This is interesting and potentially has pretty serious implications for the folks buying off-brand gold products. http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Tungsten-and-its-use-in-making-fake-gold-22919-3-1.html
The Nov 3rd (page 24) issue of Numismatic News has a similar article. It says that tungsten sales were steady up to 2002, when they began increasing at 10% per year...with no notable increase in industrial consumption to account for it. :bigeyes:
Tungsten is used in ammunition to replace the toxic lead. More and more hunting regulations in US now require lead substitutions. That 10% per year increase has got to do with the increasing in use in ammos.
I agree with leony that the tungsten is probably going toward ammo or other uses. I also think it wouldn't take even 1% of the annual tungsten usage to make a substantial amount of fake gold bars.
Interesting...makes sense. I'm not a gun owner so I don't know of these things. I thought tungsten was fairly brittle...thought it might behave differently than lead at high velocities. Perhaps they alloy it with something else to give it acceptable properties.
Thanks cloud Reasons like these are why I stick to Eagles right now. Correct me if I am wrong but I believe they are they hardest to counterfeit because of the fine details they posses. I didnt know about the tungsten deal but I like knowledge. Is tungsten attracted to magnets?? What test could one do to check for Tungsten. Checking if it was brittle would destroy the coin.
Tungsten is usually alloyed with something else. Cabela's usually carry some for waterfowl hunting called "tungsten matrix". But I cannot seem to find it now. Most gun dealers are out of ammos these days. People are stocking them. Tungsten is also used in new fishing weights.
Sounds like with the lower tungsten density, that it would not weigh properly with the physical dimensions being equal. That's how I'd test, not knowing any better.
Tungsten is almost exactly as dense as gold, but the speed of sound in it is way different and ultrasound would show a big discontinuity between gold outside and tungsten inside. An electrical conductivity measurement would show a difference too. Tungsten coins are supposed to be pretty hard to produce. Tungsten is so hard that you'd need a thick layer of gold to flow into the die to make the coin features. A counterfeiter would be better off making bars according to what I've read.
Tungsten The military uses tugsten in the 5.56 62gr round " Green tip ". High penetration qualities. Russia also uses it for the same purpose. Some leadless ammo is zinc and copper. It has been used to the detriment of Dutch Sodiers. The compound was found to cause reactions of extreme joint pain and head aches. This was found when testing a new HK 416 rifles.
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