Thursday, 15 November 2012

Three Tests To Help You Recognize Bogus Coins

By Elnora Immel


Bogus coins have been initially made by people seeking fool merchants and obtain a cheaper supply of spending money. The counterfeits had to only vaguely resemble the money they were copying to pass because merchants didn't pay much attention to the money.

Right now bogus coins are created to fool collectors, instead of retailers. This is because the collector market has put substantial premiums on the original value of coins. The new counterfeits are much more difficult to recognize, simply because collectors inspect their cash much more carefully compared to merchants.

The profile of a bogus is like profiling a shoplifter. There is absolutely no. Some lower grade bullion coins are bogus. A lot of people aren't paying close attention to their bullion material, thus they are simple to avoid unnoticed. The pricey coins are a lot more profitable, but are also more carefully scrutinized.

Screening a new coin purchase:

1. Visual Test: Whenever i head to buy a coin, I primarily screen it by giving it a visible inspection. When I'm not familiar with the coin, I compare and contrast it to a known genuine example. I compare information on each side, looking carefully at the date and also value denomination. Next I evaluate the width. Bogus coins are almost always thicker than their authentic counterpart.

2. Ring Test: I give the coin the "ring" test simply by balancing it on the tip of my index finger and striking the edge with a Paper Mate stick pen. I take that with me as the striker, because it won't damage the coin, and it is solid enough to get a great ring out of the coin whenever you hit it. A pencil actually fails as well. I've grown to like the sustained "tingggg" I get from most coins I test.

The "ring" test works especially well on medium to larger coins. It's very useful on one ounce gold and silver coins. The vast, vast majority of coins ring. Not-ringing isn't a definite test of being fake however. I have came across a very few genuine coins that don't ring, but I will normally avoid a specimen that does not ring.

3. Weight Test: When a coin remains questionable, I will weigh it. The coin in question should weigh in half a gram of a true one, even though it would have to be a lot more than a gram off, before I would utilize weight to convict it.

No examination is infallible whenever testing a coin for authenticity. I must feel pretty certain of my allegation, just before calling a coin fake. When a coin fails two of my tests, I will often think of it as "highly questionable".




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