Fake American Silver Eagle Alert

[don]

Wanted to let you and readers know, today 4/3/2013, I just received 15 ASE counterfeit fakes, year 2000 from eBay. I thought it was as good deal, also got refund .

I work in radiology and had x-rays taken of real and fake, the fake coin can be x-rayed through; writing clearly visualized and authentic ASE can not (a solid white blank)…some kind of alloy I suspect?… Other similar details to the article in Coin World on the fake 2011 ASE’s coins that turned up in Canada in FEB 2013)…Beware…They are out there!!!!

Face and back images are oriented same (eagle and head up, authentic are opposite) and 2000 date slightly smaller in size than authentic ASE date. Fake coin is minimally thicker and minimally smaller in diameter. Non magnetic also.

The fake ASE’s are reportedly slightly underweight, year 2000 in date, and nearly perfect in appearance:

The Counterfeit:
One gram light…30.1g coin, is minimally thicker and minimally smaller in diameter. Side images are oriented same and 2000 date slightly smaller in size than authentic.

http://silverdoctors.com/tungsten-si...es-discovered/

[Milton Kuo]

Re: Fake American Silver Eagle Alert

From the photographs, it should be relatively easy to detect the counterfeit in-hand. The eagle's wings on the counterfeit lack the fine detail seen on authentic coins. Very likely due to the fact that the counterfeit uses a harder metal than silver and, if stamped, does not use the high-pressure stamping process the U.S. Mint does.

[c1ue]

Re: Fake American Silver Eagle Alert

What exactly is the point of a fake silver eagle?

Aren't they like $30 brand new to start with?

The cost of buying alloy, a stamping machine, creating a template, etc would make this enterprise seem very low profit.

[astonas]

Re: Fake American Silver Eagle Alert

What exactly is the point of a fake silver eagle?

Aren't they like $30 brand new to start with?

The cost of buying alloy, a stamping machine, creating a template, etc would make this enterprise seem very low profit.

A practice run for gold?

[FrankL]

Re: Fake American Silver Eagle Alert

What exactly is the point of a fake silver eagle?

Aren't they like $30 brand new to start with?

The cost of buying alloy, a stamping machine, creating a template, etc would make this enterprise seem very low profit.

This fact hasn't stopped people from faking even 1 GBP coins:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7628137.stm

[kriden]

Re: Fake American Silver Eagle Alert

I only buy from apmex and hope that is enough to protect me from this sort of thing.
False sense of security?

[BadJuju]

Re: Fake American Silver Eagle Alert

I hope so, kriden! It is the only place I have shopped from.

[charliebrown]

Re: Fake American Silver Eagle Alert

Did you say on the real, if the head is up, the eagle is down?? Why would you go through all of the work to make a fake with such a glaring mistake?
Do you still have the coins Don? Or did you have to return them for the refund?? I would be interested in getting one of these.
If you still have them, I will take one off of your hands.

I'm curious about using a metal detector to feret out fake coins. If you have one with a discriminator circuit, silver is just about the highest metal out there.
I can turn my detector to 10, and still get hits on pure silver coins. I'm not sure if copper "rings" on 10 too. I know iron, aluminum, nickel, gold etc
will not ring if i set my detector to 10. gold starts getting filtered out about 6.

I'm just wondering if this would be a cheap "fake" coin detector. You can buy a reasonable detector for around $200,
and besides you might be able to have your detector pay for itself if you find something. Going through my neighbors yard
old house and (got permssion) i found 95c of silver coins. Nothing rare, but probably worth $20 at bullion prices.

[verdo]

Re: Fake American Silver Eagle Alert

i would never buy PM's from ebay tbh. Apmex is all one really needs

[astonas]

Re: Fake American Silver Eagle Alert

I'm curious about using a metal detector to feret out fake coins. If you have one with a discriminator circuit, silver is just about the highest metal out there.
I can turn my detector to 10, and still get hits on pure silver coins. I'm not sure if copper "rings" on 10 too. I know iron, aluminum, nickel, gold etc
will not ring if i set my detector to 10. gold starts getting filtered out about 6.

I'm just wondering if this would be a cheap "fake" coin detector. You can buy a reasonable detector for around $200,
and besides you might be able to have your detector pay for itself if you find something. Going through my neighbors yard
old house and (got permssion) i found 95c of silver coins. Nothing rare, but probably worth $20 at bullion prices.

I wouldn't trust it.

A metal detector works by inducing electrical currents in the surface of a conductor, and is thus limited to probing only that deep.

I would expect most fakes to at least be plated in the metal they claim to be made of, thus a silver plated coin would look the same as a pure silver coin to such a measurement.

In general, electric fields don't exist inside a conductor. You'd have to go with magnetic fields, or high energies (eg. X-rays) to get much penetration.

[don]

Re: Fake American Silver Eagle Alert

E-bay refunded the order. All returned.

[newnewthing]

Re: Fake American Silver Eagle Alert

Lots of ways to detect counterfeit ASEs. These are cheap knockoffs. First rule of thumb is to always check the weight. Get a good scale that measures to .01g or .001 toz. An ASE wiil weight from 1.000 to 1.009 toz or so. If it's under 1.000 (and your scale is calibrated - they have to be) it is fake. If the weight is OK the thickness will almost always be too high. There are other fast tests you can add such as response to a strong magnet. Silver is an excellent conductor, far more than any allow which has similar density, and has a noticeably viscous feel when you run a magnet over it.

[doom&gloom]

Re: Fake American Silver Eagle Alert

For the roughly $30 i'd have kept one just to cut it in half and take a look inside...

[ph12321]

Re: Fake American Silver Eagle Alert

Ruh Roh!

I purchased an ASE monster box in 2008 from eBay, haven't opened it yet, as it is sealed with West Point Mint straps, so figured I was ok. All other pm purchases were from Kitco/Apmex/etc...

[c1ue]

Re: Fake American Silver Eagle Alert

This fact hasn't stopped people from faking even 1 GBP coins:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7628137.stm

A 1 GBP coin is far less likely to be closely scrutinized than collectors buying American Eagle coins.

The 1 GBP coin also doesn't require buying silver, or for that matter having to solve the technical problem of cladding silver over a baser core.