Many precious metals investors like the idea of physical bullion because, unlike paper money, it is difficult to counterfeit. That said, when there is a will, there is a way. In recent years, there have been extremely concerning cases [3] of gold counterfeit, and investors that are not fully prepared can get duped. That’s why we worked with our friends at Silver.com [4] to put together this handy infographic list of ways to test for fake gold or silver.
[5]Courtesy of: Visual Capitalist [6]
Some pointers that we think are particularly important:
- Always buy from a reputable merchant. If you buy directly from something like Craigslist or Ebay, there are no guarantees that your product is authentic.
- Mints are starting to fight back as well – some newer products have additional security features to prevent counterfeiting.
- Know and understand how the different tests for fake bullion work, and use them to verify that your gold or silver is real.
Here’s also a video version:
