eBay Warning!!

[Sovereign]

Fake sovs / sovs don’t have 

by this seller .. tffm9992

sold 10 sovs today 

be careful !! 

[Sovereign]

And selling 1937 4 coin set with no pics of the actual coins lol

[AlphaBeast]

What's the best way to test if you have real gold yourself without potentially damaging the coin?

[Sovereign]

1 minute ago, AlphaBeast said:

What's the best way to test if you have real gold yourself without potentially damaging the coin?

talking about sovereign.. weight , diameter...

most of fake sovs just by looking at them  

[Sovsaver]

Accurately weight it, then check dimensions. If the weight and dimension are accurate for the particular coin it should be gold. If you have a pmi machine it’s even easier.

[AlphaBeast]

5 minutes ago, Sovereign said:

talking about sovereign.. weight , diameter...

most of fake sovs just by looking at them  

Thanks!

4 minutes ago, Sovsaver said:

Accurately weight it, then check dimensions. If the weight and dimension are accurate for the particular coin it should be gold. If you have a pmi machine it’s even easier.

Cheers! PMI machine sounds and 'pricey', where do I get one if I want one?

[airmac]

Don' have enough confidence in my non existing knowledge to buy gold on eBay. So guess I'm safe at least on that front  ☺

[Sovsaver]

19 hours ago, AlphaBeast said:

Thanks!

Cheers! PMI machine sounds and 'pricey', where do I get one if I want one?

They are pricey, best stick with weight and diameter/thickness. If they are correct for the type of coin you can be quite certain it’s gold because nothing else really has the same density. Steel is more than twice as light for example.

[mrbritish1976]

are the sovereign balance scales worth an investment ?

[Silverstackeruk]

And there is no protection on gold right?

[sovereignsteve]

2 hours ago, mrbritish1976 said:

are the sovereign balance scales worth an investment ?

you mean the old ones from the 19th century?

nice as an interesting historical item but not as accurate as a modern balance.

[mrbritish1976]

50 minutes ago, sovereignsteve said:

you mean the old ones from the 19th century?

nice as an interesting historical item but not as accurate as a modern balance.

yes there the ones  obviously not as good as digital scales 

but do these not also confirm correct size ?

although digital calipers are more accurate (my next purchase )

[sovereignsteve]

1 hour ago, mrbritish1976 said:

but do these not also confirm correct size ?

yes they do but not sure how accurate they are. easy to get a plastic size gauge that covers various coins and calipers are better.

[mrbritish1976]

Calipers ordered

[AlphaBeast]

3 minutes ago, mrbritish1976 said:

Calipers ordered

Where did you buy from? Looking to get one myself..

[mrbritish1976]

3 minutes ago, AlphaBeast said:

Where did you buy from? Looking to get one myself..

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F253214137962

Not sure what quality will be like but have heard even the cheap ones are very accurate.

went for the stainless ones

 

[AlphaBeast]

25 minutes ago, mrbritish1976 said:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F253214137962

Not sure what quality will be like but have heard even the cheap ones are very accurate.

went for the stainless ones

 

Nice one! Will get myself one too!

[ilovesilverireallydo]

I once bought a half sov 1909 - right weight, size etc. But something about the colour bugged me a bit - I dont know why. So took it to another jeweller and had them run XRF - turned out to be 9 karat. Took it back - guy gave me my money back - and agreed to sell it to me for 9K scrap price (I asked cause would be interesting to own one!). 

[sovereignsteve]

13 minutes ago, ilovesilverireallydo said:

right weight, size etc..............turned out to be 9 karat

unlikely, doesn't add up unless it contained a lot of tungsten but then the colour would be miles off

[ilovesilverireallydo]

2 minutes ago, sovereignsteve said:

unlikely, doesn't add up unless it contained a lot of tungsten but then the colour would be miles off

will see if I can dig it out and take some pics. 

[tbone]

This is why I only buy graded coins if not buying from a big dealer, and even then I'll test with a PM Verifier if I buy from ebay.

[airmac]

3 hours ago, mrbritish1976 said:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F253214137962

Not sure what quality will be like but have heard even the cheap ones are very accurate.

went for the stainless ones

 

Ah, good old cheapo.  I use calipers for work so got a mitutoyo. Great one

[sovereignsteve]

looks like the ones that Aldi sell. if so they're ok, work fine.

[Pete]

On 03/11/2017 at 23:39, ilovesilverireallydo said:

I once bought a half sov 1909 - right weight, size etc. But something about the colour bugged me a bit - I dont know why. So took it to another jeweller and had them run XRF - turned out to be 9 karat. Took it back - guy gave me my money back - and agreed to sell it to me for 9K scrap price (I asked cause would be interesting to own one!). 

Cannot be correct - either the weight was low and / or the thickness too high.  Measuring accurate weight is easy but thickness is trickier and it pays to compare against a known genuine coin. I spotted a fake sovereign / jeweller's copy ( purchased from one of our popular dealers ) and from its measurements calculated that it was 18ct ( later confirmed when I returned it ) so 9ct would be easy to spot.

[ilovesilverireallydo]

 

46 minutes ago, Pete said:

Cannot be correct - either the weight was low and / or the thickness too high.  Measuring accurate weight is easy but thickness is trickier and it pays to compare against a known genuine coin. I spotted a fake sovereign / jeweller's copy ( purchased from one of our popular dealers ) and from its measurements calculated that it was 18ct ( later confirmed when I returned it ) so 9ct would be easy to spot.

I should have clarified, when I said weight and measurements, this was done arbitrarily by the shop. 

In complete checking the coin, three things stood out:

1. Colour - I had three genuine half sovs next to the fake, I just didn't like the colour.

2. Weight - 4.1 grams on my scale so 0.1 gram over most mine.

3. Thickness. At a cursory glance it looks ok, but close look shows it's marginally thicker. 

Remember, I am no pro,so if the colour hadn't thrown me, I wouldn't have questioned it. I would say this is good enough a forgery to fool a bunch of jewellery shops that don't use an xrf or sigma.

Spot the fake, pics loaded.