both the 50% and 80% have been lumped together in this listing. According to that they would both have the same weight. Surely the 80% is heavier, if not what's a good way to tell the difference between the two?
No clue. You definitely cannot visually tell them apart, and my catalogues all say that they are the same weight, at least to the .01 of a gram.
There is no difference in value, and I know that coin dealers just treat them as the .500 automatically when scraping them because even they can't distinguish. I guess the refineries or melting companies that melt these coins end up making a profit, because they buy them all at .500 value.
I did find a site online that lists different weights for the two: 80% = 5.83 grams, 50% = 5.05 grams. Seems to make sense. Could be completely wrong though.
"What we are is not as important as what we aren't"
Strictly from a chemistry standpoint, the 80% silver alloy should weigh 5% more than the 50% silver alloy. 80%Ag/20%Cu weighs 10.2 g/cc. 50/50 weighs 9.75 g/cc.
I thought that would be the case. Perhaps they should be split off then They are two separate KM numbers and if the 80% is heavier then they really do need separate listings.
