Realcent.org

I recently bought a 1968 Canadian mint set on eBay expecting it to be all non-silver coins. I had already won a few other auctions from the seller for U.S. Mint sets from the 1960's that I got just below their silver melt value. With the combined shipping discount I figured I would bid on the Canadian coins at face value just to add them to my collection. There were no other bidders so I got the set for US $0.99. The face value for the set (cent thru dollar) was CDN $1.91. The coins arrived today and it turns out that the dime and the quarter were the 50% silver variety not the nickel variety. So I scored silver at BELOW FACE VALUE!

Now I'm wondering if all 1968 Canadian mint sets come with the silver dime and quarter? Maybe it was just by chance that mine had the silver coins instead of the nickel coins. Does anyone here know if all of the 1968 sets are like this?

The answer is no

You got a good deal because everyone is afraid to buy 67 and 68 because there are different metal content and its very difficult to tell them apart.

Good score

Time to get a gram scale and a magnet to look for the 999 nickel From http://www.mint.ca/store/mint/learn/circulation-currency-1100028
Ten Cent
1920 to 1967
Composition: 80% silver, 20% copper
Weight (g): 2.33
Diameter (mm): 18.034
Thickness (mm): n/a

1968 to 1977
Composition: 99.9% nickel
Weight (g): 2.07
Diameter (mm): 18.034
Thickness (mm): 1.16
25 cent
1953 to 1967
Composition: 80%silver, 20% copper
Weight (g): 5.83
Diameter (mm): 23.88
Thickness (mm): n/a

1967 to 1968
Composition: 50% silver, 50% copper
Weight (g): 5.05
Diameter (mm): 23.88
Thickness (mm): n/a

1968 to 1977
Composition: 99.9% nickel
Weight (g): 5.05
Diameter (mm): 23.88
Thickness (mm): 1.6

Also some of the Canadian dime in 1968 were made in the USA see --http://www.numismaster.com/ta/numis/Article.jsp?ad=article&ArticleId=14851

Collectors would discover if the reeding along the coin’s edge had flat bottoms like U.S. coins, it was a product of Philadelphia; if the reeding contained V-shaped bottoms, then it was struck at Ottawa. Reeding is formed on a coin at the moment of striking when the dies squeeze the planchet and force it against the reeding pattern on the collar. The different styles of reeding likely didn’t matter to the RCM if it was considered at all, since it was probably easier for Philadelphia to just use their own dime collars. As a result, the coins have the exact same diameter as a U.S. dime, 17.91 mm. This theoretically serves as another distinguishing point since Ottawa strikes measure 18.03 mm, but after carefully measuring several Canadian and U.S. dimes, it became apparent that the irregularity of width due to striking or wear makes this test unreliable. A specimen from either mint weighs the same at 2.07 grams.

Thanks for the info guys. I'll continue be cautious then and treat the 1968's as though they are non-silver when bidding on eBay. Once in a while I might get lucky like I did with this last set.