Patrick Heller: Fake 10-Ounce Silver Bars Reported Numismaster
The piece with the plastic was put on a scale. Including the plastic,
total weight came out to 9.66 troy ounces, far too light to be genuine.
In addition, the serial number punched into the front has the
appearance of each digit being separately hand-punched, with an
irregular look. Genuine ingots have the entire serial number evenly
struck in a single stroke.
We asked the customer how he came by
them. He did not say who had sold them to him, but claimed that he had
purchased them a few years ago as an investment. We don’t have any way
of knowing if this is an old or a new scam, similar to the fake
“replica” 1-ounce brand name silver rounds and ingots that were being
sold in internet auctions.
In a quick review of eBay auctions,
for instance, I was not able to find these obvious counterfeits. Whoever
made these pieces, you can expect that they did not stop at just these
two specimens. We have never seen them before in our store. Has anyone
else encountered them? Can you provide the time and circumstances?
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