You might have some money to spare that you are thinking of investing. Gold is a good investment it costs a lot to buy and has a good payout when you resell it. There are a lot of unscrupulous people who will go to great lengths to sell you fake gold. People often fall victim to counterfeiters because they don’t know much about gold to tell the difference between the real thing and fake bullion. You can end up paying thousands of dollars for a hunk of fake metal. In this guide we will look at the different tell-tale sign of fake gold and what you can do to ensure that you always buy the real thing.
How to tell if your gold bullion bar is fake:
- A lot of counterfeiters will use tungsten to fake gold bars. This is because tungsten is heavy and might weigh as much as fake gold. The bar can be made of real gold on the outside so it can be hard to be sure whether the entire bar is made of real gold. When evaluating the authenticity of a gold bar, weight is not the only factor that you should consider. Good counterfeiters will have the right stamp on the outside and a simple acid test might not be sufficient, especially if the gold on the surface is real and thick. The best way to test the authentic city of a gold bar is to take it to a professional gold dealer who will have a different way of testing like XRF analysis which takes an x-ray to determine the actual composition of the metal. Markings on a bar of gold are also there to make the gold traceable. There is a standard that is applied for gold bars and counterfeiters may forget to copy the correct markings. Basically, when buying gold bullion bars you need to make sure that you the gold bar you are purchasing has the Refinery brand, the weight, the fineness or purity, the official refinery stamp and a serial number. A reputable gold bullion dealer and refinery will offer special packaging as an added security feature. This special packaging acts as extra protection. It may come with a unique card with a sort of synthetic DNA, which makes the gold easier to verify. It is a great way to give bullion gold bars the peace of mind that they are buying something that is 100% authentic.
- Watch out for unrealistic prices when you buy gold bars. If you want to buy gold as an investment you need to keep abreast of gold prices. If the price sounds too good to be true, then it probably isn’t really what you are being sold. Gold bars are easier to counterfeit, so you need to be wary when someone tries to sell you half-kilo or one-kilo bars at an unbelievably low price.
Most Fake bullion is found on Ebay, not so much from professional gold bullion dealers. This is because there is always a chain of custody that can be followed from refinery to dealer and ultimately, to customers. This is why the best way to avoid counterfeit gold is to buy from a reputable, experienced bullion dealer who has been in the business long enough.