The Differences Between Real and Fake Gold 2

Sound

Another classic test is the "ring test".  Drop the coin on a hard countertop to hear it's "ring".  Gold and silver have very distinctive tones and qualities of sound, which are fairly easy to distinguish.  The saying "it rings true" and the song Bing Crosby sang "Silver Bells" testify to this quality.  Metals like lead have a dull thud.  Even the sound of a tungsten slugged gold coin will sound different.  It's best to have a known genuine coin around for comparison (and be sure to note the issue, date and mint mark to avoid confusion with the coin being tested).

Electronic Testing

Electronic testing runs a current through the coin to test the resistance and determine the purity of the metal.  High quality testers like this can work and they are mainly used for buying jewelry, not coins.

Destructive Testing

The easiest destructive test is the scratch test, which does what the name suggests, scratches the surface of the coin to see if the color is the same underneath.  This identifies those fakes that are stamped coins plated with gold.  Gold plated coins also have a tendency for the details of the coin to fill in with the plating.  Look carefully at the detail of coin with a 10x magnifier and compare it with a genuine coin, if you have one.

The touchstone is the other classic way to test gold.  The edge of the coin is run along a stone so a very small amount of the gold leaves a "trail" on the stone.   Acid of various strengths is dripped on this trail to determine the purity of the gold.




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