I was wondering if anyone has bought into these ABC 1oz bars before? Here is a picture for clarification : http://www.abcbullion.com.au/app/webroot/img/site/general/goldabc.jpg I recently bought 5 oz from a dealer (i'm a first time buyer) and noticed that one of them is distinctly different which makes me worried that it's a fake. Whilst the others are more evenly squared, this one looks more squished and not as neatly squared. The stamp is also off centre and the bottom and sides have a rougher texture compared to the smoothness of the others. The stamps look identical however. Is it normal for there to be this sort of variation with gold products from the same manufacturer or should I look into this further? Cheers!
doubt its a fake, could just be the manufacturing process. weigh the thing should b 31.103 grams give or take, or take it to a bullion dealer to get an xrf scan on it.
I wouldn't be worried. If you are just follow Silverfunk's advice. Likelihood of fakeage almost zero!
Thanks for the replies. I'll get some scales out for testing, unfortunately i don't think there are the facilities to perform the xrf scan in my city (Canberra). What made me particularly worried was this person's comment on another forum - "I have seen many many fake bullion bars over the yrs and they have become very very clever also. 1 ounce gold bars from ABC that came up anywhere from not gold to 95%. Usually they make a alloy which includes zinc and or nickel mixed with a smaller amount of gold, copper etc... so when you cut it open you still see the gold tinge. Then they thick plate (usually electroplate) and stamp it. The zinc and nickel weigh alot which in turn substitutes the supposedly weight for gold." http://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18137&page=1 With the expected rise in prices of gold, i'll be particularly disappointed to know my investment had been damaged by a fake.
Gold is more than twice as dense as nickel and zinc so if that's what this guy is saying it's a bunch of BS. A gold plated bar of some nickel/zinc alloy would have to be twice as big as a 5oz bar should be to weigh the right amount.
Double Agree.... This sounds more like a deliberate and calculated dirt campaign by the original poster in the other forum. Either that, or you found one of my experimental castings
haha got it weighed in at 31.363 at a jeweler so that was good. If there is a feint (but distinct) line that almost encircles the entire bar along the edges and looks to have been melted shut, is it possible that somebody could have put tungsten inside there and sealed it? lol just something else i thought... Will the fact that it isn't as perfectly square, but rather squished looking lower it's liquidity? Sorry for dragging on about a mere 1 oz but it's a very disappointing bar
If you're worried and want to pay for postage both ways, I'll swap it over for another one. Maybe even a Perth Mint one if I have one at the time.
Most 1oz gold biscuits are pretty dissapointing, they arent really known for quality. If you want a nice 1oz bar then get a perth mint or pamp carded one. Very much doubt someone would go to the effort to make 1oz tungsten filled bars.
Not 1oz, but 500g and above apparently: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKczs-7BFRI[/youtube]
To the OP Capt K's offer is extremely generous. I'd take him up on it if you are so inclined. Perhaps you may like to pay the $ difference and get some nice coins? I'm very satisfied with my coins (Bars are boring unless they're 1kg)
Ahh yeh, I can see that it really wouldn't be worth the effort faking 1 oz bars when you can profit from the bigger ones! Oh wow thanks for that I actually was initially considering Perth mint before i purchased, but I read somewhere that there is a huge waiting list to get gold out of there (like 6 months) and that ETFs aren't a good idea anyway, just in case everybody scrambles to withdraw it all at once. Is it safe to send gold via normal mail or is there a special postage method with insurance? Wouldn't want it being lost or stolen on the way :/ lol 1kg, that would be pretty awesome! Are coins generally a better investment to have than bars are? How much of a $ difference is there? I feel like i'm learning a lot already
