Hello. I just created an account because I wanted help from some with routine. I do live in a non-English speaking country, so bear with my language here. I recently bought 1 oz silver maple leaf, American eagle and Apmex silver bar from a private dealer in with I now have his name. However, I have a problem with my Apmex silver bar as it doesn't look like the other silver bars I compare in the internet. Here you see 2 stars, 1 before and 1 after the sentence of "ONE TROY OUNCE": http://www.apmex.com/product/27086/1-oz-silver-bar-apmex: However, in my Apmex silver bar the two stars are much closer to the sentence. Should I be worry? Thank you for any help you can provide. I have take a foto, but I connot figure out how to post it here. - can anyone tells me how?
I can't figure out how to post my foto of my apmex silver bar here. In any case: do you see the two stars below the eagle, and before and after the sentence? Mine are just much closer to the sentence. Is that normal?
If you don't have anything else (I.e. A strong magnet, a scale, acid tests) at the very least compare rings by striking them. If that one sounds noticeably different than your other silver ounces then it might be a fake. You can also put an ice cube on each of your silver products (assuming they're all one ounce) and it should melt at similar rates (quickly). If it melts slower on that bar, that's more indication of a fake.
You are right to be worried. I do not own any of these but you bar (apart from being beaten) is not something i would have purchased . How does it weigh and size? Someone here will have loads of these and be able to give you a better insight. Just from the pics and looks im learning towards FAKE
Testing with acid, sound, melting, I cannot do as I am a newbie. - I did with magnet. All seem very well. Anyway; I have posted 2 pictures of my 1 oz silver bar. If anyone knows that it is normal that the 2 stars are very close to the sentence in that APMEZ 1 oz silverbar, then I would like to know.
size: 5cm and 2,9cm Weight: 32 gram (it switched to 31 sometimes) In any case my silver Maple and silver Eagle also have the same weight, so it is my weightscale that is cheap.
There are fakes around of a number of different well known manufacturers' bars. When I buy blobs (common non-denom bullion bars or rounds) I almost always shop with well known reputable bullion dealers. .
If you have lots of them and are afraid 1) Get a file and destroy one of them....File it and then get a pair of bolt cutters. You'll still have your silver. 2) Alternatively buy some acid test and test it. It's easy to do. 3) Get it XRFed at a dealer. Either ask or say will you buy this off me 4) Take it back to where you bought it with your concerns.
You don't have to be an expert to do the simple tests I suggested. If you are confident your maple is pure silver, and it probably is, then strike it and listen to the ring. I find it works best to kind of hit it up into the air so you get the full sound. Simply compare that sound to the bar. As for the ice, just see if it melts any slower than placing it on the maple. Piece of cake! It's just to give you an idea.
I have received a mail from Apmex and I have as well tested it for metal content at a local jewelry store. Apmex wrotes that they can't determine if the silverbar is fake, however there are various mints that manufacture these bar for Apmex, each one making the bar slightly difference. And the test from the local store confirmed that it was fine silver. After all there is nothing wrong with the two stars being so close to the sentence. - That is a fantastic feeling.
