Engelhard is what I would consider boutique, so any damage would cause a discount from both a buyer and a seller.
Many of the plastic enclosures can be easily duplicated, so the best way is to test it by using a rare earth magnet, it will confirm its silver but not the brand name so any documentation you can get would be a plus
I have 10oz poured silver bars from IGR. It has a laser etched serial number on the bar. Included on the back of the bar is paper card with the SN, fineness, etc held in place with plastic wrap. The plastic wrap seam has a hologram label on it. I suggest that the refiners packaging be left in place. The buyer has the final choice.
I have one of those same bars you discussed, but many do not have the attached documentation, so your really left on your own, always best to buy from a reputable dealer such as APMEX or Liberty coin one of my new favorites.
I have some US coins that are in the Littleton flips. All graded with some codes. Grading is subjective, but I'll probably not loose money on these $0.33 on the dollar in the graded class is what I paid. The seller inherited the lot from his father and wasn't a coin collector... I offered 2x what someone else did and the seller asked ME if I was sure about my offer? Everyone was happy with the deal. Even those are still in the plastic flips
Oh yeah that kind of stuff is obviously supposed to be kept sealed. But mine doesn’t have any labeling or information on the plastic. It’s just clear plastic packaging with nothing on it.
In a perfect world they would all have documentation and matching serial numbers to support what you have but its not a perfect world so most dont,but like I said in my previous post a rare earth magnet works wonders, I have one of I ever have a question, heres a key chain model on Amazon for about $9 if you so desire, its really cheap insurance.
I have this one that I take to the coin meetings. Occasionally someone pops in looking to sell something and it's uncovered a few fakes.
Oh yeah I have a Neodyium magnet except it looks different. It still works on the same principle though. I also bought calipers so I can measure the diameter and width of a coin and a jewelers scale so I can weigh it. Usually those 3 tests combined can detect a lot of fakes even if it’s not perfect and good fakes will still slip through since good fakes usually use real silver. If someone was counterfeiting an 1893 S Morgan Dollar for example it would be dumb not to use real silver since the numismatic is far beyond its melt value. They’d likely splurge and pay $15 or whatever for real silver bullion and make the coins out of that. In fact I once read that sometimes common gold & silver coins are melted down and reminted into more valuable numismatic coins. Like melting down a bunch of common date problem coins and using the metal to strike coins like the 1893 S Morgan or the 1927 D St Gaudens. Those are scary because the coins are made of exactly the same composition of silver & copper or gold & copper as real coins due to being made of melted down real coins.
Oh yeah and it’s not just rare dates & mints either! Apparently there is a new scam where they will melt larger denomination gold coins of common dates and restrike them as smaller denominations. Like they will take an XF cleaned common 1927 St Gaudens $20 Double Eagle and melt it down and then strike 8 fake $2.50 Indian Head Quarter Eagles of common dates because they have a much larger premium and people don’t look as closely at common dates. As you can see in the images at the bottom of this post a cleaned St Gaudens can be had for $2,000 but a $2.50 Indian Head quarter eagle is tough to get for under $400 so they could make a hefty profit turning one real gold coin (worth $2,000) into eight counterfeit coins (sold for $400 each) of proper gold content & composition. Then multiply that by hundreds and that’s a big money operation. I always used to wonder where all the problem coins went. I think a lot of them end up purchased in bulk at melt and are melted and turned into counterfeits.
That’s the problem, you never know what your getting, you have to educate yourself to make sure your not a victim Zoe just avoid potential problems to begin with.
When it comes to silver bars you can really hurt them unless you break them in half, then tends to make them less valuable….LOL
True, unless someone stores them in enclosed space with other unprotected valued coins as PVC is released from inner and outer surfaces if it is present. Jim
Coins for sure, bullion and bars not as much, as condition really isn’t a factor in the generic world….LOL
I try to limit my risk by buying from reputable places like APMEX, JM Bullion, Heritage Auctione etc., since in my experience the odds of a fake being sent are very low. Although I imagine some products are more risky. For example if you bought a 2022 American Silver Eagle from them the risk is almost 0 since they buy them straight from the US Mint. But stuff they buy from customers I think might have that rare chance of once in a while having a fake slip through the cracks and end up being sold due to the pure volume of inventory they buy & sell on a daily basis.
But if you break them in half they get a bigger premium as fractional silver . Kinda like how 10x 1/10th oz silver rounds cost more than 1x 1 oz silver round ^_^ (Joking lol)