Silver Coins & Bars: Are they Fake or Real?

Fake Silver Everywhere! What's real and what's fake?  How to determine the authenticity of Silver Coins & Bars - Are they fake or real? In this video, we look at some fake silver bars, silver Eagles, and other coins.

We used several methods to determine what's real and what's fake. Here's more info about these helpful tools and where to get them:

Neodymium Pocket Keychain Magnet

The Neodymium Pocket Magnet is a strong magnetic Rare Earth, Gold & Silver Test Magnet. The magnet should always be the first test you perform on coins or an unknown piece of jewelry. If there is any steel or iron present, the magnet will attract.

It is important to note, however, that not all fake coins will have these metals present because there are other non-magnetic metals that can be used as a base. Anything that passes a magnet test (no reaction from the magnet) can be scrutinized further.

Important Note: All magnets have the potential to damage credit cards or other items with a magnetic strip if they are kept too close, but cell phones and electronics are fine with this magnet strength.

The Neodymium Pocket Keychain Magnet is available at Amazon.com.

The Pocket Pinger

The Pocket Pinger is portable and works with all size coins. From the 1/10 AGE all the way to a 10oz beast.

This simple device allows for the purest most resonant coin ping ever in existence. A walk through a flea market and these can instantly pay for themselves.

The Pocket Pinger is available at Amazon.com.

U.S. Coin Diameter & Thickness Tester

Test coins before you buy them with Silver and Gold thickness testers. If the coin will not fit through the slot then it is fake and likely made out of stainless steel.

Counterfeit copies are being mass produced and can be purchased for pennies by anyone online.

Coin buyers, stackers, and investors are going to see more and more these forgeries. These counterfeit coins are becoming more and more common — BEWARE! These fraudulent coins look very authentic.

Coin Thickness Validation Testers are available at Amazon.com.

Gold & Silver Test Acids

The JSP & GTE acid test kit will accurately determine the purity of silver and gold coins, bars, scrap, jewelry, and more.

It's easy to use — simply scratch the test stone with your coin, apply a drop of the solution to the scratch mark on the stone, and watch the results appear.

The Gold and Silver Test Kit is available at Amazon.com.

Coin Scale

The deluxe Coin Scale enables you to choose from Grams, Ounces, Troy Ounces, Grains, Pennyweight, and Carats with trusted accuracy.

This is the same model used by professionals for appraisals.

Scale arrives pre-calibrated and ready to use. Includes batteries, instructions, original packaging, and warranty information.

The New Personal Coin Scale Pro made by Power Sentry is available at Amazon.com

Coin Tubes

Square coin tubes are convenient, push top, virtually unbreakable, and are acid free.

Several sizes available: Pennies (cents), nickels, dimes, quarters, half dollars and large dollars.

Available in 10-packs, 50-packs, and 100-packs.

These square coin tubes are the INDUSTRY STANDARD.

Coin tubes are available at Amazon.com.

Sigma Metalytics Precious Metal Verifier (PMV)

Quickly and easily authenticate your precious metal coins and bars with the Precious Metal Verifier made by Sigma Metalytics.

No chemicals, scraping, or wet testing to verify coins and bars! The PMV sends a signal under the surface of your sample to check for plating and sub-surface inserts. Whether it's out of the case, or in a slab, capsule, or assay, the PMV can check it. It has the ability to take surface readings on a wide range of sample sizes, from 1/10 oz gold to 10 oz silver. Used by private investors and collectors looking to verify their coins and bars.