[Kellis91789]

But are you sure the “gold” you have in your hands is really gold ? Hasn’t there been counterfeit gold bars and coins discovered ? Made from tungsten with a heavy gold plating applied ? I’m not sure I’d believe it was really gold unless it was gold dust.

[RobRoy]

>>But are you sure the “gold” you have in your hands is really gold ? Hasn’t there been counterfeit gold bars and coins discovered ? Made from tungsten with a heavy gold plating applied ?<<

I agree. You can google “gold”, “Tungsten” and “China” and get some scary results. Apparently Tungsten is virtually identical in weight to gold.

It is why all my precious metals is junk silver. It’s danged bulky though.

[panaxanax]

Not only gold, but silver coins as well. Morgans, Peace and Trade all key dates and fake.....from China.

Another popular one is the 1942/1 Mercury dime.

Check out eBay search words: “replica, Morgan, 1903-S” etc. They’re damn near perfect.

http://www.silver-coins.org/counterfeit_dollars.html

[Politically Correct]

But are you sure the “gold” you have in your hands is really gold ? Hasn’t there been counterfeit gold bars and coins discovered ? Made from tungsten with a heavy gold plating applied ? I’m not sure I’d believe it was really gold unless it was gold dust.

They used Tungsten to counterfeit large gold bars. Unless you own large bars it's unlikely that you have that problem.
As for the coins the ones being counterfeited are the rare coins not the common coins sold by the mint and most gold brokers. No one has ever found a tungsten coin, too tough to fabricate and too expensive.

[Atlas Sneezed]

But are you sure the “gold” you have in your hands is really gold ?

---

Assuming you are talking about popular bullion coins like Eagles, Maple Leafs, and Krugerrands, the fakes that have actually been found are trivially easy to detect with a scale and calipers costing less than $20 (because they are lead).

Tungsten fakes would be much more difficult to detect, but are so impractical to create that they, well, never have been created. Moreover, if they were created, you’d have the means to detect them on the market in no time.

Here’s an easy way to detect the fakes that have been out there: http://www.fisch.co.za/operation.htm

[An Old Man]

"But are you sure the “gold” you have in your hands is really gold ?"

You better believe I am! When I first started out buying Gold and silver bars a long time ago I took one of the Engalhard bars to a metallurgist to find out what was in it.

In addition to pure gold, there were about 15 other impurities in the bar. However when I read their report, the 999.9999990 gold content indicated an almost pure bar.

So much for worrying about purity. Make your purchases face to face with someone you trust. That way you can always look them up if something bad transpires.