Woman scams metal buyers out of thousands with fake silver bars

[jeff of pa]

GRAND TRAVERSE CO. -- Police are looking for a woman who they say sold several hundred fake silver bars to local metal buyers under the guise that it was real silver.
According to police, a 40-year-old white woman came to the Traverse City area in late April and sold these metal bars to at least three different precious metal buyers in the area.
On April 27th, the woman walked into Bay West Antiques and sold 100 silver bars to store owners, Holly Dalley and her husband Pete. Real silvers bars are currently worth just over $24.00 each.



Woman scams metal buyers out of thousands with fake silver bars : News : UpNorthLive.com

 

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[Dave44]

"She came in, she sat down, she had a couple of boxes," said Dalley. "She said there were 50 1-ounce bars in each box. I looked at the first one, I didn't take it out of it's plastic. I just saw that and said everything looked good. There wasn't anything that would have indicated that it was fake at all."
That is the most trusting dealer I have Ever heard of! I cant imagine someone buying a couple of boxes based on 1 bar? Except in one circumstance- the owner acts like she knows nothing and is willing to take a few cents on the dollar.

I know I sound skeptical, sorry bout that in advance.

 

[jim4silver]

Those bars shown in the article look genuine. I guess you would have to weigh each one to know for sure. I have some generics that I know are legit, but have decided in light of all the reported fakes that look real, to stick to ASEs (if ever available again) and good quality 90% US. I ring test all my junk halves and so far all have been good.

Jim

 

[austin]

Took a lot of guts to pull that off. Greed on both sides...

 

[jim4silver]

The problem is that coin dealers (at least locally) basically have just looked at the bar/round to see if it says .999 fine silver and 1 troy oz and appeared real. If these counterfeiters are making realistic looking bars/rounds that say the right thing and are close in weight, this will be a huge problem I have no doubt. If I was buying generic now I would carefully examine, weigh, and ring test each round/bar. Just wait till/if silver gets past $50, you will really see alot of fakes at that point.

Jim

 

[skeeterd]

Those bars shown in the article look genuine. I guess you would have to weigh each one to know for sure. I have some generics that I know are legit, but have decided in light of all the reported fakes that look real, to stick to ASEs (if ever available again) and good quality 90% US. I ring test all my junk halves and so far all have been good.

Jim

I don't think weighing each one will help. The dimensions are probably off by couple thousandths of an inch to make the bars the weigh correct amount. I'm sticking with eagles, maple leafs and 90% from now on.

 

[TreasurePirate69]

There are plenty of fake silver eagles and maple leafs too from what I've been reading. Junk 90% seems like the way to go for now. Although they can be easily faked (along with the required amount of wear), it so far isn't really economically feasible to do so when you can just make fake silver bars and rounds instead.

As I've said before, diversify, diversify, diversify. Buy lots of different stuff in small lots from different dealers at different times.

 

[jim4silver]

There are plenty of fake silver eagles and maple leafs too from what I've been reading. Junk 90% seems like the way to go for now. Although they can be easily faked (along with the required amount of wear), it so far isn't really economically feasible to do so when you can just make fake silver bars and rounds instead.

As I've said before, diversify, diversify, diversify. Buy lots of different stuff in small lots from different dealers at different times.

I am talking about buying brand new ASE and Maple rolls from your friendly local coin dealer. I have never heard of anyone buying a fake roll from a reputable coin dealer. I say get brand new rolls because around here the dealers break them out of brand new monster boxes that they bought from one of the national wholesalers. The stores here charge a few cents more generally for brand new rolls, but it is worth it. If you buy a roll of ASEs or Maples that some customer sold the store, then of course there could be some fakes stuck in there. I have seen coin stores where they open the roll and look at the first coin or two, then just assume the rest are OK. I learned after getting some brand new but spotted ASEs, to carefully open the roll (while still in the store) and remove all the coins before buying. Genuine ASEs have a certain feel and appearance (and sound) that I doubt the counterfeiters have yet to copy. Maybe in time they will though.

I am sure there are fake ASE and Maple single coins floating around out there. I cannot remember seeing a fake ASE in person but I have seen fake Morgans and generic bars/rounds.

Jim

 

[TreasurePirate69]

I am talking about buying brand new ASE and Maple rolls from your friendly local coin dealer. I have never heard of anyone buying a fake roll from a reputable coin dealer. I say get brand new rolls because around here the dealers break them out of brand new monster boxes that they bought from one of the national wholesalers. The stores here charge a few cents more generally for brand new rolls, but it is worth it. If you buy a roll of ASEs or Maples that some customer sold the store, then of course there could be some fakes stuck in there. I have seen coin stores where they open the roll and look at the first coin or two, then just assume the rest are OK. I learned after getting some brand new but spotted ASEs, to carefully open the roll (while still in the store) and remove all the coins before buying. Genuine ASEs have a certain feel and appearance (and sound) that I doubt the counterfeiters have yet to copy. Maybe in time they will though.

I am sure there are fake ASE and Maple single coins floating around out there. I cannot remember seeing a fake ASE in person but I have seen fake Morgans and generic bars/rounds.

Jim

Yes, I agree that buying brand new rolls from a reputable dealer should be pretty safe. Of course, once you open that roll and check for spots it is no longer a brand new roll (assuming you reject it). This leaves someone else buying a roll that may or may not actually be brand new. And the world goes round and round...