~*~Mining and Metals Du Jour~*~

[eik]

Thanks cork. I have become "an expert" in fake silver detection just recently, when I bought big chunk of American Silver Eagles on eBay at unbelievably low price. It was just luck - the seller was credible and high rated, and there were no serious buyers for such a big lot during holiday season. Never sell your stuff during National Holidays when all buyers are busy with other important stuff (like drinking ). Still felt some discomfort and, having 14-days return option, I got familiar with different methods to test silver. I think I posted my research here at that time... As a final test, I sold a dozen of coins to APMEX to see if there would be any problems. Bottom line: they all were nice and real. I always check weight and dimensions of coins/bars bought on eBay, but now my favorite silver test is Magnetic Slide Test which is easy to perform, and it works even for sealed items. So, I think I am pretty safe with my silver purchases. Can't say this about gold... Buying it mostly from APMEX or Provident with hope that nobody is going to spend time putting tungsten into small fractional items I usually buy.