 (this law doesn't exist anymore).
In 1980, the governement decided to stop the production of this coin and minted the silver 100F "Pantheon" instead : a smaller module with a higher face value.

Silver was still considered as a safe investment and people continued to speculate on it, especially when the commemorative issues started to be minted as collectors wanted to add them in their collections : even if the 100 Francs did circulate until 2001, most people didn't want to spend them

Now, those coins are not hard to find in good condition.
My aunts gave me some as a present few years ago and we can find them at their melted values online (less than half of their previous face values).

I made a spreadsheet eight years ago, to generally help me quickly see
exactly that 'last to use Silver in their GENERAL coinage issues' ...

That was the first version; then I added more countries - cannot find
that second list presently, but I did print it out at the time...

Gibraltar issued silver and gold coins dually denominated in pounds and ecus in 1993. They sold at face and quantities made were based on demand. You can still buy Canadian silver coins for face value. So technically they could circulate.

Quote: "Moneytane"​I think Brazil ended their silver very early (Like 1920ish) as their coinage went through several inflation crises and even later Reis (1921 - 1942) coins were all muck metal, like brass, steel, aluminium etc.
​

​Actually it was on the 1930's, our last general circulation silver coin is the "Santos Dumont coin" (1936-1938). But the silver usage was decreased already on late 1910's (only 3 types of silver coins minted between 1915-1938).

Why are the Mexican 10, 20,and 50 pesos from 1993-1997 discounted?
They were fully legitimate circulating coins issued in an attempt to stabilize inflation.
I usually find them in well-worn condition.

This was the last Romanian silver circulating coin: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces4613.html
1946

At Uruguay still there is a circulating commemorative coin: 500 Pesos Uruguayos 2006



Not only is circulating, but also is still not demonetized.

Many would say that being a small mintage (10,000 coins) does not count as circulating, but the real thing is if you go to Central bank, and ask for the coin, they give it for its face value, without any procedure; if you want to pay with it, they will accept as if it were a banknote or other regular coins.

The other commemorative coins, that are issued as circulating commemorative, are demonetized at the same moment they release them, and if you want one, they "sell" you by its face value (and they also give you an invoice, and most of times a COA), but will not accept them as legal tender.

Quote: "loruca"​Why are the Mexican 10, 20,and 50 pesos from 1993-1997 discounted?
​They were fully legitimate circulating coins issued in an attempt to stabilize inflation.
​I usually find them in well-worn condition.

​They had a limited amount of silver and they had a base metal ring with only a small percentage silver.
Still the fact they had any were remarkable, and even I have a very worn 10 Nuevos Pesos, yet my 5 and 2 of the same era are nearly UNC!

Quote: "Moneytane"​

Quote: "loruca"​Why are the Mexican 10, 20,and 50 pesos from 1993-1997 discounted?
​​They were fully legitimate circulating coins issued in an attempt to stabilize inflation.
​​I usually find them in well-worn condition.

​​They had a limited amount of silver and they had a base metal ring with only a small percentage silver.
​Still the fact they had any were remarkable, and even I have a very worn 10 Nuevos Pesos, yet my 5 and 2 of the same era are nearly UNC!

​Not-so-limited amount!
The 10 peso is 1/8th oz sterling
the 20 is 1/4 oz and the 50 is 1/2 oz!
Interestingly , the reason for the base metal ring is to increase the life-span of the coin, which otherwise, is rather short.