I would never have thought that an uninformed post, on my part, could lead me to so much useful information. Only on FR. Thanks!
You’re quite welcome, and perhaps only on FR would someone who questions be open to some of the accurate answers!
And by the way...here’s an arcane bit of info for you, same price...
US Silver Eagles are NOT *.999* pure silver! They contain just a teeny bit of copper to toughen them up. They CONTAIN one troy ounce of .999 silver but are not COMPOSED OF .999 silver. I think they are .997.
This is another reason why I myself prefer generics. Sure, go buy a dozen silver eagles or a hundred or whatever floats your boat. They are unquestionably beautiful coins. But at that moment when you are going to toss them into a melting pot for their silver...you are going to be polluting other, .999 silver in there. And, I might add, sacrificing a lot of premium.
Cana maple Leafs ARE .9999 (yes, four nines) pure silver...or, gold. Purest coins on the planet. They are remarkably soft. Drop them on your proverbial hard surface and you will produce definite handling marks. ALWAYS handle them above a cushioned surface!
US Gold Eagles are the same alloy as 1932 and earlier $20 and $10 gold pieces, just like Kruggerands (and several other coins) They are 22 kt, or .9167. The coin weight is 1.0909 tr oz, a snippet over 1 oz and they CONTAIN a troy ounce of .999 gold.
The US only recently came out with their own .9999 pure gold coin, the gold buffalo. I do not think the US has ever made a .999 or .9999 pure gold coin before these came out.