Gold vs gold plated?

This is the OP if you didn't know...this thread has went crazy with tungsten.

I have had multiple correspondence with the seller of the $50 gold eagle in question. I have asked him two things: 1) To measure the diameter of the coin in mm and 2) if he would meet me at a local coin shop to verify the authenticity of the coin.

In his e-mail response, he didn't give me the measurement of the diameter and said this:

Hello there,
Are you able to possibly meet this evening Around 7 or so? If so let me know. If you're worried about the authenticity of it I can assure you it is 100% gold. It's not plated (American eagles are infamously very very difficult to replicate anyway) and I can run you a number of tests very quickly instead of taking an hour or more out of our day waiting around at a shop for an estimate. I personally don't have the time. But it is a guarentee and if you take it somewhere on your own time and they say it's not authentic I WILL refund your money. PLUS interest. Only because I know that won't happen. Anyways let me know if this evening (Saturday) is good for you.

I have wrote him back with the following reply:

I'm sorry but this will not work. Before I pay out over $1000 for an item, I need to get some paperwork, COA or a professional to look at the coin. I have been burned in the past and I need to protect myself before I do it again. There are plenty of coin shops in Indy that we can meet at including the Lost Dutchman. I doubt if it will take an hour or more...all I want is their professional opinion on the authenticity of the coin. I don't want an appraisal or an estimate but just their opinion of the validity of the coin. If this won't work for you, then I will have to decline my offer. Also, I asked if you would simply measure the diameter of the coin, but you didn't send me that number either. Again, I will be happy to purchase if you can agree with my terms, which I don't think is unreasonable.

I doubt if this transaction will happen but I feel good knowing that I was being careful and cautious. Even if the coin is authentic, the words and actions of this gentlemen are making me think twice before doing a coin transaction with him.

Initial thoughts regarding our recent communication? Am I being too cautious (if that's possible)?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I would like to have a couple yes..

 

Those were reasonable terms...you did the right thing.

 

I wasn't very clear. If the finished product contains epoxy, wouldn't heating it cause the epoxy to soften or oxidize, making the fake coin disintegrate into particles?

 

Regarding the transaction, here is a phrase I always consider a FLAG:

I WILL refund your money. PLUS interest.

"Plus interest" is a phony come-on, the wrap-up to a con job. No buyer of a $1000 coin expects "interest" on a refund after, say, a month. In my opinion, it has always been a warm and fuzzy phrase designed to show the Buyer what an honest person the Seller is...

You see the same "terms" on television infomercials. This is one little detail I won't be changing my mind about.

 

I agree 100%. Anyone saying that to me immediately raises doubts in my mind.