Hi Sef, We'd recommend you talk to your local coin shops or numismatic experts for more assistance. We can't value a coin that we havn't seen in person.
Where did you get the fake version? I'm surprised you didn't discuss this, as it would be helpful to know in what ways these fakes typically turn up, and how you can know who to trust. For instance, do coin shops do their due diligence in examining, weighing, scanning, etc when buying coins, so future customers can be assured they are real? Should we stay away from ebay? What about big online retailers like SD Bullion? Enquiring minds want to know how we protect ourselves from fraud.
Hi there. Any fakes we see within the show room, we test for gold content, we like to take the fakes for scrap gold. As this gets them off the streets and minimises the risk of these being passed off as 'real' to someone who is new to the coin world. Hope this helps!
One of the things I've heard of is tungsten inside of coins and bars. The weight is about the same so crooks are using cheap tungsten to imitate gold. There is a scanner out there for about $50 that will detect tungsten and it's called a gold lock scanner. I'm not sure if I'm going to buy one or not. Has anyone seen one or used one of these scanners?
Lawrence says: We have been hearing the stories about tungsten fakes for years, but never yet seen one. As soon as we do, we will run multiple tests on it, including sound. Some of fake detectors sound useful, but most have limited application. We would always remain happy to appraise one and report on it.
Thanks Garry, you may want to remove your personal email address however - it can/will be used to send you spam or malicious email if you leave it publicly available.
If it is purely a bullion coin, traded at close to intrinsic, then of course you are right. However - Gold sovereigns for example are bullion coins, but also have numismatic interest. A minty 1841 sovereign would be worth about 100 times its gold content, so this comes into the category of numismatic forgery. Also over many years, and many countries, there have been "exchange controls" used, and these can distort demand, and help create black market prices. Back in the 1960's and even 1940's, sovereigns traded at premiums of around 40% in many places, just for their gold content, so obviously, there existed a huge incentive. Indeed this in one reason the British Royal Mint issued 1925 dated London Mint sovereigns between about 1948 and 1951; and then restarted again in 1957. Most of these points we have covered in blogs or info pages on our websites, Some of these page date back to 1998, but are still relevant.
![How to Spot a Fake [5] : 1903 Gold Double Eagle](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
