Rare Earth Magnets and Testing Coins and Bullion Bars

dealer6871

Thought I might start a thread about rare earth magnets. Has anyone used these to test coins and, for that matter, bullion bars? I read in a signed book about buying, selling and trading silver that rare earth magnets should be used to test coins, bullion, etc. So I invested in some from an online retailer. The magnets have been sitting around for awhile, not being used just yet. Any feedback (posts, etc.) would be welcomed and helpful. I'm wondering how these might be used, as they are varying sizes (from very tiny round magnets to very large). Thanks in advance!

Ownerofawheatiehorde

Yes, I set up a magnet slide a few months ago.

Ownerofawheatiehorde

dealer6871

I was thinking that there was some type of methodology to this...something that makes sense to the more educated.

Maywood

When I worked in a con shop we had a rare earth magnet slide similar to what @Ownerofawheatiehorde shows. It was at about a 60' angle and we used it mainly for Morgan/Peace Dollars, we bought many over the counter and there are plenty of fakes. IIRC, the fakes didn't slide as fast as the genuine coins.

OOPS, watching the video I remembered wrong!!

Conshyboy

@Ownerofawheatiehorde said:

What is the process of using one of these.,never seen or heard of one.

davewesen

I searched youtube and found this short video explaining and showing how it works

https://youtube.com/watch?v=8gLB2uMAMYM

AUandAG

I've used one for years.... Bought about a dozen that are about 1/2" in diameter. Work great and just take the magnet and let it slide down the bar or coin. Hold the coin at an angle. Slight magnetism slows the sliding coin just a tad but plenty enough to see the difference. Just stick them around here and there. Have one always stuck to the keyway on my desk drawer. They work on silver or gold.
bob
vegas baby!

CoinHoarder

@dealer6871 :

These are the magnets I use from time to time. I generally put my silver coin or silver bar/round at an angle, and let one of the small magnets slide down. If it slides down slowly, that is a good sign. If it slides down fast, there might be a problem. I usually do this test on circulated silver dollars and bullion.

Ownerofawheatiehorde

@Conshyboy said:

@Ownerofawheatiehorde said:

What is the process of using one of these.,never seen or heard of one.

I hold the slide at an angle, then I slide both an authentic coin and the suspected coin at the same time. Usually a counterfeit coin slides faster/slower than the real one.

Namvet69

I carry 2 external hard drive magnets all the time. Use them when I'm on the hunt. They work.

Smudge

@CoinHoarder said:

@dealer6871 :

These are the magnets I use from time to time. I generally put my silver coin or silver bar/round at an angle, and let one of the small magnets slide down. If it slides down slowly, that is a good sign. If it slides down fast, there might be a problem. I usually do this test on circulated silver dollars and bullion.

I have used this trick and it works pretty well.

krueger

Read the above posts seem conflicting reports on : does real one slide slower than a fake one or vice versa??
Can someone clarify this.

Conshyboy

Real one slides slower, you can watch the video that @davewesen posted(Thanks Dave) to see how the slide works..

Coinscratch

tag

MetroD

@krueger said:
Read the above posts seem conflicting reports on : does real one slide slower than a fake one or vice versa??
Can someone clarify this.

Depends on the composition of the fake.

In the video @davewesen posted, the fakes slide faster.
In this video, one of the fakes slides slower (steel coating? @ 15:15). Other fakes do not slide at all.

As @Ownerofawheatiehorde suggested, this is probably best used as a comparative tester (i.e., test sample vs. known authentic).

Edited.