It is sad to know that there are coin collectors who get scammed of fake or counterfeit coins. It shouldn’t be that way, right? How can someone have the heart to take advantage of their fellow collectors? The sad truth is that counterfeit and fake coins do exist. It has been, and always will exist as long as there are people who are willing to spend a fortune on rare and collectible coins.

So if you are a coin collector and you want to add more to your collection from the coin dealers near me, you wouldn’t want to be one of these individuals who get scammed for their money. To protect you, here are some tips that you can use to help you identify fake and counterfeit coins in the market these days:

Do A Magnetic Test

Yes, there are many fakes that can pass this test, but when it comes to silver and gold bullion, they are non-magnetic. So if these are the coins that you mostly have, you can do the magnetic test to ensure that what you have is genuine. If for example, the bullion coin sticks to the magnet, then you should throw this one out because it does not worth anything.

Most fakes are produced using iron or steel content which can be easily detected using magnetic attraction. The stronger the magnet, the better. For example, a neodymium magnet can detect any iron or steel-based metal. So for this technique, you need to make sure that you have a strong magnet.

The Magnetic Slide Test

Still using a magnet, you can do another test to spot your silvers. Even though silver is known to be non-magnetic, it still has a property also known as diamagnetism. This will cause the silver to repel when it gets in contact with the magnetic field. This means that if you have real silver and you move it down the magnetic slide, it will move slower compared to a fake silver. If you have a fake silver, it will move down with no resistance at all.

Using Dimension Tests

You can use this test for bullion coins that were minted by the government. The best way to do this is to use a digital electronic scale. What you want to get is a scale that measures at least 2 decimal points in grams. When you are weighing your coins, take into consideration the tolerance or the variance in weight. There is no exact guideline for this, but as a rule of thumb, anything that is 31.1g to 31.8g should be okay. 

Use An Ice Test

If you cannot get yourself a magnet for now, for sure you have ice in your freezer. This is cheap and very easy to do. You can use this to test your silver coins or bars for its authenticity. All you have to do is place the ice on your silver and observe. The ice should melt right away because silver is a conductor of heat for all metals.

There are so many ways that you can do to ensure that you have real coins. This is why you have to learn simple yet effective tricks to get this done. In fact, you can find more info here to help you identify if your coins are genuine or fake.