Identifying fake gold coins

The price of some of the gold bullion coins have gone up by more than twice since the past year, making the investors a lot of money. Many people collect gold coins, and their beauty adds to their appeal. People feel good on touching gold, and the mere fact that one owns gold is worth it. This popularity has bought in some fake gold coins doing the rounds and some people prefer to remain mute on this issue as it is still gold. But the problem is acute in case of collectible gold coins.

The fake gold coins are made of gold, and the difference between the value of gold used in it and the value of gold coin sold, gives profit to the dealer. In reality, gold is a very soft metal and the most common test followed was biting on the coin. Coins made before the 20th century were those made of pure gold. But this test cannot be successfully conducted today as there are a substantial amount of base metals involved in making a gold coin, and these base metals make it easy to make a gold coins and make them last in circulation as well. In the fake $20 gold coins, the most common denominator of fake gold coins, the letters are a bit rounded on the top. Also, the letters are flat on the top of real gold coins, but here, they are a bit raised. Identification of other coins may be a bit difficult.

So how does one distinguish a fake gold coin?

Researching is the most common way to call a gold coin a fake. The local museum will surely have some gold coins, and you can compare its feature with the suspected coin to find out. Also find out what weight should the coin be, and what are its measurements. A way by which fakers might make more money is by making the coins slightly thinner, but this can easily be noted on the scale of the coin.

Though fakes of Sovereign exist today as well, they are rare and not easy to find. Some of the times, moulds of plaster of paris were used to produce them, and resultantly, the product reflected blurred text and a flat top owing to fine steel filling. They become more pronounced by the use of a magnifying glass.

Fakes, more often than not, have other kinds of base metals added, and thus, the color is different as well. Some of them might have a mottled look, owing specifically to copper which is used for debasing them.

Be careful of the fakes like Half Angels and Tudor Angels as they help in minting money. At the same time, chances of Gold Sovereigns and Krugerrands to be fake are very low since there is little for the forgers to earn from them. So research work is imminent before investing in any kind of gold. Be on your toes and it will ensure that you are never cheated.