Advice for Selling Gold: How to Spot Fake Gold Bullion Coins

You should also understand the difference between a bullion coin that's a fake and a copy. Copy coins just borrow a design from a popular coin and may be made from precious metals like gold and silver. They can also be manufactured legitimately and legally by private mints. These coins aren't intended to deceive buyers and should be considered a replica. Counterfeit coins, on the other hand, are designed to fool you into believing they're made from a precious metal and are usually made from a metal alloy. Occasionally they are produced using real gold, although in a smaller amount than the genuine coin. Most, though, are just a coin blank that's plated with gold or silver but falsely marked. When you sell gold coins, replicas will still have worth as they're made from gold or silver but a counterfeit coin will most likely be worthless.

Even if the coin is the proper weight, don't forget to look at its overall quality. A counterfeit coin will often be either too shiny or too dull, so it helps to see a few genuine coins before you buy and sell gold so you have a good comparison. Fakes may also look grainy as if they were cast coins, not pressed. They may even have flecks on the surface, which you won't see with a genuine coin. Always take a look at the rim of the coin, as many are coin blanks plated with precious metals. If you see a seam, the coin is almost always fake. If you can, use a magnifying glass to compare the coin you have to either a confirmed genuine coin or a clear photo online to check out the details. Finally, before you buy and sell gold coins, make sure you look for the most obvious sign of a counterfeit: misspellings and grammatical errors.

Finally, always buy your bullion from licensed and accredited dealers rather than private transactions. This gives you some back-up and the ability to take action if you find out you were sold a fake bullion coin, as opposed to being out hundreds to thousands of dollars.