Coin imposter is an inauspicious reality in the coin collecting marketplace. Since the first coins were minted about 2,400 years ago, unscrupulous people have been devising ways to manufacture forge coins. It is no unlike today with the thousands of different types of coins available on the marketplace. Both collectors and investors must be knowing about the coins they are purchasing to avoid getting ripped off .

With the second coming of computers being introduced into the manufacture work, the production of very deceptive counterfeit coins has become quite easy. Since China has no law that prohibits the production of forge coins of other countries, taiwanese manufacturers have adopted the practice of producing high-quality counterfeit United States coins .

Reading: How to Spot Silver Eagle Coin Fraud

even if a Silver Eagle or other silver coin passes these dim-witted tests, it does not guarantee that it is authentic. The merely definitive answer to the question of authenticity is the written stopping point of a recognized coin technical with an attach metallurgical report—an expense that in most cases makes little economic sense .

One way to increase your chances of buying coins that are authentic is to buy coins lone from established coin dealers that are members in good standing of the U.S.-based Professional Numismatists Guild. In junction with that, use the tips and tests proposed below .

Detecting Coin Fraud

One of the easiest ways to tell if a mint is imposter or not is to follow these six easy steps :

Does the eloquent coin look right ?

Any highly experience coin appraiser will tell you that they often ca n’t tell you why a given specimen is forge. All they can say is that it “ does n’t look veracious. ” Learn what the genuine silver coin looks like, and even when there ‘s no obvious disparity between the appearance of your coin and the actual article, trust your senses and if “ it does n’t look right, ” do n’t buy it !

How much does the silver coin weigh ?

Counterfeiters make most argent coins from silvern metallic element alloys that consider less than genuine the genuine silver mint. Weigh the mint in interview ; if the burden is wrong for the type, do n’t buy it ! even fleshy coins are debatable because they might be silverplate spark advance .

How does the surface of the silver coin expression ?

Fake eloquent coins may or may not have a silverplate coating on them. Although higher-quality plated affect fakes might look pretty convert, many counterfeiters do n’t bother to plate the coin with silver ! Silver has a classifiable shininess to it that is neither excessively harsh nor besides easy or “ buttery ” looking. Genuine silver coins will have an original mint luster that is classifiable from a forge coin .

How does the silver coin ‘s edge expect ?

If the coin border should be reeded and is n’t, this is a elephantine red pin, since mint errors of this type are infrequent. The coin may be a counterfeit if it has a seam around the edge or a bit of a protrusion on the edge that could be left by a project sprue ( the channel used to pour metal into a model ). besides, inspect the border of the coin for file marks indicating a sprue or seam was removed. If any of these characteristics are discernible in the coin, do n’t buy it !

Does the silver coin passing a magnification check ?

Although the methods listed above will frequently enable you to rule out most fakes ( specially the weight trial, ) sometimes close interrogation under a potent magnifier can help settle the matter. Look for silver plating that failed to fill into bantam spots and crevices. Look at the edge of the coin to see if the plating is visible where the rim meets the side ; besides look between the reeding. sometimes equitable looking at the fields under 10x is adequate to condemn the silver coin as a fake, because the fields may appear uncut, or have little spots of copper or other non-silver impurities that show up when magnified .

Does it pass the silver mint ring test ?

silver coins have a distinctive hoop when held on the tip of a finger and tapped with another mint, pen or pencil. Be careful doing this test, though since you do n’t want to ding or damage the mint, or drop it onto a hard open. The ring test can be helpful when all early easy methods of checking are inconclusive .

Diagnosing a Fake Silver Eagle Bullion Coin

There was recently a forge Silver Eagle circulating about mint shows. The six steps given above will help you determine that .

Silver-Coins

1906 silver eagle :

One glance is all it took to condemn this Chinese-made fudge Silver Eagle ! spirit at the date : 1906. The U.S. did n’t even begin making the Silver Eagle until 1986 ! Mistakes like these are coarse on fakes. When you see something like this, do n’t try to rationalize a purchase decision by telling yourself the mint made an error or something, precisely pass, and save yourself some money .

An ounce of silver that weighs 26 grams :

If the incorrect date did n’t already condemn this forge silver eagle, this does sol decisively. A actual silver eagle weighs 31.101 grams. ( The forger besides got the diameter wrong. This talk through one’s hat eagle measures 38.86 millimeter rather than the 40.6 mm it should. ) The weight of a coin is something that forgers about always get faulty. If a modern coin is off-weight, be identical wary .

This bogus silver eagle is dull in appearance :

The genuine eloquent eagle is a beautiful coin, glorious with shininess and with dainty respite. This talk through one’s hat eagle, however, is dull and grey looking, with about no easing .

A flatware eagle with no reeding :

If you ever see an american Silver Eagle without reeded edges, it ‘s not a mint error, but a taiwanese bogus ash grey mint. One wonders how they can get things like this so obviously faulty .

Magnifying the eagle ‘s dullness :

Under enlargement, this forge eagle looks buttery and dull. normally, when the forger fabricates the fake dies to produce the fudge coins, the work loses the fine details of the coin. If the details are not acuate and distinct, it is decidedly an indication that the coin could be counterfeit .

This silver eagle has no resound :

The ring test produces a tinny-sounding dink. decidedly not the pure chime ring of silver .

How to Spot Silver Eagle Coin Fraud