Walking Liberty Half Real Or Fake?

[simonm]

Are you guys understanding? A magnet WILL NOT attract lead. Won't help you at all!

Silver is non-ferrous, but you can do the "slide" magnet test to confirm if it is actual silver, the magnet will slide down the coin more slowly. Granted, it won't "stick" to silver, but it can be used to determine if a coin is made of one.

[admrose]

Ever coin collector should have a set of scales that measured to 100th of a gram in their ready tools. The other tool is a caliper. Both of these tools' measurements would have told the story.

If the fake was from an advanced, educated counterfeiter then these will do no good. Granted, 9/10 are cheap fakes but there is always chance you'll get that 1.

[liveandievarieties]

This thread has gone soooo awry.

I've been actively involved in our hobby for 28 years. I've been dealing in coins professionally now for over 5 years.

I've NEVER used a magnet. Never needed to.

I've also NEVER bought a counterfeit unknowingly.

I still have no idea how waving a magnet over a pile of silver coins will offer you any protection at all.

What I have done is educate myself on what a counterfeit looks like. They are generally VERY obvious if you LOOK at the coin. Just examine it with a loupe.

If you're still in the stage where identifying PMD is tough, perhaps buying bullion from "some guy" would be safer if that guy was a coin dealer.

I do want any novices who have read through this thread to understand: A magnet is not a counterfeit detector. It is not a tool that is used by any experts to identify counterfeits.

If you truly want to protect yourself from being fooled, buy these things:
a reference on counterfeit coins (PCGS has an excellent one out)
a gram scale (as previously suggested)
a caliper or micrometer (as suggested)
Last, use COMMON SENSE. Maybe you can't buy the common sense, but just THINK! Never buy a coin costing over $500 that isn't slabbed unless it's bullion. (for bullion, see everything previous to this statement.)

Most of us are never going to have to worry about counterfeits if you just do the above. 99% of not being taken advantage of is arming yourself with knowledge and using common sense at the same time.