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Whether it’s pirated software, poison-infused
baby formula, cancer-causing drywall, luxury purses, or fake medicines, if you
need a knock-off, China has traditionally been the go-to country, with a
counterfeiter always willing to oblige.
Now, with precious metals prices on the cusp of
possibly the biggest price explosion in centuries, fake gold and silver
products are becoming a booming industry say Global Piracy &
Counterfeiting Consultants:
We have read about one Chinese counterfeiter
openly bragging about producing 100,000 fake U.S. Silver Dollars per year,
and that’s just one counterfeiter. At this point, we are telling all
investors of gold, or silver coins, and or any type of precious metal bar to
only buy from a reputable U.S. dealer, that has
an established track record, and a money back guarantee. We fear this
Chinese counterfeit gold, or silver coins, or bars,
could be a multi billion dollar a year business,
and we greatly fear many innocent investors could be taken to the cleaners.
…
Based on our research some of the Chinese
counterfeit coins, are of such high quality, it is not uncommon for even
experts to be deceived. We think its
smart for every investor to have gold, or silver, our big worry is pretty
simple, what if they invest 10%, or 20% of their net worth in what are
counterfeit precious metal coins, that are basically worthless? We would call
this a disaster for the investor, and out big fear is there are probably tens
of thousands of investors in the United States, who have been duped. Even
worse, once again for all intents, and purposes the
U.S. Federal Government is a no show-once again.”
…
“The world needs to come to grips with the
largest counterfeiter in the world, the fact that 10% of China’s GDP is
a direct result of counterfeiting. If it’s not knock
off pharmaceuticals, that can kill people, it’s high tech smart phones,
or electronics. Our new worry is pretty obvious related to Chinese
counterfeiters bankrupting innocent precious metal, or coin investors, with
what could be their life savings. At what point do consumers in the United
States, Europe, Japan, or the rest of the world say no thanks to any more
Chinese products, given its uncaring attitude about flooding the global
markets with counterfeits, or fakes?”
Source: GPCC via prweb
Gold and silver remain one of the few alternative
investment methods to preserve wealth during crisis scenarios like inflation
or government instability, but taking extra precautions now is absolutely
essential to ensuring your wealth is protected when it comes time to sell.
Don’t assume that the dealer you are working
with is legitimate, and even if they are, it is possible that they themselves
have been duped by a counterfeit.
Those of our readers investing in gold and silver
assets, especially if you are committing a large percentage of your net
worth, should consider some safeguards.
- Work with multiple dealers who have been in
business for several years.
Like any investment strategy,
diversifying your eggs into multiple baskets will protect you if one of them
happens to fall. In this case, buying different products from multiple
dealers, all with solid reputations, will prevent you from losing your entire
investment in the event one of the dealers was duped by counterfeiters. While
not exactly ideal, it’s better to lose just a portion of your
investment than all of it.
Buy from one dealer and get your investment appraised by another. If you’ve
invested $5000.00 into precious metals, paying an additional $100 to have
another dealer (most will take a look for free) verify the quality of the
assets you purchased is not a bad idea. If you were sold a fake, you can then
take immediate action against the offending dealer (as opposed to waiting
five years only to find out you’re holding a worthless metal).
- Understand dimensions and weight.
One of the best ways to determine
if your asset is legitimate is to know what dimensions it should have (circumference,
thickness, weight). Every government issued coin, and even privately issued
rounds or bars, should have manufacturer dimensions available either online
or by simply giving them a call (otherwise go with a different product). Get
a digital scale and a caliper and take measurements. Even though fakes can
come close to the real thing, the density of gold and silver are unique, so
if a particular bar or coin shows an inaccurate weight or dimension,
you’re likely looking at a fake. It may cost you a couple hundred
dollars to acquire the appropriate tools, but if you’re investing
multiple thousands of dollars into these investment
then we’d consider the cost of doing business. Take the time to learn
about your investments (it won’t take long) and you can save headache
and heartache down the road.
- Gold and Silver Acid Tests.
Gold and silver have unique properties when mixed with certain chemicals.
While not exactly ideal, because you’ll have to ‘damage’ a
tiny portion of a particular bar or coin, an acid test can be one of the best
tests to perform in order to ensure you have a legitimate precious metals
product. You don’t necessarily have to go through and test every single
one of your one ounce silver eagles, but testing a few coins out of each
batch wouldn’t hurt.
- Try pre-1965 silver products. They call it junk silver.
Chris Duane of Don’t Tread On Me refers to it as Constitutional Silver. Half
dollars, quarters and dimes minted prior to 1965 contain 90% silver and
are worth well more than their face value. While Chinese counterfeiters
may be producing silver eagles, bars and other mints in mass quantities,
they will likely shy away from US coin products for a couple of reasons:
1) why mint a fake quarter when you can mint a fake silver eagles worth
significantly more? 2) minting fake US coins is
a Federal crime, and while the Chinese may not be worried to much about
being investigated by Secret Service, pressure from the US may force
China to act against counterfeiting, something the Chinese knock-off
artists would like to avoid. Pre-1965 silver coins, in our opinion, are
the only option for those making purchases on auction sites.
Counterfeits will always be a concern when
you’re dealing with assets worth as much as $2000 an ounce, but you can
take steps to protect yourself. Don’t let the fact that counterfeits
are out there dissuade you from making a good investment decision. Just do
your due diligence and don’t let emotion overcome logic.
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