Chinese fake coins

[coinbug]

I thought it was bad enough that they were faking Garrett pinpointers, but they're actually faking our currency.

They're doing a pretty fair job of it too: gold plated tungsten (see link below). They also fake the silver maple leaf, bullion bars, you name it.



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[jim4silver]

I wonder if those are photos of the real coins? Tungsten is too brittle to make coins that look as nice as the real ones, from what I have read. I have seen tungsten core gold bars though.

If those coins in the picture are the ones these guys are selling that have dollar values, etc, and don't have COPY stamped on it, it would seem to be a violation of US laws and they would have them shut down I would assume (at least advertising on ebay, etc).

Just my opinion.

Jim

 

[coinbug]

Jim, they'd look nice because they're gold-plated (although I'm sure they stole their pics just like they did with the Garrett pinpointers).

Have you ever seen the Mark Dice videos where he tries to sell a real gold or silver coin to passersby for face value or less? He typically gets no takers. People just have no clue what gold is worth (note that he does this in the U.S.; he couldn't do this in China or Thailand etc. without losing a lot of money).

Here's the thing. If our market is flooded with decent looking fakes, we might go from gold coin ignorance to gold coin suspicion without ever passing through gold coin understanding.

I'm thinking our handlers are more likely in cahoots with the Chinese than concerned about any violations of U.S. or Canadian law, or at least are indifferent to the Chinese chicanery, as they are keen to preserve their fiat fraud and thus appreciate any undermining of hard money.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

Yea, that country is good for nothing

 

[jim4silver]

It's not the gold plating that would make them look real, it would be the detail and artwork (plus weight) that I would check first.

If they had fakes that were even close to looking and feeling real, they would be flooding local coin stores and ebay. I follow this stuff fairly close and I am not seeing reports of it except for a couple old you tube videos and such. I asked a local coin dealer and he hadn't seen any increase in people trying to sell fake gold coins. He showed me a fake gold maple some employee at his store purchased a few years back and at first glance it was OK, but I could tell it was a fake once I really looked at it. He had some fake silver coins he showed me too. Nothing that looked exactly like a real coin in my opinion, but were close enough to fool someone who didn't look at them carefully.

If they ever could (and I don't believe they can at this point) come out with a really nice fake gold eagle or maple, it would really cause mayhem in the coin world because you would have to test each coin to verify it was real and that would ruin at least part of the surface. Gold has a very unique weight that can only be faked with platinum and tungsten (and keep the item the same dimensions). But everything I have read (not counting Chinese advertisements) states that tungsten is very brittle and could not withstand the pressure needed to make the coin properly (I guess it would crack?). In the old days they were making gold counterfeit coins in Europe using gold plated platinum. I would like to get one of those.

If I get back into gold, I will stick to old world/old US gold coins since I am fairly knowledgeable and can spot a fake (I think).


PS This issue is why I am getting more leary of generic silver bars/rounds. Silver is not like gold in that the weight is really nothing special and can be faked by a number of metals (some even have a ring to them, different than silver but still can fool you if not careful). I don't think there is much counterfeit silver being made now per se, but if we ever get a real rise in prices and perhaps if we stay up there for a while, there will be better counterfeits coming out because there will be more profit in it. That is why I think current year ASE rolls stashed away will be a good choice for easy sale later.

Just my opinion.


Jim

 

[TheCoinKid]

Jim,

I agree that ASEs and Maple Leafs are the way to go. I also find myself stuck on US halves. The Franklins seem to be the best value for a nice condition. I just can't get away from the govt. issued coins, myself.

On the subject of counterfeits, as a collector, I know that some silver coins are more prone to counterfeiting than others. The Seated Liberty Dollar and Trade Dollar are prime examples of coins where very high quality fakes have been coming out of Asia now for many a year (although neither are a good example of a typical silver investment).

TCK

 

[jim4silver]

Just saw this on another site. Pretty scary.

Beware of Fake APMEX 1oz Silver Bars - Coin Community Forum

Jim

 

[jim4silver]

I was in a coin store today and saw a guy who appeared to be a newbie who did his homework. He was concerned about chinese fake silver bars and I could hear his conversation while I was waiting my turn. He was talking about fake JM one ounce bars. Most places charge extra for these (the real ones) due to investor demand.

I am glad to stick now with official Mint bullion/coins as much as possible with decent premiums. It will pay off in the end when the markets start getting flooded with this stuff. I will keep the generic I have now because I know it is legit (I have bought a few fakes though over the years).

Make sure you scroll to the bottom to see all the different kinds of "copies" they make. The private mint bars look very good in the pictures.

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Just my opinion.

Jim

 

[Marchas45]

Good link Jim, myself, I check everything I receive and I have all the tools to do it. Luckily I have not bought a fake yet but that's yet. Keep Stacking.