Danger, Will Robinson

[JerrySpringer]

http://maine.craigslist.org/clt/4304975837.html

[blackrabbit]

That is a lot of different stuff for it to be all fake. I'd meet them in a safe public place and check em out.

[justoneguy]

those bars seem to have the larger rounded corner of real silver.
fake bars have a tighter radius. just my 2 cents

[Morsecode]

98 times out of 100 anyone using "u" in place of "you", and unable to master the basics of punctuation, did not come by their 50 oz of silver legitimately.

But I doubt you'll get jumped by bangers in Belfast, ME...so give it a shot

[JerrySpringer]

Seller could ask spot and easily get it. In fact, they'd be better off asking some premium over spot in the ad and getting email offers to buy everything at spot in cash by buyers looking for a deal. Something is screwy when a CL ad offers something too good to be true. Especially 50 ounces of variety silver @ 25% below spot. Well, just thought it was interesting to see. If the stuff is legit, the seller must be awfully desperate to raise cash.

[natsb88]

Those are all fakes. All of those designs are known to be faked, the bars are in chunky Chinese capsules, the finish on the maple is another giveaway. All fake.

[JerrySpringer]

Those are all fakes. All of those designs are known to be faked, the bars are in chunky Chinese capsules, the finish on the maple is another giveaway. All fake.

Not so fast, belfast.

[johnbrickner]

I'd bring my newly acquired Copper Cave silver test kit on this one.

[blackrabbit]

I trust natsb88 on this. Damn you alibaba!

[baggerman]

If it were me I would meet with him just to call him out on his fakes. Prove it with a magnet and see what he has to say.

[natsb88]

They won't stick to a magnet, they are brass cored. But they would fail a magnet slide or swing test. Or just cut one in half

[cooyon]

Offer to meet him at the police station, see what he says about that.

[Saabman]

So other than cutting them in half how would you be able to tell that they were fake?

[nero12345]

The ad has been removed

[natsb88]

So other than cutting them in half how would you be able to tell that they were fake?

There are visual differences if you know what to look for. Surface finish, the radius of the corners on the bars, the detail of the design. Some examples here: viewtopic.php?f=64&t=23442

Acid. Is almost non-destructive if you just rub a corner/edge of the bar/round on a test stone. The plating is so thin that you should get some brass in the sample and should be able to tell the difference in the reaction when you apply silver test acid. The difference is very apparent if you apply acid directly to the bar/round, as it eats through the plating after a few seconds. That will of course leave a mark on the fake or a dull etch mark on a genuine piece.

Magnet slide/swing test. Brass cored fakes do not exhibit the same kind of resistance real silver does. The fakes will slide down a magnet ramp quickly and will not scoot around from (or slow down) a swinging magnet like real silver will.

Weight or dimensions (or both) will be wrong. Brass is less dense than silver. To get the weight right, the volume has to be larger, meaning larger dimensions somewhere. If the dimensions are right, then the weight will be low.

Ring test. The pitch will not be the same as real silver.

[Saabman]

So other than cutting them in half how would you be able to tell that they were fake?

There are visual differences if you know what to look for. Surface finish, the radius of the corners on the bars, the detail of the design. Some examples here: http://realcent.org/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=23442

Acid. Is almost non-destructive if you just rub a corner/edge of the bar/round on a test stone. The plating is so thin that you should get some brass in the sample and should be able to tell the difference in the reaction when you apply silver test acid. The difference is very apparent if you apply acid directly to the bar/round, as it eats through the plating after a few seconds. That will of course leave a mark on the fake or a dull etch mark on a genuine piece.

Magnet slide/swing test. Brass cored fakes do not exhibit the same kind of resistance real silver does. The fakes will slide down a magnet ramp quickly and will not scoot around from (or slow down) a swinging magnet like real silver will.

Weight or dimensions (or both) will be wrong. Brass is less dense than silver. To get the weight right, the volume has to be larger, meaning larger dimensions somewhere. If the dimensions are right, then the weight will be low.


Ring test. The pitch will not be the same as real silver.

Thanks Nate!

[JerrySpringer]

The ad has been removed

Good.

Maybe they were sold and the buyer will not be as easy going. Maybe the OP saw what happened to that guy in CT and that the Secret Service got involved, as there were silver eagles mentioned in the ad.

I get dystopian visions every now and then when I see silver being faked and then I realize as long we can trust the online vendors, it is our basic line of defense. A person would be a fool to try to knowingly pass off fake silver and risk more than a few flame wars.

[baggerman]

They won't stick to a magnet, they are brass cored. But they would fail a magnet slide or swing test. Or just cut one in half

Yea I was refering to sliding a magnet down te face of the bar and watching it zip down instead of a slooooooow decline.

[JerrySpringer]

Uh, huh:

http://maine.craigslist.org/clt/4308475398.html

Once again, too good to be true.

I can just imagine the people who e-mail the OP and say they have $300 cash they'll pay right now.

[barrytrot]

Offer to meet him at the police station, see what he says about that.

Would you meet someone at a police station for a sale of some of your stuff? I know I wouldn't and my stuff is all real.

[natsb88]

Uh, huh:

http://maine.craigslist.org/clt/4308475398.html

Once again, too good to be true.

I can just imagine the people who e-mail the OP and say they have $300 cash they'll pay right now.

Yep, also fake, the finish in the background of both the CML and ASE is incorrect.

[JerrySpringer]

Uh, huh:

http://maine.craigslist.org/clt/4308475398.html

Once again, too good to be true.

I can just imagine the people who e-mail the OP and say they have $300 cash they'll pay right now.

Yep, also fake, the finish in the background of both the CML and ASE is incorrect.

The economy is really sucking if fakes can not go for over spot.

[silverstacker]

I recently took about 10 questionable pieces that I aquired 15 years ago over to my LCS where they conducted tests for me. Luckily only on 4 were suspect and the other 6 were legit. This was a period when I was new in the game and like all of us at some point or another got taken at no fault of our own. Now I know what to look for and stay away from the suspect pieces all together. Hope this helps in some way.

[JerrySpringer]

At least they are asking over spot:

http://maine.craigslist.org/clt/4312324442.html