fake coins or not ?

Hello to the community,

i have a question please

I own several American gold eagle coins of one ounce.

On internet I can see the total weight is 33.93 Gr but when I check with my scale, I find a weight of 34,12 Gr

I brought them to check at a local jewelry shop to be tested, and it's gold (test with stone+ acid)

However they found a weight of 34,12gr too and I m still scare they are fake

I bought them from a reliable shop, with an invoice
They are 1987 edition (with roman numbers)

Could it be possible that the difference of weight to be normal ?

Thanks for your help,

and sorry for my language, I m not an English native speaker

 

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more pictures

 

May I ask where you purchased them?

 

sure, it comes from a gold coins dealer in belgium (brussells). Not sure if i can post the link of their shop there.

They sent the coins by post office. All seemed legit, i have an invoice from an active company.

But still, i don't understand why the american gold eagle (4 coins) has a weight of 34,12 gr and not the normal weight of 33,93 gr.

 

I've found at least one report of a fake (heavy gold plate over base metal) AGE weighing 34.194g. Since that one was the right diameter and presumably the right thickness, I'd assume it had a tungsten core.

34.12 g is less than 1% over weight. I would normally assume that it's a measurement error, but it is odd that two scales gave the same result. I hate to recommend damaging a coin, but if the dealer already did a stone test, the coin is already damaged. I might consider nicking it and seeing whether that reveals something else under the gold.

I wonder if the dealer's test could distinguish 24-karat gold (usually used for plating) from 22-karat gold alloyed with copper (the real coin's composition)?

 

Unless you consider them scrap, there were better approaches.

 

I was also thinking that it may be a tungsten core.

 

i didn't want to scrape it but i think i ll have no other choice than sacrifice one coin to be sure...

 

The bigger question is whether or not they actually would. Plenty would be more than happy to pass the buck to someone else

 

I have nothing to add here but I'm curious to know how it turns out. Good luck! Also, don't worry about your english, it's better than some of the native English speaking people I come across.

 

Hi @Jeepfreak81

on advise of a gold broker i know (far away from my home unfortunalty), i made a ping test.

He didn't replied me yet but the sound is similar with genuine american gold eagle i think.

He also offer me to make a test free of charges, if i pay for the shipping way and back. It's little bit costly but i might accept the offer if i m not reassured.

Sound test is here for who are interested https://vocaroo.com/i/s0ALin1qY3jr

 

@jana61 , is there any chance for you to buy one of these directly from the US Mint? Then you could compare them without damaging the coins you have any further. You could also buy one of them graded by PCGS or NGC, but with bullion, it's fun to have them ungraded.

Secondly, there are books you can buy on the series that will help you. Are you a collector/numismatist or do you want to become one? If yes, this might be a good approach.

 

Hi @jpcienkus

I m learning how to be a collector yes.

I have some 20Fr and 40Fr napoleons, 20Fr louis-philippe, 20Fr coq marianne.

but i start to like the US coins more than French coins.

The problem is it's harder to get them here. Of course, i still could buy straight from th US mint but the customs will charge the VAT + import taxes. And it will skyrocket the price of each coin.

This is why i try to get as much as information that you, fellows collectors could provide to me like detecting fake coins or anything else uselfull/ interesting.

Of course i also read a lot and watch plenty of videos about the topic.

 

Hi Jana. Welcome to CT. This is a great hobby. I own a couple of french coins. I completely understand your issue in acquiring US coins in your country.

My advice in the short term is to buy books on the US coins series that you want to collect. In addition, please keep coming back to this site and learn from the vast member knowledge. There are a lot of very smart experienced collectors on the site.

If you really want to get into US coins, there are some coin dealers on this site that you could buy from, but you'll still have to deal with French VAT and import taxes.

How much is the VAT and import taxes?

 

The VAT is 20% and the import taxes would be between 2 to 10%.

It add serious amount of money on each 1Oz eagle !

I found a belgium shop to be cheaper than my local shop. That's why i ordered from there.

I ll follow you advice. I need to learn more about US coins.

 

I just ordered a coin from France, well actually it's a medal from a Museum with a Jeep on it. Came a couple days ago.

 

Do you have a picture of it @Jeepfreak81 ?

I reach the conclusion of my problem.

I split one in 2 to make sure it's not filled with tungsten... and it's OK.

it hurts me to sacrifice one of them but i can happily enjoy the others beeing sure they are genuine american gold eagle, AND my gold dealer to be reliable.

* i pick the one tested yesterday by the shop as it was already a bit damaged and cut it in two pieces to check inside.

We can say the case is closed

 

Definitely PMD ...

lol That picture is hard to look at for an AGE but glad the mystery is solved.

 

Yes. When it comes to the bullion coins the stated weight is a minimum weight to guarantee that you get the full amount of gold that they are supposed to contain. But getting every coin to weight and exact amount is pretty much an impossibility, there will always be slight fluctuations in the actual weight.

 

Yes, i learnt it... let's say the hard way