Be careful to buy silver coins online in china There are currently many fake gold and silver ingots and coins being sold out of China. Many of these items are made to a high quality and are hard to tell from the original for those not familiar with the original items. Below is a list of some of the current fake types available. The composition of the fake silver is typically made up from: Au 0.093 Ao 0.267 Zn 13.40 Cu 83.40 Ni 2.81 Fe 0.051 Currently faked silver ingots and coins: 1 ounce Sunshine Mint 1 ounce Scotsdale 1 ounce Pan American American Prospector Many generic 1 ounce ingots including the USA flag design, scales design and "worth its weight in silver design. Coins include: 2012 Perth Mint dragon Canadian Maple Leaf The specific gravity test resultes for the above filed "coin" is: Gross weight after filing 30.27 grams, displacement weight 2.75 grams, end result is 11.00. A normal coin should have a specific gravity weight of 10.5 Fake gold coins and ingots include: 2011 Perth mint 1 Ounce gold Kangaroo Krugerrands 1/10th ounce Austrian Philharmonic gold coin
Have you seen any of these fakes yourself in Hong Kong? I am heading there for a few days next month and I wouldn't mind being able to confirm sightings of these items myself.
If they have a small amount of Fe and nickel in them I wonder if balancing the coin on it's edge and bringing a a high powered neodymium ferrite magnet close to it could be used to spot fakes? Insanely powerful small magnets are readily available these days.
None of those coins mentioned above have been spotted in Melbourne The fakes were advertised on a site ,but none were ever made from what I understand
Due to copy rights, not sure if I can paste the content obtained from other website here? Administrator please feel free to remove this post if you don't think this is appropriate. I just thought the following article may be helpful to forum members in identifying fake from geninue Perth Mint series II lunar dragon. An article reports on fake Perth Mint Lunar Dragon silver bullion found: Reference: Following material obtained from http://honsonyip.blogspot.com.au/ "Major Differences. Dragon Side: - Swirls in clouds not as visible on the fake coin - Smooth (instead of scaled) claws on the fake coin - "Year of the Dragon" text on the real coin is thicker - Detail in general (scales/edges) is more defined on the real coin Queen Side: - Queen looks to be smiling on the fake coin (not so on the real one) - Queen has a sharper looking nose on the fake coin - Wrinkle lines on forehead missing on fake coin - Much more detail in the hair and crown on the real coin These fakes even came in coin capsules which replicated the look of those from the Perth Mint. This is only one version of a fake 2012 Silver Lunar Dragon, there may be others out there which look closer to the real item or have other differences to watch out for. The safest way to avoid fake/counterfeit Lunar coins would be to ensure you are buying your coins from a reputable source (Official Perth Mint Dealer). "
I think the portrait labelled fake is a genuine coin. Just comparing to some real 1oz and 10oz coins I have on hand.
The OP owns that blog BB, maybe you can PM him and ask him to reference if you care that much ps. Fake pandas? Fake dragons! Woooo.
Ok, so this still isn't a confirmed photo of a counterfeit someone has handled - it's comparing sample images off the website hawking them. More evidence please :/
I just recently got into buying silver. Last night I bought some USA flag design 1 oz bars from Apmex. Should I be worried?
Come on mate ,you bought from one of the biggest dealers & you think you should be worried Why If your so concerned about fakes This game is not for you
I'm not really that concerned. I just read this thread, and found out that USA flag design bars were being faked. The reason I buy from Apmex is because of their reputation.
I'm not stupid enough to import these into the Country but they exist and I know where to get them. They make very convincing maples too.
Have seen and handled the Maples - the Dragons I haven't seen. The AFP would be *very* interested in anyone who does import these. If anyone is thinking of it, even just one as a sample, don't attempt it.
There are a few things that you can do to be counterfeit resistant. 1) Buy coins, not rounds or bars 2) Buy coins whose image changes with the years 3) Buy coins that are bigger then 1oz IMHO of course
Have to agree with that. The Australian government hates counterfeits of any legal tender from anywhere, possibly a result of the counterfeiting that plauged our paper banknotes pre 90's. I was reading some of the legislation a while back and even the tinyest things carry potentially huge legal consequences. Also importing legal tender or bullion through a service carried by Australia Post is also illegal, that'd only increase the odds of you getting caught.
