Question
After the death of my father, we had inherited a paltry amount of inheritance which I had kept. Given its value today, I would be unable to exchange it as most of the coins are out of circulation for years. They are however valuable in terms of their value as silver. I have thus decided to have them all melted collectively and was informed that the total weight of the silver was 2007 grams which had a zakat value of R501.75 in Nov 2019.
Theses coins were in my possession since the year 1980 till 2019. I have attached the report from the Jewellers.
My question is how much Zakat is due from me for these coins from the period 1980 to 2019.
Answer
As long as the coins were legal tender and accepted by the reserve bank the monetary value of the coins (as per the reserve bank) will be taken into consideration and Zakaat will be calculated accordingly, just as Zakaat is calculated on paper currency.
والحق وجوب الزكوة فيها (الاوراق النقدية) لانها اصبحت هي اثمان الاشياء وامتنع التعامل بالذهب (الفقه الاسلام وادلته ص772 ج2)
قال عبد الرحمٰن الجزيري : جمهور الفقهاء يرون وجوب الزكوة في الاوراق المالية لانها حلت محل الذهب والفضة في التعامل —-الخ (الفقه علي المذهب الاربعة ص527 ج1)
When the coins were no longer accepted as legal tender and you kept the coins as pure silver coins with the intention of melting the coins for the silver content, then the coins will be treated as pure silver. In this case, Zakaat will be payable on the silver value.
Based on the above explanation, you may calculate your Zakaat from 1980 till 2019. You may refer to the silver value chart that is recorded on the website of the gold/silver exchange for silver prices of the past years. A jeweller could also perhaps assist you in this regard.
Checked and Approved By:
Mufti Muhammed Saeed Motara Saheb D.B.