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When Did Tungsten Fake Krugerrands First Appear?

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jskirwin's Avatar
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 Posted 01/29/2021  3:55 pm Show Profile   Bookmark this topic Add jskirwin to your friends list Get a Link to this Message Number of Subscribers
I have a Krugerrand I purchased from my LCS in 1980-81 when I was a kid. I've pulled it out of the safe deposit box and checked weight and diameter with electronic scales. Those look good. Color looks good, as do the details described at the South African mint website.

My only concern is tungsten. Does anyone know when those fakes first appeared? My reading on the internet suggests them to be a relatively recent invention.
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chafemasterj's Avatar
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 Posted 01/29/2021  4:52 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add chafemasterj to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I don't know if this answers your question but I found the article informative.

https://coinsweekly.com/how-to-tell...ecious-gold/
Check out my counterstamped Lincoln Cent collection:
http://goccf.com/t/303507
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Spence's Avatar
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 Posted 01/29/2021  5:08 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Spence to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Looks like 2020-8 = 2012 or so at least according to the start of this article.
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 Posted 02/04/2021  2:43 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add glenmorenee to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
My only concern is tungsten.


How is the ping?

That's about the extent of my tests. Gram scale to hundreths, ping, loupe and rough check of dimensions. But if weight and ping are OK, I'm pretty much done.
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Sap's Avatar
Australia
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 Posted 02/04/2021  6:51 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Sap to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
The earliest known case of criminals counterfeiting gold by using gold-plated tungsten I can find is this New York Times article from 1983, where gold ingots were counterfeited.

I suspect making tungsten-fake Krugerrands occurred much, much later, as you need to combine tungsten working with realistic coinage dies. If your coin dates from 1980, and you have certainty in that provenance, then it should be fine.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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