Chinese Counterfeit Silver

in case you hadn't heard
China is counterfeiting a lot of silver coins
more so now with silver being so expensive

www.coinnews.net...

The recent panic buying of silver bullion has sparked a significant increase in fraudulent or misleading online advertising to lure unsuspecting retail buyers to purchase counterfeit United States silver dollars, according to officials of the Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation..."The Chinese are blowing up the web selling fake silver dollars. We’ve seen suspicious ads posted on many platforms, including Amazon and Facebook," cautioned Doug Davis, ACEF Anti-Counterfeiting Director.

www.cbp.gov...

CBP officers aren’t only seeing counterfeit dollar bills. At the end of February, CBP officers seized 24 shipments containing fake silver dollars, a collectible item among many enthusiasts. Additionally, during these three months CBP seized over $95,000 Euros, equal to over $112,000. Except for a few of the shipment, all these items were arriving from China destined for places all over the U.S., to include some cities within Illinois.

as always, buyer beware.
getting harder and harder to spot the fakes.

I don't know if the Chinese government is behind this, or if they just don't care.

a reply to: ElGoobero

That is why you should only buy from a reputable dealer like APMEX. Never buy crap from pawn shops and dubious ebay sellers.

I very much doubt the chinese government care is the answer to your question.

It's important to know of this if you are a collector, but the amounts found so far are not economy changing amounts.

a reply to: ElGoobero

I’m going to age myself a bit here. I remember being a kid and we could tell what was silver in our change because it felt different. Very rare to come across silver, or even change anymore!!

In the UK I recommend Bullion By Post. A reputable company which offers good prices, advice and storage if you're buying in large amounts.

However I'm not sure I'd put money into silver. Gold for sure.

I just buy i from a coin shop. It looks and feels different. It also rings different. I havnt bought any for over a year. I used to get old Morgans for $6 and silver rounds for $5 each. I put away several pounds. I also like old US gold coins. The coin shop has a machine that can tell counterfeits. Old US gold Indians are my favorite.







This one came off a ship wreck in Florida

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: ElGoobero

I’m going to age myself a bit here. I remember being a kid and we could tell what was silver in our change because it felt different. Very rare to come across silver, or even change anymore!!

One of the most fun ways to test if you have silver over 90% is the ol ice cube test. Take out an assayed 1 oz bar, or a coin (silver) and set it on an ice cube, set a regular coin, or another metal on another ice cube.

The silver will melt the ice a zillion times faster than the normal coin, or just ambient temperature.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Yes, this is why I always jingle change together. When there's a silver coin present the sound is noticeably different. I've caught several silver coins this way.

I grabbed one from wish.com for six bucks, it's exactly one ounce and with a micrometer it measures out to almost exactly the same dimensions as my real silver bars.

Looks right, feels right... Sounds wrong, sticks to a magnet like a steel brick.

originally posted by: lordcomac
Looks right, feels right... Sounds wrong, sticks to a magnet like a steel brick.

Sounds like an Iron block covered with an Silver facade/layer (maybe even electroplated on).

Did you know at the time that it was a 'fake'.. was it advertised as real?


Johnny

originally posted by: lordcomac
I grabbed one from wish.com for six bucks, it's exactly one ounce and with a micrometer it measures out to almost exactly the same dimensions as my real silver bars.

Looks right, feels right... Sounds wrong, sticks to a magnet like a steel brick.

Yes everything on Wish is marketed as 'replica'.

Even on legit markets I avoid Chinese silver. And as for gold Pandas... They're a great coin, look good and well priced, but come with way too much risk if you ask me.