I stack silver. Not tons. Just a steady habit—like my morning coffee. I like the weight, the look, and the calm it gives me. But then I met fake bars. And wow, did that shake me. If you’d rather read the blow-by-blow in longer form, I wrote up a full post on getting burned by counterfeit silver bars that captures every grim detail.
Here’s the thing: I didn’t go looking for fakes. They found me. I held them. I tested them. I felt foolish, then angry, then careful. If you’ve ever wondered how close a fake can get, I’ve got real stories for you.
How it started (and why my stomach dropped)
A friend of a friend had a “deal.” Cash price. Sealed bars. It sounded fine. The bars looked shiny and new. Too new, maybe. I shrugged and bought anyway. You know what? I should’ve walked.
Let me explain what I actually handled and what went wrong.
Fake #1: “Engelhard” 10 oz bar from a pop-up coin show
- What I saw: Stamped logo, a serial number, and a mirror shine. The back had a light swirl pattern. It looked proud and legit.
- What I felt: Heavy, yes. But the edges felt a bit soft, like the corners had been sanded.
- The tests:
- Weight: 313 g on my kitchen scale. Real 10 oz is about 311 g. Not good.
- Ping test: A dull clunk. Real silver rings sweet and long. This was a thud.
- Magnet slide: I used a small neodymium magnet. On my real bar, the magnet slides down slow and smooth. On this one, it jerked and even caught for a moment. Silver doesn’t do that.
- The reveal: My coin shop ran an XRF gun on it. The screen showed copper and nickel, not silver. I felt that drop in my chest. The seller? Gone.
Fake #2: 1 oz “PAMP Suisse” in a sealed blue card
- What I saw: The lady design, a serial on the card, a little hologram. It checked all the boxes, at least to my tired eyes.
- Red flags I missed:
- The font looked slightly thick.
- The hologram was off-center and grainy.
- The bar edges were mushy, not crisp.
- The tests:
- Weight: 31.6 g. A bit heavy for a 1 oz bar.
- Calipers: It was thicker than my real PAMP bars by about a hair. Still, that hair mattered.
Seeing brass wrapped in a fancy assay card reminded me of the time I accidentally snagged bogus gold pieces—another mess I unpacked in my review of counterfeit gold coins.
- The reveal: A jeweler tested it. Mostly brass. The assay card did not save it. Packaging can lie. Learned that hard.
Fake #3: 5 oz “Silvertowne” from an online auction
- What I saw: The donkey and pick logo, brushed finish, and a price that made me grin.
- What went wrong:
- Two bars had the same serial number in the listing photos. I caught that later. Totally on me.
- The logo looked soft, like it had melted a little.
- The tests:
- Specific gravity test at home (cup of water, scale, patience): It came in too low for silver. My real 5 oz bar sits around the right number every time; this one didn’t.
- Magnet slide again: Weird stop-and-go. Not normal.
- The seller argued. The platform finally refunded me. Stress I didn’t need.
If you’re wondering what kind of reimbursement is realistic after something like this, I put real numbers on the board in my case-study on getting reimbursed for counterfeit money.
What the fakes got right
- The shine. Super shiny. Almost toy-like, though.
- The stamps. Logos, fake serials, even fake assay cards.
- The weight. Close enough to fool a quick look.
Where the fakes fall apart
- Sound: Real silver sings. Fakes go “thunk.”
- Edges and fonts: Soft corners, sloppy letters, wrong spacing.
- Serial numbers: Duplicates show up. Makers don’t repeat.
- Finish: Too glossy or too rough. Real bars have a clean, steady look.
- Dimensions: A touch thick or wide. Calipers don’t lie.
Tests that saved me (and didn’t hurt my wallet)
- Scale and calipers: Cheap tools. Big help.
- Magnet slide with a neodymium magnet: Real silver slows the magnet in a smooth glide. It’s kind of fun, actually.
- Ping test: Tap with a pen or another coin. Listen for a bright ring.
- Specific gravity: A simple water test with a scale. Slow, but it works.
- Shop check: My local coin shop has an XRF tester and a Sigma verifier. They don’t judge; they just test.
If you want a deeper dive into reliable at-home checks, this detailed tutorial on testing silver for authenticity covers each step and shows exactly what real results should look like.
A decent cash counter with built-in UV and magnet sensors can spot fakes faster than your eyeballs; I put one through its paces in this currency counter review if you’re curious.
If you want a visual library of what the most convincing replicas look like, pay a quick visit to Pretty Fakes and study their side-by-side comparisons before you buy.
I’ll be honest, the first time I walked in with a maybe-fake bar, my hands shook. They were kind about it. That helped.
What I do now, no excuses
- I buy from dealers I know. Names you see at shows and on invoice paper, not just usernames.
- I keep receipts and photos of serials.
- I test the second the package lands. Not next week. Now.
- I treat sealed plastic as just plastic. It’s not proof.
- If the price looks dreamy, I ask why. Then I stop daydreaming.
- I’ve started tagging my bigger bars with discreet RFID stickers—after seeing how the tech held up in this experiment with RFID anti-counterfeiting.
After losing money to strangers who sold me metal, I only gamble with risks I can measure; when I’m in the mood to meet new people instead of new silver, I turn to platforms like JustHookUp where adults can arrange casual, no-strings meet-ups—so the only thing on the line is a first impression, not my savings.
For folks in California’s Central Valley who want an even more localized option, the Backpage Lemoore section on OneNightAffair offers curated, real-time listings from nearby users, letting you vet potential connections quickly and dodge the fake profiles that plague bigger sites.
Quick red flags I watch for
- Super low price with a rushy seller.
- Fonts that look off or serials that repeat.
- Edges that feel soft or bumpy seams.
- Bars that are a bit too thick or too heavy.
- Listings with stock photos only.
Need a concise checklist you can keep on your phone? Skim this practical guide on how to spot fake silver for the most common visual and weight cues.
A small, honest digression
My grandpa kept coins in an old coffee tin. He’d pour them out, tell me where each one came from, and we’d listen to the clink. That sound stuck with me. Maybe that’s why the dull thud of a fake feels so wrong. It breaks more than trust. It breaks a little ritual.
Who are counterfeit bars for? No one worth being
I’ll say it plain. Counterfeit bars are worthless. They waste money, time, and peace. If you’re collecting, they mess up the hobby. If you’re saving, they punch your plans in the gut. I keep one fake on my desk now—only as a reminder. It’s a paperweight with a lesson.
And yes, prison is very real for people who knowingly pass fake metal or currency—I watched it up close when I covered a bust in my piece about what jail time for counterfeit cash actually looks like.
My verdict
- Look and feel: 2/5 (they try, and sometimes they look close)
- Accuracy: 0/5 (not silver, not okay)
- Value: 0/5 (a refund if you’re lucky)
- Stress level: 5/5 (the