Think these are fake

So that would be any currency? It's worth nothing other than what other people claim it is worth?

 

Currency = nill
Usefulness aahh
You could use them as a weapon ,by throwing them at people you don't like

 

I bought two of these and they arrived today. Now, because I am convinced these are fake I decided to scratch at the silver with a pair of scissors(yes I know not quite acid or whatever the pros on here use). When I scraped the "silver" a copper colour showed up.
Very disappointed. I dont want to sell these on to other people but I think I will definitely only by now from trusted dealers.
:-(

 

More fake scotsdale bars even look poor, eBay seller
gold24kplating2011 (if name dosent trigger alarm bells) just 3 sells for 100% positive feedback.

BEWARE

 

The seller denied knowledge they were fake, advised he bought them from the US, in any event he has agreed to a full refund once he receives them back. Alls well ends well I guess and it was good experience in spotting fakes

 

I'm buying some coins off 8225matthew 2698 transactions 100% feedback From Victoria right now fingers crossed it's not pretty Copper but this seller looks a lot more established.

 

I notice the seller has pulled his 10oz JOHNSON
MATTHEY SILVER BAR 999 PURE SILVER BAR
and 100oz ENGELHARD SILVER BAR 999 PURE SILVER listings off ebay.
fake as well ???

 

I'm all for silver bars to maximize metal holdings (I'm not a collector), however, there's no question that 10oz dragons are a better investment than 10oz bars. Ye old 2000 10oz dragons are selling for $800 odd a pop.

 

I just weighed some of my bullion, please wiser stackers tell me if any red flags

3 southern cross 10 oz bars-
312.8
312.1
313.3

3 Scottsdale 1 oz bars
31.5
31.4
30.3

Little worried about that last one, but it pings, and the edges are scrapped, a little bit, as tho someone had tested it on a scrapping stone or something and I can't see anything but shiny silver in the scrapped edges..

 

I've found a great way to test bars or coins. Just balance it carefully flat on your finger with your finger in the middle and tap it with something else metal. Compare it to something that you're sure of. The one with more copper in it will ring higher pitch every time since copper carries sound faster. You don't have to be musically inclined to hear the difference, they will sound quite different.

I've got two older British half crowns. One I know is sterling and one I know is 50% silver (by the dates, I know this). When tested with this method, they sound very different. 50% sounds higher. copper will always sound higher as long as the samples are tapped in the same place and direction. (as an aside, see the difference in sound you get when you tap the same sample down on the edge vs. tapping in along the radius)

There is the special case where it's possible that the copper one sounds lower. This will be because the copper's loudest note is outside of your hearing range, so what you're hearing is not its loudest note. In this case, the copper one might sound lower and dull and disappointing - like a cheap triangle. The silver one, however will sound sweet and pure - like a thousand angels.

 

I tried that, the ignot with the 30.3 g weight seemed ok the ping was very similar to the one that had been acid tested

 

so a known fake one, had the exact same sound as a known real one? for some it might be hard to remember the pitch, so put one on your index and one on you middle finger and tap one right after the other.

 

I'm not sure if it's fake it's not known, just the weight is a little off, is 30.3 anything to worry about?

 

I'm surprised that after all this time, stackers are still taking their chances on fleebay

At least the risks are lower when dealing with a reputable dealer or silverstacker =_=

 

i think that's too light. 31 maybe 30.9x is all I'd tolerate.

edit: I noticed your SG test thread ... so did these light bars test out OK?

 

I guess so, the 30.3 bar had a specific gravity of 10.1 , which is relevant to the original weight, so I guess that proves it's silver just a lighter bar?

 

NO. specific gravity is independent of weight. silver is silver. density is density.

For "fun," i tested an ASE, an Engelhard round, and a Sunshine round. The range I got was 10.39 - 10.42 which I'm happy with considering my crap scale and lowering the pieces in by hand.

 

I don't know then, this particular bar was sold by bullion bourse and came in it's original sealed sleeve.

If a bar is lighter then the SG is going to be lighter, I know it's 'independent' but let's say you take a genuine bar and cut it in half and do the test you are not going to get 10.5. Also the scales are .1 accurate so it could of been 10.2 SG for a 30.3 g bar that's not bad IMO not hard evidence it's fake, anyway if you buy a 1000 oz bar don't be surprised if it weighs 980 oz, same thing but on a smaller scale I guess it happens, it's .8 of a gram off.
Will acid test it when my kit arrives that should be conclusive.

 

i notified some of the folks who left positive ratings for that seller, two have initiated some sort of refund or complaint. then i looked to see how prevalent those particular bars are ... they are very prevalent. and many might even be legit - i guess the "ping" test (which i never tried) and an acid test will be de rigeur from now on. interesting that you allude to the johnson matthey bar being removed, wondering if it is fake ... wondering how many people here have items they might consider testing (hands slowly rise, including you, there in the back!). i have a few items i'd like to test.