I was sent FAKE Walking Liberty Half Dollars! How to test YOUR coins! 

Went to a private sale sunday to purchase 6 morgans. 5 out of 6 ended up being fake and explained why i knew they were fake right away. weighed them in front of the guy, pinged them, and 3 were magnetic. Only purchased the one real one. The reason I added that anecdote, i realize that counterfeiters will do and make ANYTHING that is worth money, and a part of me has fun testing the product, but i really wish it wasn't necessary in every private purchase. I hate that we live in a world where everyone is trying to "get one over" on their fellow man. Oh, in case you were curious, the person i purchased the coin from was an old crippled man that was merely trying to sell his treasures for cash because he was pretty hard up for cash. Nearly brought him to tears when i showed him his coins were fake. Really big punch to the gut, ya know. Anyways, it's the nature of the beast i spose. Take care.

I almost got burned on 3 ounces of 999.9 fine gold with asssy cards from International Diamond Centers of Florida at Altamonte Springs. Luckily I had my receipt after gold was tested and they reluctantly agreed to replace the gold. Watch out buying gold and silver from anyone, even the reputable gold bullion dealers. I’ll never shop at IDC again, crooks.

I saw a video years ago around 2009 when that gold bar in NY was on the news- it showed a Chinese counterfeit junk silver factory. They tumbled and acid washed coins to give them an aged look.

It's crazy that some of the lower price coins would be faked, or counterfeited. Helps to know what to look at. Good info Spegtacular

I immediately knew which two because I unsuspectingly bought a lead counterfeit from a local pawn shop a few weeks ago. It's 2 grams lighter and about 1mm thicker. I bought it because it was the ugliest one they had. 🤦‍♀️

It's depressing how how much of this stuff is out there. The more of this I see the more I dislike China. Thanks for sharing!

Sometimes Ben Franklins from the 60's have the bars outside the brackets. If you set it to pre 45 instead of the year 60 the bar shows up in the middle correctly. The creator of the Precious Metal Verifier mentioned that the silver content can be slightly off if the bar show just outside the brackets. Did this with a 5 oz. Englehard and also took it to my coin shop and on their equipment it was fine.

I've never found, bought or seen a fake but then again I've never asked at my lcs if thay have any. Cool just to be able to show one at my coin club.

Great information to know. Thank you for the education my friend 🙏🏻

Tried the electric slide, couldn't keep up 😁 repackage the pinger and call it the SpegOmeter! Thanks for sharing

My first test with constitutional silver coins is to just drop them on the tabletop (from a half inch, or so.) You should hear the distinctive "silver ring". I have an advantage in that I'm old, and was around when this money was in circulation. You never forget that sound of silver hitting the store counter or bar top. Maybe not the best test for UC or proof coins, but it's quick, and a good first indicator.

Very helpful, thank you.

I've had a suspiciously thin & clean 1907 barber half dollar in my stack for quite a while now. After passing the ping test and seeing that the mass was 11.4g, I think it was safe to conclude that it's most likely authentic but vigorously cleaned by someone. Very helpful. Thanks

How common are these counterfeit half dollars and quarters? I have no idea if some are in my collection or not and now I am concerned

Thank you Spegtacular ❤

Something the size of half dollars and dollars you can just put on your palm or fingertip and wave a rare earth magnet closely over it and feel/see it wiggling without any physical contact. Silver is diamagnetic instead of ferromagnetic, which are science words meaning it has to travel through the magnetic field for something to happen. If you don't want the abrasion of sliding a coin down the magnet, just feel it wiggle. Less silver than in a half dollar will start to get difficult to detect the affects though.

Thanks for uploading the video. I'll take a look.

Nice job man. Good video!

Thanks for the info!

I love my Pocket Pinger! He also has some nice examples of fakes you can buy for reference.

Hiiiii Speggy! Those darn counterfeit walkers are popular for those jerks making them. I have something you will enjoy cutting up, it will be interesting for you to video! Great video to find out those fakes!

Very helpful. Thanks.

Hey hey got them right just by looking. But I also do ping tests in the store and try to remember my magnet. It doesn't give the whole view but it helps, and any LCS worth their salt will put their product on their Sigma machines to show they're legit. It's always good to to have cuation.

I may stop stacking coins because of this video. Very informative video. I hope the good coin dealers destroy all fake coins they find.

Thanks for the Info.

Good video again You might want to mention that circulated Coins will not way their full mintage wait a good rule of thumb is 90% anything over 11.5 g if it’s well-worn will be within range Oops sorry I wrote this as I was watching and now I see you mention the circulation wear

Awesome info. Thanks. Why would someone fake a clad quarter? I guess if they make enough of them it would be profitable.

Funny that I called which one were fake before you told us. :) Proud of myself.

How are these counterfeit coins made? Where do they come from?

@speg does the bank americard classify eBay and usmint purchases as 3% cash back online purchases?

I often test with the specific gravity test, this is the test where water is used, it's very accurate

Just bought one... if you are heading to a coin show it might be nice to have... not sure the app will work in room with all the background noise? Any experience with that?

can you use a garret 250 ace to see if silver is real?

I usually run a magnet over and just go off feel and sight, i never came across any fakes yet, that i know of. I should probably take a little more precaution, When i first started stacking i was testing everything i bought..

Is it normal for an AU or UNC Walker to be a little over 12.50 like 12.53 or something? Some of my coins have been like that, I assumed they were still genuine, no?

Sounds like the Secret Service isn't doing their job. Maybe they need some layoffs.

Question? Have people seen fakes with newer coins? Such as 2018 or newer ASEs? Thanks.

thanks for the info. we all must be careful.

Quick question (I hope you might know)... Does the Sigma Metallics machine test Canadian coins as well?

Always good to verify 👍 🔥🦈🌊

I've never gotten a fake coin from online retailers but I did get a 1966 Kennedy half dollar in a roll of 64s. 😒

Got the first one right but I just thought that second one was dirty. I thought it was the real shiny one close to it

Mines are old but they seem to be silver I have about 3

They look legit at first blush. But, up close, those coins are an odd color.

Hi! I have one 1918-S walking Liberty half dollar. And its Weight 11,54 gram, is it fake? Thank you for your answer.

What issues are people having with the sigma precious metal verifier? I use mine regularly and am not aware of any issues.

Damn now I have to check all my half dollars.

Ed's elegant coins is a great place, I know that place

Thanks for the tips speg

Ah ha I picked them right out, the color was off to me…

Sigma tested enough said! Thank's speg

Good morning speg

A goden LIBRETAD?! Im so hating on you right now. Great video

they fake everything, thanks for the vid. I like the walkers, good to know.

Very interesting 👍

I guess a way of getting rid of fakes is to sneak a few in a batch of real ones.

Oh dear

thumbs up algorithm food

Wow! 😲

got them both instantly lol and im dutch not even americain :P

Thank You for helping & enlightening the community w/this great video, It's always a pleasure to help Ed from Ed's elegant coins (E E C)

Limited Mintage Club!

We are finding a lot of "old" mexican fake coins lately.... they look fake from a mile away. so be carefull buying mexican clasic coinage

lol 3-4 people bro you’re younger than I would have thought don’t take it the wrong way

I know Sigma charges what the market will bear, but the machine is far too expensive for the casual coin collector. You pretty much must be a dealer to justify spending so much. If you collect expensive coins like CC Morgans then a Sigma might not do any good anyway: the counterfeiter would use 90% silver to make their fake.

Thanks for sharing this information with me Colorado Silverback777 Stay Healthy.

I want to wake up one morning and find out that my portfolio is $1,000,000 . I know it’s possible

First

I received a fake yesterday. It was like 4 grams light and didn't have any ridges on the side. It's like they didn't even try to make it look real