A little surprised you didn't mention the obv/rev orientation is wrong. The fake uses medal alignment and not coin alignment. Granted, some fakes will have the correct orientation so this is not a fool proof check (albeit an obvious one if wrong). Also, be careful using calipers in that fashion as you could easily get a false negative (or positive). You want the prongs of the calipers to be on the same plane as the coin and not perpendicular to it.
Two points Speg, you didn't mention the medal orientation and when you used the calipers to measure the diameter, you should keep the calipers in the plane of the coin to catch the full width.
When your face-to-face with the coins it’s fairly obvious but when you’re buying online it is extremely difficult until after you have received it by then it’s too late thanks for the video👍
mm ix I know.. I don’t buy online anyway. Not on sites like EBay anyway. If I have to resort to buying online, then I will buy from a large, reputable dealer.
That's how scammers get you, you need silver bad, and you need it cheaper, never trust eBay, or pictures, trust the authorized dealers only who receive your coins directly from the mint.
I bought one of these from China and when I received it, it was the size of a half dollar. I appealed to E-Bay and they refunded my money. God bless E-Bay.
Completely agree with you. And the amount of fakes coming from Communist China are increasing. No collector, stacker or dealer should have anything to do with buying from there, for that matter.
2. Now going to watch the rest. I'm back...The diameter seemed smaller to me as soon as I saw it. Sort of impressed myself that i saw it so fast. Great video buddy. Thanks.
Good video Speg! I noticed the one in the middle looked a little “wavy” right away, and the surface looked plated. I bet if you rub your finger over the plated one & a real one they’ll feel different too, I notice that with karat gold jewelry vs. plated jewelry all the time. 👍👍👍
My dad bought counterfeit Chinese silver twice on Ebay. He has learned is lesson not to buy Chinese silver again. I heard that there are companies in China licensed by the government to produce Counterfeit American Silver coins.
Fake coins are from all over the world, right now the majority of fake coins are from Ebay’s venues. So I think EBay should take part of the blame, and not buying silver or gold merchandise from China if I were you.
Thank you Speg and to Mark who willingly gave up his coin to educate others! But be aware that some people/dealers will be clever and buy coins from non-American counties then repack them in boxes/plastic and say they are legit.
Great video, very educational, there's just one thing I noticed. When measuring with the calipers you should be aligning them with the coin longways, that way you know youre touching the furthest distance across. Of course you knew it was off before that anyway so it's of little importance.
For me I was really lucky to find a silver dollar coin at work. And the customer used it at face value, and I asked my boss if I can trade it with my dollar and he said yes. And seeing your video it confirms that it's real, thank you!
There's several times I could do but there's no need to do every single test in every single video. That would get a little repetitive wouldn't it? When one or two of these tests are such a "nail in the coffee", we can generally stop there. After all, this is not a "how many tests can you do to test silver" video.
It would sure be interesting to know what alloy or amalgamation that coin was made of. The weight was very close to that of silver, but all of the magnetic elements are notably less dense than silver. In the light the cut looked copper-colored, but maybe that was just some sort of lighting artifact in the video, since nickle, cobalt, and iron are all somewhat silverish in color.
If I may: when you want to cut a notch into a coin like you do, I suggest you shove the coin as deep as you can into the cutter's jaws. You get much better leverage that way. Such would be better both for the tool and your hand, and probably reduce the chance of the coin going flying as well.
Thanks for the video. You linked the verifier. Could you recommend where at get the magnet? Google search didn't look promising. Again thanks great video.
one other thing not pointed out was how noticeably further away the writing on the reverse was from the edge of the fake Eagle; most noticeable w/ the naked eye @ the "1oz FINE SILVER" area. Much easier to see IF You have a US Mint purchased Eagle to compare it to.
If you see them side by side you see immediately that the diameter of the 2nd "coin" is smaller. If you see it online it's possible so see the differences but it's much harder if you have a good fake.
One can do the "soundcheck" with silvercoins. Put it on a fingertip and hit it slightly with another coin. If it does a nice vibrating "pling" sound it is silver, if it does a kind of short "smack"-sound, than it's most likely fake. Silver, and gold also, "ring" like only eternal money can do!
Everyone needs to be aware that fakes such as this are being sold on e-bay all the time . Before you buy make sure to do a little review of the seller's information and their feedback.
Have you ever seen a fake Sunshine Mint 1oz silver coin? They have the "patented anti-counter fitting water mark". How secure / fool proof is this thing?
After seeing the closeups of all three, I'm saying number 2 is the fake, because the reflective background is both mirror-like and distorted, like a fun-house mirror.
Yes. This is the first thing I noticed. The typeface overall is close but incorrect. The U is the easiest to spot. Also, the crossbars on the A's are too thin and the C narrows too much at the top and bottom. In general, the stokes are all wrong. On the real coin, the width of the letters is much more consistent.
I for one am sick of China ripping off our coins and basically everything of value that’s American. Even Silver eagles are technically legal tender and it’s considered an act of war for a country to make counterfeit money from another country. The Chinese government doesn’t make them themselves.. but they sell permits for companies to make them and that’s just as bad. Our government needs to take the gloves off with China and pick our pride up off the floor!!
The fake ones reverse is upside down. When you flipped the coins at the beginning of the video, you shouldn't have had to rotate the center one. On U.S. Coins you only have to rotate them to orient the coin if you flip it left to right or right to left, not not top to bottom or bottom to top.
Speg Tacular, I got burned on a 1893 CC Morgan dollar, let me know if you want to make a video on it and I will send it to you, had it checked out at my LCS.
I stopped collecting the proof silver eagle in 2006 so I'm not as familiar with them any more. That was alot of good points to check for fake coins, and thanks for putting them out there, good video. I don't know if I forgot this or never knew it but my question is on the two good coins. How come #1 is frosted in the back ground while #3 has a mirrored back ground? Thanks
I got 50 of them. They weigh 26 grams each, not 31.1. I cut one in half expecting to find copper, but it is uniform throughout; non-magnetic. The four websites that I bought them from did not look Chinese. Chinese characters on the order confirmation emails though. I think yours is the second, middle, one. The U gives it away. By the way, Paypal was no help in getting my money back. My bank stepped in though. Too bad the Secret Service isn't interested; they only care about paper currency.
My guess is number two because when you flipped them over....the reverse side of Number two was the only one not still in the correct position......you had to turn it around.
I haven't really seen in modern bullion coin that looked real and I could not tell the difference. What scares me is when they tried to fake old numismatic coins, those can be tricky.
Hey Speg, I just bought a silver generic ounce buffalo from my local gold chain store here in Ohio. I noticed after I got it home that it doesn't ring like my Morgan's do. It does out fast. I took it to another store of the same chain, and they stuck it in their analyzer for me. He said it's 3 9's and the correct weight but why doesn't it ring??
.999 doesn’t sound like 90% or .925. Use the app on your phone “precious coin tester” along with the pinging method. You’ll need to put the parameters in the app that go along with the piece you’re testing
I think some reputable US companies selling gold and silver coins also have shops set up on EBay. Just need to go to buy those coins from reputable sellers.
I highly recommend the Sigma Metalytics precious metals verifier. I almost bought a 20g Gold bar from the Perth Mint in 'original' packaging but when I tried to verify it the Sigma determined that it was an undetermined metal plated with 24k gold. I did an internet search on these bars and found numerous high-quality Chinese fakes available. The seller claimed he had purchased it from APMEX and it was guaranteed by them. I did purchase a PAMP 1oz gold bar from this seller that passed the Sigma verification.
I don't know if someone else said this cause I have not read all the comments. But on a real silver eagle the head and the tail are inverted just like every U.S coin. On the Chinese fake the the head and the tail are both facing the same direction
Just found your web site...where have you been all my life. Thanks for the info....On facebook every other ad is for $9.95 silver eagles. You have to know these can't be real. Just the price is a dead give away. Great video, I say # 2 from the opening.
I really liked your precious metal tester. I checked at sigma metalytics and it goes for $600+. Can you recommend another precious metal tester that’s as easy to use and maybe more affordable? Thanks.
I'm curious why Customs and Border Protection (formerly US Customs) allows this counterfeit US currency into the country. If it is imported as a decoration why would it appear so realistic? Complete with US currency markings. To me fraud is intended.
there's a lot of advertisements on Facebook that sell these fakes for under $10 bucks a piece.very few will give any "contact" information. the day I checked silver was selling for just over $17 bucks an once. that alone told me they were fake.
It is a curious crappy alloy not found on the periodic table, only found in China...called Chinesium!
Number two failed the rotation test. 2:25
I think it fails based on looks alone
I agree e he missed that
Also the letter U
Why did he not mention this ??
A little surprised you didn't mention the obv/rev orientation is wrong. The fake uses medal alignment and not coin alignment. Granted, some fakes will have the correct orientation so this is not a fool proof check (albeit an obvious one if wrong).
Also, be careful using calipers in that fashion as you could easily get a false negative (or positive). You want the prongs of the calipers to be on the same plane as the coin and not perpendicular to it.
Shhhhhhhh, he didn't notice! hahahah
@@JWsCoinsandHobbies I noticed that right away and I was going to comment but I see someone did already. Speg, I'm surprised you missed that.
I don't truly believe he missed it. He's too good for that. I just think he's running a social experiment to see how many people will point it out.
@@JWsCoinsandHobbies Probably, but it's always fun to rib him about it. Nothing says lov'in like abuse from your own subscriber posse.
If it was Australian it would work, as our coins are flipped like that, rather than upside down obverse to reverse
Two points Speg, you didn't mention the medal orientation and when you used the calipers to measure the diameter, you should keep the calipers in the plane of the coin to catch the full width.
When your face-to-face with the coins it’s fairly obvious but when you’re buying online it is extremely difficult until after you have received it by then it’s too late thanks for the video👍
4nines Fine Often in situations like that.. they will take pictures of legit ones and then when people buy them, they mail the fakes.
Unless these fools used images of real Silver Eagles you could zoom in and see with a good eye or a real one to match it up with.
@@darthsilversith667 Never-go by the photo!
mm ix I know.. I don’t buy online anyway. Not on sites like EBay anyway. If I have to resort to buying online, then I will buy from a large, reputable dealer.
That's how scammers get you, you need silver bad, and you need it cheaper, never trust eBay, or pictures, trust the authorized dealers only who receive your coins directly from the mint.
I bought one of these from China and when I received it, it was the size of a half dollar. I appealed to E-Bay
and they refunded my money. God bless E-Bay.
first hint : from China
Fantastic video Speg. Lol that magnet was messing with your mic.
Thank you for sharing
Only from the eye 2 is visible...also the flipping (orientation) of the coin was very revealing! 😅😅😅
⭐⭐⭐
Love the 'cutting'!!
This is what I like with my LCS shops and most pawn shops here in Oregon they test them! You can buy peace of mind.
"Just the tip" That's what she said.
I wouldn't buy anything from China that minted in America that would be ridiculous
Completely agree with you. And the amount of fakes coming from Communist China are increasing. No collector, stacker or dealer should have anything to do with buying from there, for that matter.
Lord Grime I agree, they need to pay for what they have done
2. Now going to watch the rest. I'm back...The diameter seemed smaller to me as soon as I saw it. Sort of impressed myself that i saw it so fast. Great video buddy. Thanks.
Good video Speg! I noticed the one in the middle looked a little “wavy” right away, and the surface looked plated. I bet if you rub your finger over the plated one & a real one they’ll feel different too, I notice that with karat gold jewelry vs. plated jewelry all the time. 👍👍👍
My dad bought counterfeit Chinese silver twice on Ebay. He has learned is lesson not to buy Chinese silver again. I heard that there are companies in China licensed by the government to produce Counterfeit American Silver coins.
Ray K he should also learn not to buy from eBay
Fake coins are from all over the world, right now the majority of fake coins are from Ebay’s venues. So I think EBay should take part of the blame, and not buying silver or gold merchandise from China if I were you.
I like your intro in the first minute it was excellent. I'd like to see the Clippers to the fake silver on display.👍
fastest way to test is to get a magnet and a ping test.
you dont ping proof coins :D
@@sarahnewell3827 if it is not numismatics that is ok to ping.
When you pull the fake one out of the plastic holder and it smells like cooked rice you know it's a Chinese fake.
Thanks to you and Mark, we all are a little wiser
Thank you Speg and to Mark who willingly gave up his coin to educate others! But be aware that some people/dealers will be clever and buy coins from non-American counties then repack them in boxes/plastic and say they are legit.
Great video, very educational, there's just one thing I noticed. When measuring with the calipers you should be aligning them with the coin longways, that way you know youre touching the furthest distance across. Of course you knew it was off before that anyway so it's of little importance.
For me I was really lucky to find a silver dollar coin at work. And the customer used it at face value, and I asked my boss if I can trade it with my dollar and he said yes. And seeing your video it confirms that it's real, thank you!
Beautiful coins. Great investment! Thanks for the review!
If you look at the width the fake one will have a wider width.
I only buy from JMBULLION or APMEX or ModernCoinMart
2:26 I already knew it was #2 before you flipped the coin, but when you flipped the coin, it just confirmed it for me.
Hmmmm ... Canton using crosshatching and the reverse upside down. Could it possible be #2?
I would check for contamination.
I have never found a magnetic coin. . . Welcome to china boy😂🤣😂 another good video Speg!
Good job I like how you zoomed in on the camera and show the difference good job thanks
What size is that big magnet you have and where did you buy it
Sigma Baby! Best Money Ever Spent......... Thanks for the video 👍Sir.. Life is good........God Bless
My dog won’t stop barking after that door bell 🤣
Sorry.. but I’m not really ;)
@@Spegtacular dont worry I replayed it about 5 times to bother her 😛
Thanks Speg for this information.
You should have also demonstrated the ping ringing sound test as you did on your Fake Morgan Silver Dollar from a flea market video.
There's several times I could do but there's no need to do every single test in every single video. That would get a little repetitive wouldn't it? When one or two of these tests are such a "nail in the coffee", we can generally stop there. After all, this is not a "how many tests can you do to test silver" video.
😂 I thought it was #1, until you flipped over #2.
This video has me laughing. Either i'm becoming a coin expert (unlikely) or that is a horrible fake silver eagle.
i knew the middle one was fake because of the lettering and the thickness and style of font it is... very easy to spot to any real collector
1. It was smaller
2 it had a weird line down the right side of the back
3. When you flipped it around it was inverted.
It would sure be interesting to know what alloy or amalgamation that coin was made of. The weight was very close to that of silver, but all of the magnetic elements are notably less dense than silver. In the light the cut looked copper-colored, but maybe that was just some sort of lighting artifact in the video, since nickle, cobalt, and iron are all somewhat silverish in color.
Howdy SpegTacular. I ordered two 2 oz Scottsdale Sunday and they are out for shipment today. APMEX won't be out until 7/19/2020. I am a patient man.
It’s a virtue :) people had rumored that Scottsdale was going out of business, stealing money, etc. in truth, they were just extremely busy.
I appreciate that your nails are short and clean
Your talents with a magnet are unmatched good sir. :)
The centre one.... I got one from America to.. my friend bought it from Amazon :( such a bummer
Dead give away for me was the letter U in United. The mint changed the design of the U a few years back.
#2, as soon as you said one was fake. Thank you for this.
If I may: when you want to cut a notch into a coin like you do, I suggest you shove the coin as deep as you can into the cutter's jaws. You get much better leverage that way. Such would be better both for the tool and your hand, and probably reduce the chance of the coin going flying as well.
I am getting really tempted to buy a sigma tester everytime I see you use it. If it wasn't so expensive I would already have one ;)
Thanks for the video. You linked the verifier. Could you recommend where at get the magnet? Google search didn't look promising. Again thanks great video.
I got it on EBay years ago
@@Spegtacular Thank you. Hard out here buying person to person.
The give-away for me was that the obverse wasn't a flip over. American coins the back is upside down to the front.
one other thing not pointed out was how noticeably further away the writing on the reverse was from the edge of the fake Eagle; most noticeable w/ the naked eye @ the "1oz FINE SILVER" area.
Much easier to see IF You have a US Mint purchased Eagle to compare it to.
If you see them side by side you see immediately that the diameter of the 2nd "coin" is smaller. If you see it online it's possible so see the differences but it's much harder if you have a good fake.
Destroy Fakes! Thanks!! 👍😃
Great video!! Thanks for teaching us awareness of a fake. 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽😀
Love your videos! So informative. Thanks bud!
It looks so small compared to the others, also you need to learn how to use calipers, you can't pick 2 random points like that...
Very instructive, thanks! If you are an avid ASE collector, carry a real one in your pocket for comparison.
One can do the "soundcheck" with silvercoins. Put it on a fingertip and hit it slightly with another coin. If it does a nice vibrating "pling" sound it is silver, if it does a kind of short "smack"-sound, than it's most likely fake. Silver, and gold also, "ring" like only eternal money can do!
Everyone needs to be aware that fakes such as this are being sold on e-bay all the time . Before you buy make sure to do a little review of the seller's information and their feedback.
It might be a good idea to never buy coins on ebay. No matter what.
@@SM77785 Buy from a reputable seller, & you should not have any problems.
Have you ever seen a fake Sunshine Mint 1oz silver coin? They have the "patented anti-counter fitting water mark". How secure / fool proof is this thing?
Speg's, Nice video my friend. Good PSA. Hope you are well. Thanks for the Info! Cheers.
After seeing the closeups of all three, I'm saying number 2 is the fake, because the reflective background is both mirror-like and distorted, like a fun-house mirror.
The minute you flipped the center coin and it had a medallion die orientation it was a no brainer.
Number 2 cause of the way it flipped! Thanks for the info!
Maybe drill a small hole through the fakes to permanently mark them yet saving them for our training? Good video. Thank you.
#2 is the fake. The "U" is wrong. It does not have a tail.
Yes. This is the first thing I noticed. The typeface overall is close but incorrect. The U is the easiest to spot. Also, the crossbars on the A's are too thin and the C narrows too much at the top and bottom. In general, the stokes are all wrong. On the real coin, the width of the letters is much more consistent.
I for one am sick of China ripping off our coins and basically everything of value that’s American. Even Silver eagles are technically legal tender and it’s considered an act of war for a country to make counterfeit money from another country. The Chinese government doesn’t make them themselves.. but they sell permits for companies to make them and that’s just as bad. Our government needs to take the gloves off with China and pick our pride up off the floor!!
For me, it was easy to spot due to the way the Chrome plating was reflecting off the "rays"
Is it the one in the middle the mint marked looked different then the rest of them?
The fake ones reverse is upside down. When you flipped the coins at the beginning of the video, you shouldn't have had to rotate the center one.
On U.S. Coins you only have to rotate them to orient the coin if you flip it left to right or right to left, not not top to bottom or bottom to top.
I have the same fake coin. Keeping it for educational purposes. I was surprised on how great it look after I took a picture of it.
Your red book does not list it, but thickness should be 3mm for genuine coins. Fakes are usually 3.5+mm.
Speg Tacular, I got burned on a 1893 CC Morgan dollar, let me know if you want to make a video on it and I will send it to you, had it checked out at my LCS.
I stopped collecting the proof silver eagle in 2006 so I'm not as familiar with them any more. That was alot of good points to check for fake coins, and thanks for putting them out there, good video. I don't know if I forgot this or never knew it but my question is on the two good coins. How come #1 is frosted in the back ground while #3 has a mirrored back ground? Thanks
A different type of proof coin.
How many people watched just to see the fake cut in half. 😱😱😱😱
I knew right away it was the one in the middle, number 2. when you flipped it from the bottom the other side was not upright.
Why are the backgrounds on the two good ones different; one polished, one "frosted?"
One is a proof and one is a reverse proof
Hi there what's the value of a 1893 s Morgan silver dollar
I got 50 of them. They weigh 26 grams each, not 31.1. I cut one in half expecting to find copper, but it is uniform throughout; non-magnetic. The four websites that I bought them from did not look Chinese. Chinese characters on the order confirmation emails though. I think yours is the second, middle, one. The U gives it away. By the way, Paypal was no help in getting my money back. My bank stepped in though. Too bad the Secret Service isn't interested; they only care about paper currency.
My guess is number two because when you flipped them over....the reverse side of Number two was the only one not still in the correct position......you had to turn it around.
Don't buy on eBay and the small sellers. Go to the reputable dealers, or buy from the Mint directly
Speg #2 is as Real as any of the Kardashians....
One use for fake coins is to have them on display as copies in your house in case you get robbed.
I haven't really seen in modern bullion coin that looked real and I could not tell the difference. What scares me is when they tried to fake old numismatic coins, those can be tricky.
Hey Speg,
I just bought a silver generic ounce buffalo from my local gold chain store here in Ohio. I noticed after I got it home that it doesn't ring like my Morgan's do. It does out fast. I took it to another store of the same chain, and they stuck it in their analyzer for me. He said it's 3 9's and the correct weight but why doesn't it ring??
.999 doesn’t sound like 90% or .925.
Use the app on your phone “precious coin tester” along with the pinging method. You’ll need to put the parameters in the app that go along with the piece you’re testing
@@Spegtacular the precious coin tester gave it 3 stars which is great. Thanks for the advise Speg!
You can get really good deals on eBay, but NEVER buy premium silver or gold products off there.
I think some reputable US companies selling gold and silver coins also have shops set up on EBay. Just need to go to buy those coins from reputable sellers.
I didn’t see anyone mention the pre 2008 U in United on the reverse. The size was the first indicator but the u sealed the deal.
I highly recommend the Sigma Metalytics precious metals verifier. I almost bought a 20g Gold bar from the Perth Mint in 'original' packaging but when I tried to verify it the Sigma determined that it was an undetermined metal plated with 24k gold. I did an internet search on these bars and found numerous high-quality Chinese fakes available. The seller claimed he had purchased it from APMEX and it was guaranteed by them. I did purchase a PAMP 1oz gold bar from this seller that passed the Sigma verification.
I don't know if someone else said this cause I have not read all the comments. But on a real silver eagle the head and the tail are inverted just like every U.S coin. On the Chinese fake the the head and the tail are both facing the same direction
#2 looks like steel. I can see the color tone. And its considerably smaller
Just found your web site...where have you been all my life. Thanks for the info....On facebook every other ad is for $9.95 silver eagles. You have to know these can't be real. Just the price is a dead give away. Great video, I say # 2 from the opening.
I’ve been here all of your life :)
Thanks for the video. This helped me verify 11 fake Eagles.
Holy smokes 11? Where’d they come from?
👋🏼👋🏼 thank you for sharing speg
Great video... EXPOSE THE SCAMMERS!!!
Where Could I get a magnet like that? Thanks...
I got mine from Ebay
I was cracking up watching you messing with fake silver OMG thanks for sharing went through my stack all real.wow terrible how many fakes..
Number 2! The flip, gave it away
Thank you so much. I just found out that a 2020 westpoint silver eagle is a fake thanks to you video.
I have bought Fake Pamp Sussies 1/2 gold on eBay. Even online with actual pictures doesn’t mean that what you will actually receive.
I really liked your precious metal tester. I checked at sigma metalytics and it goes for $600+. Can you recommend another precious metal tester that’s as easy to use and maybe more affordable? Thanks.
Honestly, I think that Sigma is the cheapest. Beyond that, you're talking about $10000 or so.
I'm curious why Customs and Border Protection (formerly US Customs) allows this counterfeit US currency into the country. If it is imported as a decoration why would it appear so realistic? Complete with US currency markings. To me fraud is intended.
there's a lot of advertisements on Facebook that sell these fakes for under $10 bucks a piece.very few will give any "contact" information. the day I checked silver was selling for just over $17 bucks an once. that alone told me they were fake.