Genuine 1/2 oz Gold Eagle?

[SlowFrog]

Hi all,

I recently bought a 1/2 oz gold eagle and I have this niggling doubt over whether it's genuine or not - not sure if I'm being paranoid because of it being the only American coin I own but the specs mostly check out.

Weight: 17.00 grams exactly (so a tiny bit heavier than the listed weight of 16.966 grams.
Diameter: 27.11mm (listed is 27)
Thickness: 2.2mm (noticed different listings ranging from 2.15 to 2.24)

It also passes the neodymium magnet test and 'pings' absolutely beautifully. Crystal clear sound and for a long time - sounds exactly the same as this one: 

So what's bothering me? At first glance in my hand it looks fine and detailed, but when using a high magnification  loupe it has a very fine 'grain' texture on the surface and the photographs I've taken unfortunately don't give the impression I'm seeing. Maybe all gold eagles are the same but I don't have any to compare it to. It just looks different to my sovereigns and gold Britannias.

I bought a fake sovereign from a carboot sale on purpose (just so I could check it and learn) and the eagle has the same sort of surface appearance to my eyes when looking at it very closely. But really, that's the visual is the only thing giving me doubts right now. Just about to try a specific gravity test but I figured some of you must have gold eagles so wondered if you'd be kind enough to provide your thoughts!

Cheers

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by SlowFrog

[James32]

If the weight/diameter and thickness are within the range then I think your fine.

A fake would need to be substantially thicker or bigger to match the weight of gold.

You say it passes the ping test (again a fluke would have a short dull sound)

And a eagle is 22ct if I'm not mistaken so will look slightly different in appearance. 

Do the specific gravity test like you mentioned but if still in doubt take to your local jewellers and have them test for a small fee or a cup of coffee.

I believe @BackyardBullion offers this service now too, maybe shoot them a message. 

[SlowFrog]

Appreciate your reply, James! I'll do the specific gravity test when I get a chance and will post the results! If still bothered I'll do exactly what you suggested and pop into one of my local jewellers or similar.

 

[BackyardBullion]

If you are willing to pay postage to and from and a £5 for beer money I can pop it on my sigma machine 😉

[paulmerton]

13 minutes ago, James32 said:

A fake would need to be substantially thicker or bigger to match the weight of gold.

Unless it's a fake gold coin made with a cupro-platinum core of the same density. Okay, probably never going to happen unless platinum really takes a dive  

Tungsten has a density very close to that of gold, which is why it's seen used in fake gold coins - or more likely in gold bars where drilled holes are plugged with tungsten slugs and capped with real gold so the bar still looks like pure gold and still weighs the same. However, tungsten is slightly magnetic so that can't be the case with this coin. 

[James32]

1 minute ago, paulmerton said:

Unless it's a fake gold coin made with a cupro-platinum core of the same density. Okay, probably never going to happen unless platinum really takes a dive  

Tungsten has a density very close to that of gold, which is why it's seen used in fake gold coins - or more likely in gold bars where drilled holes are plugged with tungsten slugs and capped with real gold so the bar still looks like pure gold and still weighs the same. However, tungsten is slightly magnetic so that can't be the case with this 

Do you think it's fake???? And they would go to the bother on a 1/2 oz coin that pings beautifully.

[paulmerton]

2 minutes ago, James32 said:

Do you think it's fake???? And they would go to the bother on a 1/2 oz coin that pings beautifully.

No, I don't think it is fake...

... although to be fair, I can't confirm it's genuine either!

The ping you hear from a coin is not just a single frequency, it's made up of multiple frequencies, and those can often be used to distinguish different sizes, shapes and metals of coin - and also to confirm whether one is likely to be genuine. The Pingcoin app doesn't have a 1/2oz gold eagle in its library yet, but what I would do, @SlowFrog, is load the ping sound from that YouTube video into a sound editor like Audacity, and then record the ping from your own coin to compare.

If you do a frequency spectrum analysis, you should see at least three significant spikes that line up in the same places for both pings if the coin is genuine. I imagine it would be ridiculously hard to produce a fake coin that passes this test.

[dicker]

There’s nothing in your post that would worry me.  If you bought from a dealer or forum member that would also reduce any concern that I might have had.  
 

Best

Dicker

Edited October 23, 2021 by dicker

[Arganto]

Doesn't look fake and it's spot on specs-wise. It's a bullion 22ct coin so is unlikely to have smooth shiny fields, unlike our weird modern sovereigns. These gold eagles always look slightly matte to my eyes, I quite like it. 

[SlowFrog]

On 22/10/2021 at 19:48, BackyardBullion said:

If you are willing to pay postage to and from and a £5 for beer money I can pop it on my sigma machine 😉

Thanks so much to you and everyone else in this thread. Must admit that I've been reassured somewhat by the replies.

The update is that a small local coin dealer (that doesn't have a Sigma) does have a 2010 half eagle and has said I can take mine along to compare on Tuesday or Wednesday. If that arouses further suspicions then I'll definitely pop it in the post to you if that's okay - happy to buy you a beer! 👍

I should also have enough time to try the specific gravity tomorrow so that might be interesting too.

Thanks again everyone - much appreciated!

[James32]

5 minutes ago, SlowFrog said:

Thanks so much to you and everyone else in this thread. Must admit that I've been reassured somewhat by the replies.

The update is that a small local coin dealer (that doesn't have a Sigma) does have a 2010 half eagle and has said I can take mine along to compare on Tuesday or Wednesday. If that arouses further suspicions then I'll definitely pop it in the post to you if that's okay - happy to buy you a beer! 👍

I should also have enough time to try the specific gravity tomorrow so that might be interesting too.

Thanks again everyone - much appreciated!

Hope it all works out for you.

[KevinFlynn]

As has been said, Gold Eagles are not the shiniest of coins. What you posted looks just like a Gold Eagle, matte finish and all.

Let us know how you feel after your assessment.

 

Edited October 24, 2021 by KevinFlynn

[SlowFrog]

Hey all, just wanted to provide a quick update to this thread. I managed to compare it with 2 other eagles today and now thankfully feel sure it's genuine. Examined them all closely they all have that 'grainy' finish when viewed through a loupe. Weight, size and ping sound/pitch all identical so I'm relieved and happy. Once again appreciate the comments and help!

[James32]

1 minute ago, SlowFrog said:

Hey all, just wanted to provide a quick update to this thread. I managed to compare it with 2 other eagles today and now thankfully feel sure it's genuine. Examined them all closely they all have that 'grainy' finish when viewed through a loupe. Weight, size and ping sound/pitch all identical so I'm relieved and happy. Once again appreciate the comments and help!

Extremely happy to hear that (although I had little doubt from your info and pics) 

You can never be too careful though and I'm glad your now settled 😁👍

[SlowFrog]

Cheers, James! Yeah, it was paranoia due to lack of knowledge/experience on my part but it's great to smash that nagging doubt in the back of my head!