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 Replies: 13 / Views: 1,194 |
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Valued Member
United States
208 Posts |
My dad is interested in buying gold. He does not want to pay the premium for a slabbed coin(even though this guarantees it's authentic). IS there any way we can be sure that the coin we are buying is REAL. I am new to the coin collecting business, and I don't know how popular counter-fitting American Gold Eagles is, or MAple Leaves, Pandas ect and wouldn't want to run into one...
I considered buying from a dealer that does business with PCGS or NGC.. I live in South Jersey BTW, anyone know any coin dealers?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
751 Posts |
Didn't people used to bite into gold to prove its authenticity? You can always go that route.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2269 Posts |
Buying gold that has been graded by companies such as PCGS, NCG, ANACS, and ICG, is a much safer bet than buying it raw. You may want to consider buying coins that are encapsulated and then breaking them out of their holder, this way you can be reassured as to what you are buying and you can hold them in your hand, if you choose to do so. If you would like to go down this route, then ebay might be a good place to buy graded bullion. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2365 Posts |
If you buy from a reputable dealer/show/person than you can be pretty sure that you're buying the real thing...otherwise, they ruin their own reputation/business, etc. Once you start purchasing gold you will be able to spot the difference with a keen eye...it's not that difficult. As for biting them to see if they're real...no, no, no - not a coin. You wouldn't want to leave any marks, etc.
Be forewarned that slabbed coins do not necessarily guarantee authenticy as it is quite easy to pop one of those little puppies out and back into another one. You are buying the coin, not the slab
Believe me, it's not that difficult to tell from the look, feel and weight what is real versus what is not - it just takes time to learn.
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Valued Member
 United States
208 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by Spider5689
Buying gold that has been graded by companies such as PCGS, NCG, ANACS, and ICG, is a much safer bet than buying it raw. You may want to consider buying coins that are encapsulated and then breaking them out of their holder, this way you can be reassured as to what you are buying and you can hold them in your hand, if you choose to do so. If you would like to go down this route, then ebay might be a good place to buy graded bullion.
This is a valid point. My dad does not want to pay the premium for the slab. I suggested to him that he buy from a reputable exchange, such as the APMEX, but shipping is 14.95. I can see it now, biting int0 a AGE.  |
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Valued Member
United States
208 Posts |
Seems like the 2007 Canadian Maple Leaf 1oz coin is the cheapest from APMEX, for 671.00 shipped $ insured. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1626 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
390 Posts |
If you are thinking about buying raw gold coins on ebay, then you need to do your homework on the seller. It is pretty easy to find honest sellers. Look at their feedback, go to toolhaus.com and put in their ID to see what the neutral and negative feedback says, and also read the positive feedback. If they have thousands of feedbacks, then you have a better chance of not getting scammed. If you want to buy bullion coins, then this is a website to check out: http://www.goldcentral.com/qry/stor...273ad8a10fc5They have the cheapest bullion coins I've seen. I purchased several gold Buffalo's from them and had not issues. |
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Moderator
 Australia
16808 Posts |
There are two aspects to your question:
1. Is it a genuine coin or a counterfeit?
2. Is it really made of gold?
The second question is easier to prove, once you have the coin in hand; you can judge by weight, specific gravity or other tests. A forger may well make a fake coin out of real gold; such a "coin" would still be worth bullion.
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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Pillar of the Community
Belgium
2078 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by Sap
There are two aspects to your question:
1. Is it a genuine coin or a counterfeit?
2. Is it really made of gold?
The second question is easier to prove, once you have the coin in hand; you can judge by weight, specific gravity or other tests. A forger may well make a fake coin out of real gold; such a "coin" would still be worth bullion.
I know by weighing to 0.01 grams and using calipers that my sovereigns are real gold Are they authentic ? I do not care since I buy at melt plus 1.5%  I never heard of anybody counterfeighting Nuggets or Krugers or Eagles or Maples ect in real gold So if you get a weighing scale and calipers you are set |
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Valued Member
United States
208 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by ageka
quote:
Originally posted by Sap
There are two aspects to your question:
1. Is it a genuine coin or a counterfeit?
2. Is it really made of gold?
The second question is easier to prove, once you have the coin in hand; you can judge by weight, specific gravity or other tests. A forger may well make a fake coin out of real gold; such a "coin" would still be worth bullion.
I know by weighing to 0.01 grams and using calipers that my sovereigns are real gold
Are they authentic ?
I do not care since I buy at melt plus 1.5%
I never heard of anybody counterfeighting Nuggets or Krugers or Eagles or Maples ect in real gold
So if you get a weighing scale and calipers you are set
OK So I Can buy a scale digital scale. What are calipers? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2254 Posts |
Ranger, here is a link to some Calipers. http://catalog.starrett.com/catalog...?GroupID=346While I wouldn't recommend Starrett as they are pricey, they do make a good product. You can get a $15 set at Sears probably. It's not like you will be machining anything. |
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Pillar of the Community
Belgium
2078 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by tights24
Ranger, here is a link to some Calipers.
http://catalog.starrett.com/catalog...?GroupID=346
While I wouldn't recommend Starrett as they are pricey, they do make a good product. You can get a $15 set at Sears probably. It's not like you will be machining anything.
These are all fancy dial calipers I guess you got them with digital read out too these days I got a 20 year old stainless steel one with a nonius scale giving me one tenth of a millimeter with some practice I would avoid cheap plastic ones though |
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Pillar of the Community
Belgium
2078 Posts |
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Replies: 13 / Views: 1,194 |
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Posted 12/13/2006 10:53 pm
