Hey all, I hope this is the right section for this. I was about to drive and pick up 3 silver eagles for $20 a pop, but backed out because I am a novice at this, and don't want to pick up anything fake. There was a link on youtube that said 31.3g are the fake ones, but I have one I bought from my coin shop that weighs 31.3-31.4 .... Am I to believe that one is fake ?
Any tips would be appreciated. Is there a set weight that tells you it is fake ?
1) Look up photos of reported fake silver eagles, and compare them to genuine silver eagles. You can learn the characteristics of a genuine one, and also the fake ones. Usually the fakes have a design error, which you should be able to tell by comparing to the real deal.
2) Make sure you calibrate the scale before usage. Check if it reads 0 grams before you put anything on it.
3) An ASE can weigh anywhere from 31.1 grams to even as high as 31.6~9, even 32 grams in uncommon cases. So, knowing what the real deal looks like is very important.
4) If it sticks to a magnet, it is most definitely fake.
It also helps to know what years they were minted. You'll sometimes see fakes with the date 1906. For me what helps most is the "cartwheel luster" on a silver eagle (do a quick search on here to see what I mean). Also the heft of the coin, but also if weight bothers you then you should get some calipers and measure the diameter and thickness.
You can also do the ring test you will clearly hear the diff between fake and real,test it on silver coins to hear the sound then you will get a idea of what it should sound like
There is a ' tissue test' for silver coins... Place a dry tissue or singly ply toilet paper over the coin. If the coin is white through the tissue, it IS silver. If you see a grey color, dark outline of the coin it IS NOT silver.
Be careful... if the coin is in a slab, 2X2, or flip cover, the test is not reliable. To do the test, you have to take it out of the holder.
That page goes over 5: Size & Weight, Magnetism, Diamagnetism, Ring, and Strike & Appearance and can catch about 95% of counterfeits presently in the market right off the bat.
The ice test is inadvisable as it can easily damage the coin, and unless you have it "calibrated" (that is to say, testing melt time of the same weight of ice between your test eagle and a genuine eagle at the same temperature) it can easily be thrown off.
The reason that ice melts faster on silver is that silver conducts heat so rapidly (the "scalding silver spoon effect").
They have to be genuine 99.9% Silver if -They all weigh 31.x grams -They all are .11x inches thick -They have the right diameter to fit snugly into coin tubes -They don't stick to a magnet -Neodymium button magnet slides very slowly over their surface
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Posted 06/07/2014 07:49 am
Many fakes I've seen have much less of a "shine" to them, whereas the genuine ASEs are blazing and oozing with lots and lots of cartwheel luster.
