Sigma Metalytics PM Tester

[Mason Jarr]

I'm not sure many of you will have any input on this since you likely don't own one of these testers, but I know a few people have them. My question is, are you having inconsistent test results in the 90% silver areas, primarily with the Morgan and Peace dollar settings? I know I am. For example, on the Morgan dollar setting I can test a Morgan dollar and it will be good, but I can also test a clad Ike dollar and it'll test good, as will a clad Kennedy half and a common, clad quarter. Same on the Peace dollar setting. It gets a little better on the 90% silver range, but even there a clad quarter will test good. I called and talked to the people who build these things and he told me the parameters in the software are fairly broad for the Morgan dollar mode...primarily due to inconsistent qualities in manufacturing of blanks back in those days. The blanks got somewhat better by the time Peace dollars came along, but they still had to write the parameters a little broad to get those to test accurately. All that said, most of my stash is bullion and it does a bang up job on the 99.9% and 99.99% modes. I've also not had any problems testing pure gold coins. But, in my opinion, this tester is not a good method for checking 90% coins. I know in the past, Morgan dollars have been targeted for counterfeiting. So, based on my non-scientific study, I'd say be cautious when testing these coins. Just putting one on the tester and saying it's good when the blip is within the brackets, might not be the best approach. I mean, if a 1980s Kennedy half can test good on the Morgan dollar range, having no silver at all, I would be led to the conclusion that a fake Morgan with a smidge of silver would have no trouble passing either. Anyone else seeing these results?

 

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