Three Assessments To Assist You Recognize Bogus Coins

By Javier Harari


Bogus coins were originally created by people seeking fool merchants and get a less expensive supply of spending money. The counterfeits had to only vaguely resemble the money they have been duplicating to pass because retailers didn't pay much attention to the money.

Now counterfeit coins are created to fool collectors, rather than merchants. Simply because the collector market has put considerable rates on the real worth of coins. The brand new fakes are much more hard to detect, simply because collectors inspect their money more closely compared to merchants.

The profile of a fake is like profiling a shoplifter. There is absolutely no. Some lower grade bullion coins are fake. Most people aren't spending close attention to their bullion material, so they are easy to escape undetected. The costly coins are much more lucrative, but are also more closely examined.

Testing a new coin purchase:

1. Visual Test: When I go to purchase a coin, I first screen it by having it a visible evaluation. When I'm not acquainted with the coin, I compare it to a known genuine example. I compare and contrast details on both sides, looking carefully at the date and value denomination. Next I compare the thickness. Fake coins are nearly always thicker than their genuine counterpart.

2. Ring Test: I give the coin the "ring" test simply by balancing it on the tip of my index finger and hitting the edge with a Paper Mate stick pen. I take that with me as the striker, as it won't damage the coin, and it is solid enough to have a great ring out of the coin whenever you strike it. A pencil really doesn't work as well. I've grown to like the sustained "tingggg" I get from most coins I test.

The "ring" test works especially well on medium to bigger coins. It's very useful on one oz silver and gold coins. The vast, vast majority of coins ring. Not-ringing isn't a definite test of being fake however. I have encountered a very few genuine coins that don't ring, yet I will usually pass up a sample that doesn't ring.

3. Weight Test: If a coin is still questionable, I will weigh it. The coin in question must weigh in half a gram of a genuine one, though it would have to be more than a gram off, before I would use weight to convict it.

No test is infallible when examining a coin for authenticity. I have to feel pretty certain of my allegation, just before calling a coin fake. When a coin fails two of my tests, I will usually call it "highly questionable".




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