Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;TOKENHUNTER, post: 1850870, member: 37910&quot;]At this point I have a few Maple Leafs, enough to test and compare different ones to see if any one (or !gulp! more) stand out when compared using a simple sonic ring or &quot;ping&quot; test. I will post later when I have the time to listen to the different Maples I have to see if they are all as &quot;dead&quot; as the 2011 I have here now.</p><p><br /></p><p>I buy all my coins via a local dealer who has been in business for decades. I don&#039;t worry about the authenticity of the coins I buy from them. But that&#039;s not to say I deem it inconceivable that I could ever end up with a fake. After all, when there&#039;s a will there&#039;s a way, and from what I have been reading about tungsten filled bars in NYC and Chinese fake gold openly sold for &quot;decoration&quot; and &quot;conversation pieces&quot;, it&#039;s obvious that counterfeiters are working harder than ever.</p><p><br /></p><p>That being said, I closely examine under 10-16X magnification everything I buy, weigh each coin on my own Durascale (great little scale!) and try to glean other distinguishing characteristics about gold coins that would alert me to a fake if indeed I came across one. Would I be able to tell? Unless it was a really good fake - probably. Close observation is important and it&#039;s also part of the allure of precious metals. I try not to underestimate my ability to notice miniscule details.</p><p><br /></p><p>But it definitely is slightly alarming that this 2011 Maple Leaf I have here hardly rings at all. A 1983 Krugerrand held on the tip of my finger and struck with another coin will ring so loud, long, and high it almost hurts my ears. The most noticeable harmonics of the Krugerrand are probably around 13-14K. Very high. (I&#039;m going to test this for certain on a frequency spectrum analyzer, and I&#039;ll let you know for sure. I have a great microphone, a top-of-the line D/A converter and a professional digital recording setup.)</p><p><br /></p><p>But the Maple Leaf has to be balanced on something with much less surface contact area than my finger (I&#039;m using a Kensington Surface Guardian Swab, the thicker end) to have even a prayer of sounding at all. It makes a nondescript little &quot;cling&quot; that dies almost as soon as it starts. I have read about the difference between gold and gold+alloy when it comes to ring testing, so I also tried striking the Maple with objects that are softer than other coins, like a plastic pen.</p><p><br /></p><p>This topic of &quot;ping&quot; testing and the dull Maple leaf comes up here and there on the internet, but there&#039;s not too much about it that I have found. This post is here to assuage your fears - No, 1 oz. gold Maples do not ring anything like a gold Krug. I will follow this up in a few days with some freq. spectrum screen caps of various gold 1 oz. coins and will let you know if my other Maples ring with the same dull quality. </p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;m&nbsp; not saying that anything I post is going to be a foolproof test for counterfeit coins. This is as much for me as it is for you. From what I have been able to gather about testing coins, acid and X-Rays are really your best bets. What I&#039;m saying is, if you own 6 gold Maple Leafs bought over the course of 6 years, from reputable dealer(s), with different dates, etc, and they all sound and plot pretty much the same on a freq. spectrum analyzer, then chances are that sound and signature is what you can expect from Maples and that sound and signature is not suspect.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in