CoinWorld Article on Counterfeit Bullion - Buyer Beware!
sebrown
Posts: 424 ✭
Coin World Article out today on counterfeit bullion in the marketplace. It's good to know that Sunshine recently began producing bullion with a security feature:
<< <i>Sunshine’s newly branded bullion products are being struck containing Mint Mark SI, a “Scrambled Indicia” security feature that was originally developed for the printing industry by Graphic Security Systems Corp., located in Lake Worth, Fla.
Sunshine is the first mint to develop this technology for use on bullion products, according to Sunshine.
Sunshine’s hallmark, featuring an eagle in flight with the sun and rays in the background, dominates the new obverse design of its bullion products. The weight and fineness are also stamped incuse on the obverse.
Gold bars are certified to be .9999 fine, ranging in size from 1 gram to 100 grams; are serialized; and are housed in specialized Tamper Evident Packaging. Silver bars and rounds will feature the Sunshine Minting hallmark and are certified to be .999 fine and range in size from a half ounce to 100 ounces.
The Mint Mark SI security devices are located in the middle of the reverse of each of the newly produced bullion products. The security devices are invisible to the naked eye and are readable only by using a special decoder.
The decoder, approximately the size of a credit card, reveals the primary security device when the decoder is passed over the central circular device.
Microprinting readable through magnification appears around the top and bottom border of the central device, appearing as MINT MARK SI.
Passing the decoder over the central reverse design reveals the first security device, appearing as VALID, between the MINT MARK SI microprinting. Turning the decoder 90 degrees counterclockwise reveals the second security device in the same location, with the word VALID replaced with a sun and rays motif.
The security devices are also visible using an adaptor made for the iPhone. >>
Going to have to find that iPhone app (or adaptor)!!
There is also a link to another good site on Fake Silver Bars and Coins that has some very good info on determining if your item is real or fake.
<< <i>Sunshine’s newly branded bullion products are being struck containing Mint Mark SI, a “Scrambled Indicia” security feature that was originally developed for the printing industry by Graphic Security Systems Corp., located in Lake Worth, Fla.
Sunshine is the first mint to develop this technology for use on bullion products, according to Sunshine.
Sunshine’s hallmark, featuring an eagle in flight with the sun and rays in the background, dominates the new obverse design of its bullion products. The weight and fineness are also stamped incuse on the obverse.
Gold bars are certified to be .9999 fine, ranging in size from 1 gram to 100 grams; are serialized; and are housed in specialized Tamper Evident Packaging. Silver bars and rounds will feature the Sunshine Minting hallmark and are certified to be .999 fine and range in size from a half ounce to 100 ounces.
The Mint Mark SI security devices are located in the middle of the reverse of each of the newly produced bullion products. The security devices are invisible to the naked eye and are readable only by using a special decoder.
The decoder, approximately the size of a credit card, reveals the primary security device when the decoder is passed over the central circular device.
Microprinting readable through magnification appears around the top and bottom border of the central device, appearing as MINT MARK SI.
Passing the decoder over the central reverse design reveals the first security device, appearing as VALID, between the MINT MARK SI microprinting. Turning the decoder 90 degrees counterclockwise reveals the second security device in the same location, with the word VALID replaced with a sun and rays motif.
The security devices are also visible using an adaptor made for the iPhone. >>
Going to have to find that iPhone app (or adaptor)!!
There is also a link to another good site on Fake Silver Bars and Coins that has some very good info on determining if your item is real or fake.
"In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation [...] Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights." - Alan Greenspan
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"Interest rates, the price of money, are the most important market. And, perversely, they’re the market that’s most manipulated by the Fed." - Doug Casey
Pity the poor fool that buys em' in a small shop that resembles the Blade Runner set.