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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;teh_admiral, post: 3256831, member: 99788&quot;][USER=99137]@TyCobb[/USER] Scratch testing is only useless if you know 100% that the uncirculated coin you are looking at is what the seller says it is. And even then you DON&#039;T know because fakes are rampant, as discussed in the link I posted. Unless you refined the metal yourself and poured it yourself. If your coin is anything other than mint, uncirculated, it only makes SENSE as a coin collector OR bullion investor to have it scratch tested. Because ONLY then will you know 100% the karat/% is as-stated. Otherwise it&#039;s like [USER=73995]@Pickin and Grinin[/USER] and I said, &quot;Caveat emptor.&quot; How do YOU know that the &quot;pros&quot; at any coin meet are hawking REAL coins? They could very well be the ones buying Alibaba money and mixing it in. (For the record, I am Chinese <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> Maybe they don&#039;t get to the final table in poker as often as they want but put their skills to use elsewhere. PIRATE.</p><p><br /></p><p>As I was researching XRF, someone else used a sigma PMV and said they almost bought a bunch of gold Pandas because the one in-hand was real. <a href="https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/982066/can-xrf-penetrate-100-mils-of-pure-gold-to-the-candy-tungsten-core" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/982066/can-xrf-penetrate-100-mils-of-pure-gold-to-the-candy-tungsten-core" rel="nofollow">https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/982066/can-xrf-penetrate-100-mils-of-pure-gold-to-the-candy-tungsten-core</a> But the rest in boxes were not, so my Q stands: how did APMEX (who should have both XRF and PMV tools) let my +18k sovereign pass? And what should I do with it now that I know it&#039;s not 22k? Do you consider a sovereign that ISN&#039;T 22k to be a &quot;counterfeit&quot;? Another collector was adamant that any sovereign not minted in Britain = counterfeit even at 22k gold (because of mint of origin), but at least the coins are legitimate 22k to coin and bullion collectors alike whereas mine may be minted in London but it&#039;s only +18k...</p><p><br /></p><p>I do admit: I could have posted in the wrong forum. I did do a few searches on fake coins but did not see/find a forum dedicated to spotting fakes...</p><p><br /></p><p>Also: scratch-testing is &quot;off-topic&quot;. Now that my sovereign is an established +18k, what should I DO with it?? Return it as a counterfeit? Does anyone have any HISTORICAL context?? Scientific context?? As to how this sovereign ended up being +18k instead of 22k??? Looking for expertise, not more people comforting themselves with eye-balling gold and putting down actual science. Please read the links from other coin lovers who did the maths.........[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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