fake tester in ebay

[HighlandTiger]

3 minutes ago, Xander said:

Bought this one, £4.59. Cheers mate.

that'll do 😃

[sovereignsteve]

Found these pics i took when i was wrestling with one of these fakes. A 1899 Sydney compared to a 1896 London; the Sydney was oversized.

Looking at them again, I might think the 1 in the Sydney date looks wrong

[Xander]

1 hour ago, sovereignsteve said:

1 in the Sydney date looks wrong

Oh dear, this would have fooled me.

[sovereignsteve]

3 minutes ago, Xander said:

Oh dear, this would have fooled me.

i did say "might think", it's really splitting hairs but the top serif of the "1" seems too angular. It's more rounded in other pics I've seen.

[HighlandTiger]

Just now, sovereignsteve said:

i did say "might think", it's really splitting hairs but the top serif of the "1" seems too angular. It's more rounded in other pics I've seen.

I'm more worried about the "6" in the london coin. Looks like its an inverted "9"

[Xander]

3 minutes ago, sovereignsteve said:

i did say "might think", it's really splitting hairs but the top serif of the "1" seems too angular. It's more rounded in other pics I've seen.

Don't you know if its fake?

[sovereignsteve]

2 minutes ago, HighlandTiger said:

I'm more worried about the "6" in the london coin. Looks like its an inverted "9"

actually, things like that are quite reassuring, similar things happen all the time.

[sovereignsteve]

Just now, Xander said:

Don't you know if its fake?

I'm assuming it is as it's too big. However, i spent a lot of time looking over these photos and found very little to worry about.

[HighlandTiger]

2 minutes ago, Xander said:

Don't you know if its fake?

The problem is that a lot of sovereign "fakes" are still made of gold. Some will have the same gold content as a real sov, and some a fraction less. 

[Xander]

Just now, HighlandTiger said:

The problem is that a lot of sovereign "fakes" are still made of gold. Some will have the same gold content as a real sov, and some a fraction less. 

I will be going over my collection as soon as the test kits arrive. I would rather know if I had any fakes.

[AlL]

9 hours ago, Xander said:

Great idea, it would also help the less experienced collectors like myself to identify fakes.

True. 

On the other side, its also important how to identify Fake sellers / Fake dealers. 

Or even better where to buy. But I guess it all comes down to relationship and reputation. 

[HighlandTiger]

27 minutes ago, AlL said:

True. 

On the other side, its also important how to identify Fake sellers / Fake dealers. 

Or even better where to buy. But I guess it all comes down to relationship and reputation. 

Stick to buying or selling on here, fake dealers/sellers wont last 5 minutes on here if they are caught selling fakes. If buying on ebay, stick to sellers with feedback over 500, (never buy from anyone with a feedback less than 20 especially). But dont forget if you pay by paypal, you are protected if you are sold a dud, so it can be worth taking a chance sometimes. If buying online, buy from the dealers mentioned on this forum, and finally, make friends with your local cash for gold dealer. Sometimes this leads to you getting first pick of the stock they have for sale.  

[AlL]

20 minutes ago, HighlandTiger said:

Stick to buying or selling on here, fake dealers/sellers wont last 5 minutes on here if they are caught selling fakes. If buying on ebay, stick to sellers with feedback over 500, (never buy from anyone with a feedback less than 20 especially). But dont forget if you pay by paypal, you are protected if you are sold a dud, so it can be worth taking a chance sometimes. If buying online, buy from the dealers mentioned on this forum, and finally, make friends with your local cash for gold dealer. Sometimes this leads to you getting first pick of the stock they have for sale.  

@HighlandTiger yes, thank, you  this words are worth gold already... I'm in NW-London and I've called 10+ gold dealers around here and ask them if I could pop in and have a look... most of them are online only stores. I might have to have to go to Central London or so!  

[CosmikDebris]

6 minutes ago, AlL said:

(never buy from anyone with a feedback less than 20 especially).

I did that the other day and got a good coin at spot price. Tested fine as well! 

[sovereignsteve]

1 hour ago, HighlandTiger said:

Stick to buying or selling on here, fake dealers/sellers wont last 5 minutes on here if they are caught selling fakes. If buying on ebay, stick to sellers with feedback over 500, (never buy from anyone with a feedback less than 20 especially). But dont forget if you pay by paypal, you are protected if you are sold a dud, so it can be worth taking a chance sometimes. If buying online, buy from the dealers mentioned on this forum, and finally, make friends with your local cash for gold dealer. Sometimes this leads to you getting first pick of the stock they have for sale.  

That's good advice in general but the Sydney coins we are talking about here aren't some cheap Chinese knock off being sold on eBay. They are extremely good fakes that do look correctly aged and almost certainly aren't modern. I am seeing these from reputable dealers not eBay and are testing correctly by XRF.

The question is does it really matter as they have the correct gold content and aren't fakes of rare numismatics, just bullion?

I'm convinced there are rather a lot of these that have become so integrated into the general sovereign stock that most people including dealers aren't aware of them.

I'm not aware of any bullion dealers that include size testing in their testing regime.

[Pipers]

53 minutes ago, sovereignsteve said:

That's good advice in general but the Sydney coins we are talking about here aren't some cheap Chinese knock off being sold on eBay. They are extremely good fakes that do look correctly aged and almost certainly aren't modern. I am seeing these from reputable dealers not eBay and are testing correctly by XRF.

The question is does it really matter as they have the correct gold content and aren't fakes of rare numismatics, just bullion?

I'm convinced there are rather a lot of these that have become so integrated into the general sovereign stock that most people including dealers aren't aware of them.

I'm not aware of any bullion dealers that include size testing in their testing regime.

I think you may be right here.  I am aware that Italy minted lots of sovereigns in the early 20th century to a very high standard.  If people are just buying gold bullion then it's ok but if you are paying a premium eg 10 -15% then I am going to start to reject. 

It has become common for bullion dealers to charge a premium for order coins my advice is if you get one of these Sydney coins that are over sized reject them unless you get them for bullion.

 

[Pipers]

I looked at the sovereigns, I looked at the fields  too, I have to say if one is a fake I cannot see it.

[HighlandTiger]

@Pipers, @sovereignsteve Update on the Sydney sovereign that I rejected from my local gold guy. He got another dealer to test it as well, and they both confirmed it was 22ct gold. Weight was correct, but the size was fractionally too big. So not sure what is going on, fakes, re-strikes, or a minting error. Who knows. But at least its genuine 22ct gold, although if the diameter is too big, then the thickness must be a tiny bit thinner, or the weight a fraction higher than 7.98g.

[dicker]

Wow - just looked at the Fisch and that’s expensive!  I have a mate who works at a lab and tests things for me when needed for free!

like the eBay one though!

Best

Dicker

[Pipers]

Has anyone asked a coin Auction house ?

[silenceissilver]

On 01/06/2019 at 23:42, HighlandTiger said:

The problem is that a lot of sovereign "fakes" are still made of gold. Some will have the same gold content as a real sov, and some a fraction less. 

I bought a 18K half Sovereign once. Found out with a specific gravity test. After that test I thought it was probably gold plated silver. Then had an X-ray taken of it and it turend out to be 18K gold. Thanks God the dealer took it back without any issues and even gave me a proof half Sovereign instead which is real according to my new Sigma Metalytics PM verifier Pro.

1 hour ago, Pipers said:

Has anyone asked a coin Auction house ?

 

I asked Baird and Co to X-ray it, when I bought 2 Sovereigns there. They even gave me a certificate for the result.