Fake silver & gold coins: 5 easy ways to spot them.

People, with so many fake coins floating around its important to know how to tell the difference.
Here's five simple steps to follow and check to make sure.

Origin
Where did you get the coin from? A reputable dealer or some stranger? In general a coin dealer with a good reputation can be trusted, but its no 100% certain, a fake can still slip through and dealers can be dishonest.

Ring/Ping test
This one is easy and pretty accurate. Both silver and gold have a very distinctive ring to them when struck. A long vibrating, musical sound you will easily identify. Other metals simply do not sound like that.

Magnetic
Gold and Silver are not magnetic. If it is, its not PM, it’s a fake. Many fake junk silver coins floating around are magnetic, easily spotted with a magnet.
Size

Know the size of the coin you are dealing with. If it doesn’t match, then that’s a red flag.
Weight
There can be slight variations in how thick the rim of a coin may be but the weight of junk silver was determined by law. It will never be heavier than its supposed to be and a very well circulated coin with have shaved a fraction of a grain due to wear, but not much more than that.
There’s also acid tests kit (stains the coin) and electronic testers but these simple tricks will help you greatly.

FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”