PM Tester

[Xander]

I was going to buy one of these, not so sure now.

not so sure now.

[Slowhand]

Hard to know what is going on in the video with no details provided.  It appears they are trying to say a magnetic metal is testing good for pure gold.  That is interesting as the sigma basically ignores any magnetic metal by returning to the calibration stage.

Without any explanation by the creator of that video, we have no idea if the sigma is calibrated or being used correctly.  It may be, I just don’t know.  Could be a parlor trick.  Would be nice if they provided some details. 

Maybe counterfeiters have gotten out in front of these already. 

[sovereignsteve]

Exactly not enough detail. Possible the tester can be fooled by an magnetic alloy with the right properties. However chances are the density would be miles out so easily detected.

[Schnitzel]

It could also be gold plated... Then it would show as gold even if it isn't solid gold?

[Xander]

1 hour ago, sovereignsteve said:

Exactly not enough detail. Possible the tester can be fooled by an magnetic alloy with the right properties. However chances are the density would be miles out so easily detected.

What concerned me most was that the company demo of the new upgraded sigma tester said this previous model in the video could confuse some fake gold with genuine gold which renders it basically handicapped if you are a dealer depending on accuracy.

[sovereignsteve]

52 minutes ago, Xander said:

What concerned me most was that the company demo of the new upgraded sigma tester said this previous model in the video could confuse some fake gold with genuine gold which renders it basically handicapped if you are a dealer depending on accuracy.

That explains why their new model does a quick size test as well. I would have thought anyone with experience of gold coins would immediately notice one that is too light. The disappointing aspect is the company have not contacted owners of the old model explaining the deficiencies so that precautions can be taken.

Its like in all aspects of analysis, people want a "black box" that gives them a result that requires no thought on their part. However this is rarey possible; the analyst always requires some understanding of the process and what can go wrong.

[Notafront4adragon]

http://goldsovereignexpert.com/info/fake-gold-sovereigns-spotting-counterfeits/gold-sovereign-balance/

I got me one of these for helping with sovereigns. If it worked 100yrs probably still works!