Austria (Habsburg) 1 Kreuzer KM 2111 Composition

Numista lists this coins as copper and having had several in my possession it certainly looks to be correct. However other sources list the composition as billon which as most collectors are aware can look very much like copper especially if the silver content is low or the coin is heavily circulated.

Could someone more familiar with this series confirm the metal content?

I have four, one attacked by Verdigris. If it is a billon, it's silver content would have to be really low. And even 3 Kreuzer of that (1800) issue is supposed to be from Copper.

The silver 3 Kreuzers of those time had a weight of 1.7 grams and silver content of 0.346. Extrapolating that to a 3.4g Kreuzer implies a silver content of no more than 0.0577. Maybe that amount of silver was even in there, but in that case it will still pretty much look like copper.

Hello,

Herinek (vol. III, 1740-1969) lists those 1800 coins as copper, incl. the 1807 30 kreuzer. Only the 1800 24 Kreuzer in .250 silver as written on the coin sheet https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces33675.html
I tend to believe him but if you have other sources, I would be happy to look at them.

Regards, André

Hello Andre,

Here's the source -

Hello,

I'd say it is an error in Krause (NGC takes their info).
The 24 kr 1800 is 9.35 g.
A 24th (for 1 kreuzer) would weigh 0.35 g which is a 10th of the kreuzer's weight (3.4 g).
Even with .125 silver, it would still be 5 times the weight.
However I am not sure the value at that time was strictly related to the metal. The "Scheidemünzen" (nominal value higher than metal) are as old as 1700 but normally written "Landmünz", and for this period, they show up later, 1812 onwards (ex. https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces7097.html and 1816 series).

I am a bit lazy to do the density test and I am not sure it is accurate enough, but that should be done.
A volunteer  ?

André