Had to tell the poor guy that is was fake. XRF came up with a W. I had to check my periodic table and sure enough it was Tungsten. It was a 1oz coin that came in a box and looked and weighed right. Poor bugger. But just goes to show that there are fake 1oz coins out there so check chekc and double check.
If he didn't know I'm sure he'll be pi$$ed with wherever he bought it from. How did he take the news?
Didn't think of that, I just felt so bad having to tell him. And considering I was wearing cotton gloves to not damage the coin I kind of felt a little over dressed for a lump of Tungsten. And I think she was more pissed than he was. I wouldn't want to be him on the car ride home.
Was the coin from the 1970s? The Krugerrand was the main gold coin back then and a lot of fakes were produced.
He was a bit shy about where he got it from so i suspect ebay. I didn't check the year (still have alot to learn.) I didn't even know that W was the periodic symbol for Tungsten till I looked it up on my periodic table mouse pad. (and Argento asked why I bought a periodic table mouse pad told you it would come in handy .)
hope he didnt pay too much for it?? if its bought on Ebay and paid by Paypal, there's buyers insurance, so he might get some of his money back.
That's a kick in the nards. If gold kicks off and more "ordinary" people jump in I would prepare yourself for more of that. Still, here's hoping it gets more people inrush reputable brick and mortar stores (if only there was a convenient one stop shop in Adelaide's southern suburbs like that . I've been thinking about the tungsten problem and it isn't identical in density to gold. I reckon you should be able to pick a tungsten coin or bar using ac relatively cheap micrometer. They churn them out cheaply in China now (not unlike fake krugerrands), maybe a Chinese solution to a Chinese problem?
Krugerrands appear to be the most commonly encountered outright fake gold coin in Australia, apart from jewellers copy sovereigns which are usually still gold anyway (just not the full gold content). Have heard of a few in Melbourne over the last couple of years. Another thing to look for is the 24K plating on what is supposed to be a 22K coin - heard of a few bought in Melb by a gold buyer that tested pure - heavy electroplating that the XRF quoted ~99.99% on with a short test - took a much longer test to get through the plating. The fact they tested as pure instead of ~91.67% should have been the giveaway. Anyway it looks like gold plated tungsten in retail sizes is the new reality. Test test test, and don't buy bullion on eBay. Most states should have dealers offering XRF services now.
