Fake silver bars

Im new to collecting. I started with some silver eagles rounds and then got a few bars but started getting more into the numismatics.
I made several rookie mistakes but I learned form them. I have buy from a local store, Jm Bullion, Scotts Dale, and have only gone to Ebay (after learning my lessons) only for cheaper non precious metal coins that I couldn't find at my local store.
I found a 10 gram silver bar on ebay. On one side it shows JM&M Assayers Refiners. It was going for just above spot so I bid on it thinking that it was a Johnson Matthey. I won it for just a little over spot, I thought it was a good deal but then I started thinking there isn't 2 m's on a JM bar and looked at the JM website and cant find any other 10 gram bars.
Is this a fake?

 

http://about.ag/JohnsonMattheySilverBars.htm

The above link should help out.

Welcome to SS

 

Welcome on board.

Gazza79's link is going to help you immensely, but the only thing that might calm your nerves totally is to have your bar tested.

Go to your nearest bullion retailer or jeweller and ask about ultrasound testing and xrf.

Thankfully 10 grams is all you have to brood over

 

Just watched this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89ATeNy3DIo

Is it worth buying one of these machines? I wouldn't mine testing some of my various assortment of bars. I'm expecting that when (one day) the price of silver heads up, fakes will become more and more of a problem.

 

Johnson Matthey & Mallory.

It was a Canadian joint venture/subsidiary that got merged into the main Johnson Matthey company in the late 1970s.

 

I have only bought coins so far. How big is the risk of buying a fake bar? What can I do to avoid to do so?

 

Probably more as there's a lot more risk, fines and jail time for forging legal tender coins. Read this thread for more info http://forums.silverstackers.com/topic-41255-detecting-fraud-fake-bars-and-coins.html

 

Thank you! that helps

 

Hey I like the look of that machine so I just went to eBay and bought one.
(Its called a TM-8812 Ultrasonic Thickness Gauge)

 

An update on that bar from ebay. It was fake. I reported the seller and opened a claim with ebay. The next day I was refunded the full amount plus shipping and all of the seller's other auctions were taken down.
I cut the fake bar in half and could see the thin layer of silver over (I think) Nickel.

 

That must be a record for eBay to have refunded so quickly and also take down the seller. What was their trading name? Possible others here have bought from them

 

The seller's ebay user name is thomaus-sg1fary6z

 

Evil;
looks like the account is still active but all auctions are pulled.
His feedback was VERY limited to begin with at only 41
That would be sketchy to purchase from to begin with

 

I am interested in what you guys think about those hand held XRF testers - are they any good ? and are they accurate at diagnosing if the bars / rounds are real. Any thoughts would be great

 

Many common silver bars are being faked (good quality replicas that are not marked as imitation) and sold by Chinese sellers on sites like AliExpress.

You can not assume that if you are buying silver bars that you are buying real silver bars unless you already know that the seller/dealer only sells real bars sourced from reputable sources.


.

 

Try his one, TMF850 (total guess but can read it in the video)

http://forums.silverstackers.com/message-666041.html#p666041