Hello Gents and ladies ! I have been a reader but never a poster until now...Great site too ! I have some 2012 Pandas and 2012 Maples, I bought them from what I have been told is a reliable source. They look perfect as they should, the maoles have ALL the proper markings and veining to the leaf etc, as does the Pandas but...when you "ring" them the panda and the maple ring similar but they dont ring as sharp nor does the tone last as long ans ringing a ASE which I KNOW are real... Even a 1971 Ike dollar rings like an old silver dollar... Does this make any sense ??
Hi cvcman, welcome to CoinTalk! I have only ever done the ring test with ASE's and I did it by letting one fall into the other one so that the flat part of each coin connected in mid air. The one I drop ends up flipping and ringing real nice all the way down after that. My expectation is that other similar coins would ring the same. If you are concerned about counterfeiting there are other tests you can do such as a specific gravity test which I like a lot (instructions on YouTube, it's a little complicated), and it includes taking the standard weight as well which should be around 31 grams. You could also get some rare earth magnets and place them on the coin at a slight incline. Fake coins it will slide off real fast, but real ones it slides about twice as slow. I've heard of an ice test to measure the heat conductivity of the coin, since silver is the best thermal conductor of any metal, but I'm not sure of the specifics. I've heard more about fake pandas than fake maples, but might be worth testing them all if you are concerned about it and don't plan on grading them.
