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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;JeffC, post: 7983300, member: 90913&quot;]Hello all!</p><p><br /></p><p>Saturday Evening Post.&nbsp; I&#039;ve had these for a while now but never got the chance to put it all together till now.&nbsp; These are 2013 China 1 oz. Pandas, one&#039;s genuine, the other a counterfeit.&nbsp; I&#039;d like to share my observations while comparing the fake against the real one.&nbsp; (In all the photos below, the real one is always on the left, or on top.)&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s an overview of both of them, side by side.&nbsp; The fake managed to pass the magnet test.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1385380[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The weights are not the same.&nbsp; The fake one is over 4% less than spec.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1385385[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Whatever material the counterfeit is made of, it must be lighter than silver and non-magnetic.&nbsp; So they had to increase its thickness to get the weight up.&nbsp; The fake is a little bit thicker (as you can see more clearly in the right hand photo, when the coins are laid side by side).[ATTACH=full]1385386[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The Panda&#039;s black fur has much more detail on the real one.&nbsp; The eyes and the claws are also a bit sloppy on the fake one.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1385387[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>The text describing the PM, weight, and fineness are sharper and clearer on the real one.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1385388[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>As a matter of fact, from some angles, you can&#039;t even clearly distinguish the text at all.&nbsp; It blends in too much.&nbsp; See below (fake one).&nbsp; This does not happen with the real one.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1385389[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The bamboos are dead giveaways.&nbsp; Lots of details lacking in the counterfeit.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1385390[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Now, I get to the weirdest part.&nbsp; In 2013, the Panda reverse changed to a sandblasted finish (I found this out during my research).&nbsp; The fake one still used the old reverse.&nbsp; Strangely, the fake one actually looks sharper, which is counter-intuitive.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1385393[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>On the real one, ironically, you now can&#039;t even make out the characters on the sign atop the Temple of Heaven, and lots of details are mushy.&nbsp; But it&#039;s genuine regardless.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1385394[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Finally, I get to the capsules.&nbsp; (But this is NOT a definitive sign of a fake!)&nbsp; I noticed that all my hand-me-down Pandas (2017 and earlier) are in capsules that have 3 nubs (divots?) on them in the rim region, while the capsule housing the fake Panda did not.&nbsp; However, I think nowadays Pandas are minted in any of three Chinese Mints and the capsules for genuine Pandas no longer have the 3 nubs anyway.&nbsp; If you want to see what the old type capsule looks like, here it is on the left.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1385395[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Alrighteee... Enjoy your weekend and Happy Hallowe&#039;en! Thanks for looking![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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