Silver Dollar Values Prices Skyrocketing, 7 Ways To Tell If Your Gold Is Fake

Feb. 21, 2013 - PRLog -- With the marketplace for gold expanding at a feverish pace, it is now more essential than ever to understand that your gold will be the real deal, especially with gold prices seeking to break through the $2,000 mark in the new year.

Gold counterfeiting is absolutely nothing new. In reality, just lately there had been reports of fake gold bars from China turning up in New York. Instead of gold, their centers had been stuffed with tungsten. Learn More >> http://www.silver-dollar-values.com

Right here are seven methods to discover out when the gold you personal is real:

Fake Gold Test #1: Size

Whether or not we're speaking about coins, wafers, or bars, the producers of those products generally have very exacting requirements. So a bit study goes a long method to making certain you get what you anticipate.

Discover out what the accurate dimensions of the item should be, and then evaluate them to what you have. Learn More >> http://www.silver-dollar-values.com/SELLING-GOLD/

To do this, purchase your self a great high quality pair of calipers so that you simply can measure the diameter, thickness or other dimension of one's gold item very precisely.

Gold is really a very dense metal, so some counterfeiters might make a coin in a wider diameter, in order to compensate to get a less dense metal. In the event you evaluate gold to iron, it requires twice the volume of iron to equal exactly the same weight of gold.

Plating other metals with gold nonetheless enables them to match the correct weight, however the size could be off. The distinction might be very minor, but in the event you know what to look for, you are able to spot the fake.

Fake Gold Test #2: Magnetic

Gold isn't magnetic. So if it sticks, your gold is fake. But to do this, you will need a stronger than average magnet. The type accessible from a specialized hardware store should do it.

Maintain in thoughts that counterfeiters clearly know this too. So they will usually use metals that are not magnetic to prevent this kind of detection.

Just do not use this test alone.

Fake Gold Test #3: Weight

Clearly, one accurate and tested way of being certain you get what you ordered is by quantity. And weight is really a fantastic way of checking.

Get your self a great high quality, precise scale. Then, primarily based around the stated weight in your coin, wafer or bar, it should match up completely.

Maintain in thoughts although, that gold is weighed in troy ounces. One troy ounce is equal to about 1.09714 "avoirdupois" ounces, that is the regular 1-ounce measurement we use in daily life.

Fake Gold Test #4: Visual

Understanding what you are searching for will definitely help right here. It is a discovered ability, but maintain an eye out for something that appears odd or abnormal.

A decent, powerful magnifying glass goes a long method to pinpoint oddities.

You are able to look for high quality pictures of one's coin or bar, and then evaluate that with what is in your hands. Be meticulous in your look for minute particulars, all of which should be spot on.

Gold coins are a great choice for gold "investments." You see, counterfeiters will frequently (but not usually), fake bigger gold products because it is more worth their while. Following all, if you are going to go through all of the painstaking difficulty and risk, the payoff may also be large.

The test techniques I've described so far apply to fairly a lot any type of "investment" gold. But in the event you take the leap and obtain a larger-sized gold item, you will find a few other tests that may be performed for veracity.

The truth is, anybody who owns gold in the type of a bigger bar, say ten ounces and up, ought to think about getting it verified.

Fake Gold Test #5: Assay

One choice is referred to as the fire assay test. This really is usually utilized by gold explorers/miners who require absolute certainty that their drilled samples would be the real thing.

Fire assays are an ancient technique. They're probably the most extensively utilized and regarded as probably the most dependable. The downside is the fact that it entails drilling in to the gold bar to provide a minimum of 12 grams (0.2 ounce) to be tested. Some feel removing even a small quantity of the bar will take away from its integrity. But some gold bullion dealers, for their personal assurance, will decide to cut your bar if you've agreed to sell it to them.

Another downside with fire assays is the fact that you are really only testing the small portion you've sent to the testers. So if there is really a void or other metal in the center of the bar, the test won't discover it.

Assay testers will generally take about three days and charge about $35 to test a gold sample. They will also provide an official signed report using the results.

Fake Gold Test #6: X-ray

X-ray testers are another choice to check your gold. Jewelers will sometimes use these to test any gold they purchase.

The tester quickly performs chemistry analysis to determine what elements are present in the gold. They also can inform the purity and fineness of the metal.

X-ray testing does have a ±1% accuracy rating, so while minor, there is some chance for error. The other drawback is the fact that it is essentially a surface test, so if there's a void or another material in the center of the bar or coin, then X-ray testing won't detect it.

Around the plus side, it is nondestructive and non-intrusive, so the integrity of one's gold won't be compromised. You will know, a minimum of, when the surface of the item is real gold.

Fake Gold Test #7: Ultrasound

Ultrasound testing is really a method to "look into" your gold. It uses exactly the same ultrasound technology familiar to all pregnant women.

Essentially, this technique scans the item, providing a digital image of the gold bar.

If there is an air gap or other material inside the gold bar, this will show up as a darker area around the screen's image.

This really is expensive equipment, so it might be challenging to locate someone who could provide testing services.

The advantage is the fact that ultrasonic flaw detectors can actually "see" the inside of one's bar, so the results provide a high degree of confidence in the bar's integrity. In the event you want to see exactly how this works, click right here to view a short video demonstration.

Remember, though, that the biggest counterfeiter of all is your personal central bank. Since the 2008 crisis, the Federal Reserve has created trillions of dollars out of very thin air. So your best insurance against even more fiat cash counterfeiting is to own some physical gold. Just be certain you realize who you are buying from and what you are getting. Learn More >> http://silver-dollar-values.com