Counterfeit Gold Coins

At a recent major coin show in Long Beach, leading coin grading companies met to discuss the increase in counterfeit coins they are seeing in the marketplace. There are a few things you may want to know about counterfeit coins and how to protect yourself if you are investing in gold coins.

First of all, spotting counterfeit gold coins is not for amateurs. And it is doubtful if everyone calling himself or herself a professional coin dealer can spot every counterfeit coin (such as a gold-plated lead coin) they may come across. If you are investing in gold coins, especially the higher grades of numismatic and semi-numismatic coins, look for those that have been graded and slabbed by NGC or PCGS. Not only are they the best at spotting counterfeit coins, they guarantee their work.

Counterfeit gold coins don't look like their genuine counterparts. If you know what "real" Gold American Eagles, Canadian Maple Leafs, Krugerrands, etc. look like, you may be able to spot a counterfeit.

A great tool in spotting counterfeit coins is a scale that displays a coin's weight in grams or pennyweights. While a brass coin can look like the real thing, it won't pass the test on weight. Genuine coins will weigh in at their stated weight or very close to it. You can find out the weights of various coins at Fractional Gold Coins plus more pages on the Gold Investing Simplified site.

Another way to spot counterfeit gold coins is to inspect them with a magnifying glass or jeweler's loupe. Since gold is such a soft metal, the stamping machines in use at the various mints will produce sharp images on the coin. Counterfeit coins that are cast from a die will not have that crisp image and are a dead giveaway that a coin is fake.

I hope you found this discussion on counterfeit gold coins of value and, if investing in higher grades of gold coins, follow my advice on limiting your investments to NGC and PCGS graded and slabbed coins.

Happy investing.