credit suisse "1 oz" rather than "one ounce" platinum bar??

Hi,

I received a Credit Suisse "1 oz" platinum bar from Lear Capital without an assay card. All of the others I have seen say "one ounce". In addition the serial numbere cannot be seen unless held in direct light and the length is just barely longer than the" assayeur fondeur" box. The others I have seen are longer and easy to read. Is this real or fake?

Thanks,

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I am not an expert on fakes, but it is a real concern. They are really getting good these days. I would probably check with a local coin dealer if you are truly concerned, but based on some digging it appears that the variances you are describing are with the liberty bar, so if you have that one I'm hopeful that you're in good shape.

Regular bar:


Liberty bar:

 

I think I would request that they substitute a bar that is more agreeable to the purchaser. And the certs should always be included.

 

Thanks for the reply. It is not a Liberty bar, just the regular. I've attached pictures. After scouring the internet it seems that there are "1 oz" suisse bars, but the serial number still seems to be different - I can barely read it unless in direct light. You can see it in the photo because the flash lights it up. So I measured it, and the dimensions were 38mm x 20mm. I've read that they are supposed to be 41.2 x 24.1. Have you measured yours? If so, what dimensions of length and width did you get?

Thanks again for your reply,

 

I don't have a 1 oz bar to compare to of my own. This is the only thing I was able to find in the same style as yours, but the serial numbers are noticably different. I think it would be worth having an expert check it out, or looking into whatever methods you can do to verify it's genuine such as conductivity tests.

Or if you could find an image of another bar with serial number closer to yours that might be a better gauge, but I couldn't find any.



http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-oz-CREDIT-SUISSE-PLATINUM-BAR-NEW-NUMBERED-CERTIFICATE-AUTHENTICITY-/230714130855?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35b7a241a7

 

The serial number that the OP has looks etched as the Credit Suisse are normally stamped. I'd ask for a new one to be issues or at least a cert to go along with the purchase. They may have changed the way they number the bars on newer production.

 

Well I took it to a dealer and they weighed it and said it was fine. So all is good. Thanks for the replies.

 

wowo you best to watch it out there buying bars and rounds

 

Even if the dealer said it was cool I would still get an assay card from Lear Capital, or some certificate of authenticity. When It comes time that you want to sell it, it's always good to have.

 

In light of all the fakes going around lately I decided to look into tests further, and there is a specific gravity test you can do that is pretty foolproof. Ultimately you'll want to know diameter and thickness measurements, but the specific gravity test will catch most fakes. You can look up videos on YouTube for examples, but I will briefly explain.

First, weigh your coin or bar, and mark it down, preferably using a gram scale to 2 decimal places, but 1 place works.

Next, get a plastic cup and fill it with enough water to submerge your coin, and zero out the scale with the cup on it.

Lastly, wrap some floss around your coin so you can suspend it, then lower it into the cup completely below the water's surface so it's not moving and not touching the sides or the bottom, and record that weight.

You could also weigh the cup with the water instead of zeroing it out, then weigh the cup with the water and the coin, and subtract the difference.

Either way, divide the actual coin weight by the weight difference you get by placing the coin into the water, and this will give you specific gravity.

Specific gravity for platinum is 21.37. For gold it's 19.32, and silver it's 10.492. The silver coins I tested this on came out to be 10.333 and 10.4, close enough to be legit. Actual weight of 31.0 and 31.2 grams, again close enough.