When Did Tungsten Counterfeit/Fake Krugerrands First Appear?

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Author	Replies: 4 / Views: 2,325
jskirwin Pillar of the Community United States 616 Posts	Posted 01/29/2021 3:55 pm 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. Report this Post to the Staff

chafemasterj Pillar of the Community United States 6514 Posts	Posted 01/29/2021 4:52 pm 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 Report this Post to the Staff
Spence Moderator United States 34396 Posts	Posted 01/29/2021 5:08 pm Looks like 2020-8 = 2012 or so at least according to the start of this article. "If you climb a good tree, you get a push." -----Ghanaian proverb "The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed." -----King Adz Report this Post to the Staff
glenmorenee Valued Member United States 311 Posts	Posted 02/04/2021 2:43 pm 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. Report this Post to the Staff
Sap Moderator Australia 16808 Posts	Posted 02/04/2021 6:51 pm 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 Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 4 / Views: 2,325

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When Did Tungsten Fake Krugerrands First Appear?