Where are they coming from? China? If so, no need to test...

 

From the states. I wouldn't ever buy silver bars from China.

 

I haven't figured out the acid tests yet, but that might be your best bet if you know anyone in the business.
By magnet test do you mean whether or not they are strongly attracted to the magnet? One interesting trait I have found with silver is that there is some attraction to a strong magnet. If you slide the silver down the face of the magnet, you will feel a resistance. Something I can't describe properly, but if you try it you'll feel what I'm talking about.

 

Can you tell us more about the bars? What company minted them? Did the eBay listing say plated or clad? A picture of the bars may help.

I do three things with the silver I get. The first is the magnet test. Remember that you need a small magnet for this. A refrigerator magnet may have what you need (that's where I got the one I use).

The next thing I do is weigh it. It should be 31.1 grams. However, some will weigh 31 grams or 31.2 grams and it doesn't necessarily mean it's fake.

And finally I knock two pieces together to listen to the sound the metal makes.

If in doubt, hit up your local coin shop and see if they can verify the authenticity of the bars for you.

 

good first post!

 

Materials: 1 OZ of Silver and 1 Neodymium magnet

Step 1: tilt you silver bar anywhere from 45 degrees to 89 degrees (do not do full 90 degrees since the magnet should not stick to the silver. if it sticks then you don't need this test)

step 2: lay the flat side of the neodymium magnet on the tilted surface of the silver bar.

step 3: let go of the magnet. the magnet will slide on the face of the silver downward. it will look as if it is defying gravity on its way down. if it slides down fast it is another alloy. the slow fall means you have a diamagnetic element which for this purpose would mean you have 1 of 4 possible metals.

the first is copper and you could have a silver clad copper coin. but the weight should be off and the size would be different. the second is you have silver (yay), the third is you have a silver clad gold coin (YAY!!!!) and the fourth is you have roentgenium, which i think is radioactive (would probably be worth more than gold and silver anyway).

this test should be used with the standard magnet test, weighing it, and sounding it. I also employ taste tests as well as smell tests when they are mine but im wierd like that...

I made a diagram in MS paint hope it helps

Welcome to the show...

 

What about all the other conductive non-ferrous metals? :thumb:

 

weighing it won't tell you if it's real or not. 1. check the watermark - it should be stamped. if it's not stamped, take it to a jeweller's and get them to test it. probably cost you five bucks.

your third option is water displacement per gram.

 

If the bars are from a mint such as Engelhard, checking the size against other Engelhard bars obtained outside eBay (like from APMEX) and weighing it would help. I've never had one of those bars not weigh 31.1 grams. And, you cannot get a fake bar of the same size to weigh 31.1 grams.

OP: can you post the user name of who you bought from and the pix of the bars? I'm curious.

 

Post a link to the ebay auction.....or a similar one

 

Think of Archimedes and his eureka moment. :thumb:

 

What about all the other conductive non-ferrous metals

Well in order for the slide to be slowed they need to be Diamagnetic. the other diamagnetic Elements are Alkaline earth (Rockey) and Halogen (Gases).
The ones I listed above are the only diamagnetic transition metals. I guess they could be silver plating gases as well as rocks but if you couldnt tell that REAL quick you have other problems besides storing wealth in silver...

 

Aluminium will slow a magnet down. :thumb:

And seeing as how you raised the issue of diamagnetism...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamagnetism

 

specific gravity is probably going to be the best. You dont need to measure volume in this case. Measure the weight of the bar normally, then measure the weight of the bar suspended in water (google search/youtube). Divide and then compare against the specific gravity of silver. This is a bit easier than trying to calculate the density (weight/displacement) because it is hard to accurately measure displacement.

You can make something to suspend the bar out of legos. Most of the specific gravity kits Ive seen cost like 80 bucks but making your own is pretty simple.

note I havent actually done it (except in science class years ago).

 

well thats what happens when you are up this late you miss things. i forgot to look at the right side of my chart. Aluminum is there. it could be gallium, indium, thallium, or ununtrium too. Specific gravity is a good test as well. I use the sound test though as well as weight. with sound, weight, and magnet, you shouldnt get burned...

 

Just because it came from the US doesn't mean it's not fake Chinese sourced stuff that someone here is packaging and reselling.

I would take a look at the seller's other auctions. If they are not PM related, it's possible that you got lucky and you got bars from someone who wasn't a particularly savvy seller (though you wonder why such a person would have bars in the first place).

If he has multiple PM auctions at below spot, it's more than likely that it's a scam.

 

why would someone auction sell under spot? why not just sell it local?

 

Many times S&H make up the profits. Charging a few dollars per piece for S&H, then shipping together is one way.


The again, the OP said he "bought" it on eBay... Never said he "received" it yet.

 

Put an ice cube on it. It should melt away faster than anything you've seen if it's pure silver.

If you have a legit silver bar you already own, do the ice test side by side.

 

Thank you! Right when they get in I will test this out.

 

The bars are stamped as Apmex which is why I purchased them. Once I get them in I will do some test and find out. Thanks for all the help! I paid $6 less an ounce than what they are going for on ebay, so hopefully I didn't get scammed. We will see!

 

Did you get them on an auction, or for sell on EBAY?

I've bought silver on Ebay for under spot & it's been real every time.

If it was in an auction, consider yourself lucky... If it was being sold for under spot, be suspicious!

Either way, weigh it. They sell accurate scales on Ebay for cheap.

 

A big chunk of silver bullion or coin on EBay here in Australia starts at 99cents. Most of it goes way over its value. Every now and then one goes for below spot. They are the ones I go for. Hard to get but they are there.

 

Lots of auctions start at $.01 or $.99 and then go up from there.... Always check the feedback of the seller, if they've ripped someone there WILL be negative feedback. Best bet is to deal with seller with tons of positive feedback. :thumb:
Hope it works out well for you!

 

you can use nitric acid to test silver scratch it and then put a drop of acid on the scratch
if it is clear or cream colored it is silver at 99 percent or better if green or other colors it is less the 9 percent the scratch is to make sure you get below the plating if it is there
and if they bought silver back when it was less than 5 dollars an ounce they could sell it cheaper than spot just to move it fast

 

Weigh them !

It's always been 100% with me .

 

You can try to sell silver (or gold for that matter) at spot, but you aren't likely to be able to easily. The buyer will want to pay something under spot (I've been quoted at anywhere from 85% of spot, to $5 under spot for 1 oz gold bars). So you may have just found a motivated seller who realizes that he can sell them to you for more than he can get at a local shop. (or they're stolen or fake

 

I weighted several of my ASE coins with my scale, they were all 31.2 grams. I have bought from Apmex and Scottsdale and have received way over weight bars and coins. I have a Lunar dragon 1 ounce coin from Apmex that weight 31.6. I have 3 one ounce bars from the Scottsdale mint that are all over weight. One of them is over 32.00 and the other two are 31.8 These are all solid silver. I took a file to one edge of the bar and its all silver. There is nothing wrong with my scale since all the ase coins all weight right on the money with this scale. I called Scottsdale and asked them about their over weight bars. They said it very common and why am I complaining. I should be happy. I told them I'm not happy since some people will think they are fake. Its a red flag in my book.

 

If the magnet sticks to the bar its fake. Definitely.

 

Go try to sell one to a metals dealer. Tell him how you got them. If he buys them, you are good. If not, you have a problem.

Those guys are the experts and the dumb one's don't stay in business long.

You will lose a bit in the transaction, but get more sleep. So it's worth it.