Silver bars

[Vodka1000]

How to check silver bars if they are authentic ??
Magnet
It will not pick up 1/4 or never half dollars ??
So what else is there?

 

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[jim4silver]

Here is my opinion on the matter.

The only true way to tell on a 100 ouncer is to saw it into pieces. Short of that, you can try the "ring" test along the entire bar.

One ounce bars are easy to check with the ring test. I don't believe this is fool proof but I do it anyway if I am unsure.

I am a big fan of silver bars--but for me only 10, 5 and 1 ounce bars from well known refiners. Sometimes I will buy the old "art bars" from the 70s when they are in the cheapo bin at the coin store. Up till now if someone was going to counterfeit it would seem to be more cost efficient to only do 100 and 1000 ouncers.

I think if silver ever does blast past 50 we will start seeing counterfeit silver rounds and bars in all sizes. When I have been in coin stores they never seem to analyze the individual bars much at all when people sell them if they are from a well known refiner. To me some unknown round or bar saying .999 fine silver is not enough to convince me, so I avoid them if I am not familiar them.

This is one reason if you are worried to stick to gov issued rounds, since there would presumably be harsher consequences for counterfeit, although that apparently hasn't stopped the Chinese from making fake old US silver dollars and such from what I have read.

Old US junk silver (circulated dimes, quarters and halves) is probably the best way to avoid getting counterfeit silver bullion. My favorite are not too much circulated Franklins from later years since, unlike Kennedy halves, you don't have to check the date to make sure it is a 90%er.

Jim

 

[JD-GA]

The only way to be 100 percent certain is to saw them in half and acid test the middle portion. Or drill a hole through the middle, melt the shavings from the drilled portion and assay it. Other than that its an experience thing with sound tests, magnet slide tests, good eye for counterfeits sort of deal.

 

[brendan1414]

One test you can do is to take a strong neodymium magnet, and tilt a piece of plastic at a 45 degree angle, and place the magnet at the top, then let the magnet slide down. carefully watch the rate at which it falls.... then take you silver bar, same deal, tilt it at 45 degrees, let the magnet run along, and it should be significantly slower. that is because silver is Bio-magnetic, meaning it still has an effect with magnets. try it and let us know. also maybe test it out with another real silver bar that you may have...

 

[JD-GA]

Brendan that works but you can take a 10oz bar with 4 or 5 good layers of silver and slow a magnet down. You can take a 100oz bar with 20 oz of silver and nearly stop a magnet as if the entire bar was 100oz of silver. Its not a sure fire test but you are right that silver does slow a magnet.