NHS Heroes 999 £5 Ping Test

[LadySilver]

I  have just been playing around with some coins doing ping tests and have come across a dull ring when I expected clarity. 

1st I pinged a sterling commemorative 1oz and got a lovely clear, crisp ring. 

Then I pinged one of the new 999 £5 NHS Heroes EIT coins and got a very dull short ring. No crisp clarity.

So of course out comes the magnet and it slides as expected.....

Has anybody else done a ping test on these coins? Should it be a clear ring, or have I got muddled up?

[Derv]

The difference in silver between the sterling 925 and the 999 May make a difference as to the sound ? 

[fearlessjs]

The dullness is a function of how crystalline the microstructure of the coin is, which in turn is a function of the production process.

There are authentic coins which sound dull: e.g. Gold Maple Leaf

And there are inauthentic coins which have long sustained pitches.

What's more important to look for is the location of the ping frequencies, not the length of the ping itself. This can be verified with various ping testing apps.

The NHS Heroes coin appears to have the same weight and dimensions as a 1 oz Silver Britannia and should pass as such in any coin testing app.

The frequencies you're looking for should be within 4-5% of these values:

4531 Hz 

10405 Hz

17983 Hz

(The sterling commemorative is a bit trickier to verify without knowing the exact composition and dimensions.)

[LadySilver]

Thanks @fearlessjs

The coins have been put away now, but next time they are out I will look at the comparison 👍🏻