Gold Coins Fake Or Real?

You can always buy certified coins from PCGS or NGC ?

Just got to agree with buying only certified by a TPG service type. In the old days a fake coin could be detected by biting due to only Gold was soft enough and heavy enough to be goldish all the way through. However, with the ability in recent years to make metallic substances appear to be Gold by mixing certain metals and other substances, that is becoming very difficult. With the latest coin boom countries like China and a few others have been producing fakes and counterfeits of many coins. Unfortunately some have even started to couterfeit the PCGS and NGC holders for their fake coins making it even more difficult to know if what you have is real. Example is person I know that is a coin dealer had a 1916D Mercury dime in a TPG service holder although it was a little know organization. It was MS60 and his favorite coin. He decided to have it regraded by another TPG service to see if it would be upgraded but instead came back as a FAKE including the slab it was in. To sum it up you can take chances buying a raw Gold coin but at least your chances are increased if it was slabbed by a popularly known grading service.

to check for genuine composition, below are properties of each type..

Years Type diam. wt (g) density (g/cm^3)

Gold Dollar
1849-1853 13.0 1.67 18.27
1854 Liberty Head 13.0 1.67 18.27
1854 Indian Head 15.0 1.67 18.27
1855-1889 15.0 1.67 18.27
Quarter Eagle
1796-1827 20.0 4.37 18.50
1829-1833 18.2 4.37 18.50
1834 Capped Bust 18.2 4.37 18.50
1834 Classic Head 18.2 4.18 18.33
1835-1836 18.2 4.18 18.33
1837-1839 18.2 4.18 18.27
1840-1929 18.0 4.18 18.27
Three Dollar Gold
1854-1889 20.5 5.02 18.27
Half Eagle
1795-1828 25.0 8.75 18.44
1829-1838 23.8 8.75 18.44
1839-1840 22.5 8.36 18.27
1840-1929 21.6 8.36 18.27
Eagle
1795-1804 33.0 17.50 18.50
1838-1932 27.0 16.72 18.27
Double Eagle
1850-1932 34.0 33.44 18.27

more subjective ways to identify a fake are feeling the weight of the coin (gold is MUCH heavier than other coins), color (gold takes centuries to tarnish, but the copper takes only a few years. particularly circulated coins, the color will have a antique-ish color to it. unc pieces may or may not have it.
other things to look for, no matter what the composition, are detail in the strike, accuracy and location of all the features. its best to know the coin. different years have variations in the dies, common flaws, etc.

or to save time, have NGC or PCGS do all that for you.

quote:

---

You could do the old bite test.

---

Lol I was thinking the same thing. And I have to wonder about some of those strange marks on old gold coins... Teeth marks?

quote:

---

In the old days a fake coin could be detected by biting due to only Gold was soft enough and heavy enough to be goldish all the way through.

---

Ever bite a gold or silver coin? They may be soft but you are still courting a broken tooth. The bite was really used to test for a gold plated lead fake. The lead is MUCH softer so you would only apply a much softer bite to test for lead not gold and save your teeth.

quote:

---

Even that would only determine if they are of the correct composition, and not whether they are genuine or not.

---

He asked how to tell if they were gold, not if they were genuine. :)