Question about fake Silver Eagles.

Downtown1974

Is weighing silver eagles the best way to rule out counterfeits? I own alot of NGC eagles so, that took the guess work out of it for me. Lately I have been buying alot of raw Eagles from my local shop. I bought a postage scale at Staples last week and they all measure up fine. Just curious if this is the method I should be using. Any help is appreciated.

nibanny

Weight, diameter and thickness. Counterfeit coins should not match them all.
Plus, if you own already some, a visual check should clear any doubt.
MM

OPA

Buy them directly, in rolls of 20, from a US Mint AP. Guaranteed, no counterfeit in that batch.

PerryHall

I didn't realise there was a problem with counterfeit ASE's. It's just as much work to make a counterfeit trade dollar or Morgan dollar and it's far more profitable. You can check them for weight and dimensions but you can also do a side by side comparison with a known genuine specimen although real ASE's vary in surface texture and luster.

jmski52

Are fake Silver Eagles becoming prevalent now?

OPA

<< <i>Are fake Silver Eagles becoming prevalent now? >>



Unlikely...never heard of one, but PM paranoia is prevalent though.

fishcooker

A sealed monster box would solve the problem.

Weiss

I think I've seen fake reverses on obvious fantasy fake pieces (seated obverse, SAE reverse). But I've never come across a fake silver eagle.

I don't doubt they're out there.

For what it's worth: If you're truly worried about fakes, and you're not comfortable with your own ability to confirm an eagle's authenticity: buying coins in slabs won't help you. There are fake slabs out there, too.

Which brings up a topic I found quite interesting--modern forgeries. But I'll start another thread about it rather than hijacking this one

johnny9434

<< <i>

<< <i>Are fake Silver Eagles becoming prevalent now? >>



Unlikely...never heard of one, but PM paranoia is prevalent though. >>

they might have branched off into the ase's

ricko

Fake ASE's? I have not seen any reports of them as yet.... no doubt it can (and likely will) be done. Weight, size and thickness should tell you... Cheers, RickO

CaptHenway

Saw my first fake silver eagle in the coin shop almost ten years ago. Was in a batch of fakes bought on the street in China. The date read 1906; apparently the counterfeiter used a 1986 or 1996 as his model and changed the date in his die to make it appear older.

Normal dimensions, but base metal and light weight.

As much more convincing modern bullion coins are being shipped into Australia from China, I would be amazed if American Eagles were not being counterfeited as well.

TD

mkman123

I have personally seen one 3 yrs ago, poorly made however the Chinese have gotten bettet

Downtown1974

Thanks for the replies everyone. I have heard of the 1906 example that Capt. is speaking of. There was also one floating around with a smooth outer edge rather than the normal reeded edge they have. Now, I know those are obvious just by looking, but has the technology improved for these forgers to manufacture a coin with the same properties as a real ASE? I dont believe its prevalent, but I can see the potential of it being a concern.

Mockingjay

Buy a scale and caliper, obtain the specs for any bullion coins you want to buy. I test much of what I buy for a sanity check.

If PMs keep going up, counterfeiting will be shortly behind.

jdimmick

I have seen several, but all the ones I have seen are easily identifable, now on the other hand, some of the fake morgan silver $ coming out as of late are pretty good fakes, many have been aged and weigh pretty close to dead on. These would easily fool many inexperienced person, (see my earlier post last week of the 300 Morgan auction issue)

guitarwes

All of the above AND a good strong magnet helps also.