Fake silver coin test question

[Kaynos]

Hi !
Can you please take a look at this video and tell me after watching it. Does doing this test on real silver leaves a stain on the coin ?

 

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[Sirreckless619]

The acid does leave a stain and ruin the value.

 

[Generic_Lad]

Don't acid test silver (coins) it will ruin the value of them, and yes there is some numismatic value to be found on walking liberty halves, especially if silver drops. Granted, if silver skyrockets to $50, there's not going to be much difference between a common date walker (or Barber for that matter!) and a '64 Kennedy but if silver goes down to $10 an ounce, the walker (and Barber) are going to be worth more to a collector than to a bullion dealer.

The first thing you've got to remember is that fake silver coins are rather scarce and usually have dead giveaways. Look for casting "bubbles", a wrong die axis, look at the rims and fields of the coins and look for "COPY", "R", "REPLICA" or something of that sort. Look for non-existant (or very rare) dates/mintmarks. For example a trade dollar dated 1806 would be an obvious fake, a 1964-D Peace dollar is most likely a fake (though Daniel Carr has struck fantasy coins bearing that date over genuine Peace dollars and those will be 90% silver and they also have a die marker to let you know its not genuine). If you can hold the coin in hand, see if it is "slippery" a lot of counterfeits are "slippery" there is also the magnet test because no genuine US coin aside from the 1943 steel penny is magnetic but in my experience I've never found a "good" fake that is magnetic (there were obviously something wrong with it, the details only vaguely resembled the intended coin or it said "COPY" on it).

You can also weigh coins along with measure their diameter/thickness. A coin made out of a non-silver metal with the same diameter and thickness will weigh either heavier or lighter than a genuine coin. If the coin isn't particularly valuable you can do the sound test by tossing the coin on a hard surface, if it is silver it will "clank" if it is not it will make a different sound, more of a thud.

But the easiest way is buy an authentic coin and a counterfeit and compare the two. You can buy counterfeit silver dollars for ~$3 online (they are stamped "COPY" or "REPLICA" 99.9% of the time) and an authentic Morgan or Peace dollar (Same type as your counterfeit) for ~$30 at your local coin shop. Compare the two in your hand, and you will soon be able to tell the difference between the two and how they feel in hand.