What is ASW?

[steyr_m]

I got a silver quarter that my brother had got in change the other day. I looked it up in my coin book and it said -- Comp.: 0.5000 Silver 0.0937 oz. ASW

I'm guessing the A means "Avoirdupois " and SW = silver weight. so for the value of Silver would be to convert the price of troy to avoirdupois and then multiply by .0937?

Is there a live on-line converter?

[SLV^GLD]

A is for "Actual". That is, a coin that weighs 1oz that is 90% silver will have an ASW of 0.9oz.

[SLV^GLD]

I have no idea what that crap about .0937 is. A silver quarter contains 5.625 grams of silver and regardless of which standard you multiply by (31.103 or 28.349) .0937 doesn't get you there.

[madfranks]

I have no idea what that crap about .0937 is. A silver quarter contains 5.625 grams of silver and regardless of which standard you multiply by (31.103 or 28.349) .0937 doesn't get you there.

The better question is, what coin is it? At .5000 silver purity, it's not a US coin. Did Canada mint .5000 silver coins?

[gunDriller]

The better question is, what coin is it? At .5000 silver purity, it's not a US coin. Did Canada mint .5000 silver coins?

i vaguely recall them doing that, downshifting from .800 to a lower silver content.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350503708416&_trksid=p2992.m753

found that .500 silver coin on eBay, though that's not what i remember - i thought they did this on circulation coins.

[steyr_m]

The better question is, what coin is it? At .5000 silver purity, it's not a US coin. Did Canada mint .5000 silver coins?

It's a 1968 Canadian quarter

[SLV^GLD]

I see, my US-centric mind interpreted quarter to mean US quarter dollar. This might help explain the .0937 thing.

[steyr_m]

my US-centric mind interpreted

It's OK, most Americans are the same.

[zap]

I guessed accessed silver weight, but it means this http://coins.about.com/od/coinsglossarya/g/silver_asw.htm

Definition: The ASW (sometimes written as a.s.w. or asw) is the Actual Silver Weight of a coin. The ASW is expressed as a decimal value of one full ounce of silver, so .18084 asw means that the coin has 0.18084 of an ounce of pure silver in it. Here are two examples using a pre-1965 90% silver U.S. Quarter Dollar, with an asw of .18084, a total weight of 6.25

[steyr_m]

I guessed accessed silver weight, but it means this http://coins.about.com/od/coinsglossarya/g/silver_asw.htm

Definition: The ASW (sometimes written as a.s.w. or asw) is the Actual Silver Weight of a coin. The ASW is expressed as a decimal value of one full ounce of silver, so .18084 asw means that the coin has 0.18084 of an ounce of pure silver in it. Here are two examples using a pre-1965 90% silver U.S. Quarter Dollar, with an asw of .18084, a total weight of 6.25

Thanks zap -- that was very informative. They do not mention if it is a Troy ounce or not; but it was helpful. I'm guessing that it will be in troy....

[steyr_m]

Edit -- it is in Troy. A troy ounce is 31.1 grams an avoirdupois ounce is 28.34 grams.