How to authenticate gold and silver bullion

Investing in gold and silver is popular globally due to the element of security involved in this. Popular
forms of these metals are coins, bars, and rounds. Investment in precious metal requires high amount of
money, therefore financial soundness is cardinal for those who wants to invest in these metals. Earlier,
Adulteration in gold and silver was a big concern for the investors. Nowadays variety of methods are
available to check the purity of these metals and these methods are quick, secure and trustful.

Common check for authenticity

Ping is a sound coming out in contact with another metal, is a check of the authenticity of gold and
silver. A specific sound generates when the gold and silver bars contact with a clean metal piece.
Amount and quality of sound is used by the people to check the authenticity of coins. This method was
popular in traditional time. However, currently in this highly digitized world multiple new ways are
available.

Experts check for authenticity.

Following are some of the tests that experts conduct to check the authenticity of gold and silver.

Acid Test: This is one of the most popular tests of verifying a metal. We can authenticate the different
forms of metal through this test such as Bars and coins. The test performed against each degree of
finesses of mark created on metal. The mark's fadedness is the proof of authentic metal and vice versa.
In this test certain precautions and safety parameters are involved, which a tester must follow during
the test.

X-ray fluorescence: This is a high-tech method that uses the exposure of X-rays and the reflection of X-
ray fluorescence radiation. The test determines the metallic composition of bars, rounds, or coins of
gold and silver. The testing process leaves some doubts to the authenticity of the metal as it is limited to
test the surface. The X-ray fluorescence fails when the layer of gold is coating thick fake bullion. Hence,
this method of testing is not a reliable way to check the purity of the gold.

Density test: This test finds the density and mass of the bullion. Deviation in mass of object can cause
differentiation between genuine and fake metal coins and bars available in the market. Highly sensitive
analytical balances presence in the identification of minor deviations. Investment Grade Bullion needs to
be within the small ranges of given masses.

Ultrasound test: In this test Ultrasound machines are used. The passage of electronic varies with metals
due to the change in composition consistency. This test requires a element of professionalism, without
expertise no one can conduct this test properly. The machine for this particular metal authentication
test is very expensive. However, machine is famous and preferable among people due to the quality of
test it delivers.

Chemical reactivity: This is also called touchstone testing. The relative inertness of the gold
differentiates it from all other metals. This property of gold makes it resistant to corrosion and provide
an excellent way to test the purity of gold in an alloy. The high proportion of other metals in alloy leaves
greater chances of a reaction to the acid.
Capacitive Decay: This is a complex engineering test to measure the authenticity of gold. The G-XL-18
tester used to check the capacitive decay rate of the test piece. In this test, a gold object placed in
electronic contact with the platinum cathode; an electric charge appears in the tester. This electric
charge is the capacitance between the cathode and electrolyte gel. The measurable rate of the
capacitance decay is different for different gold content in the testing piece.

Testing Precautions

The high precautionary measures should be acknowledged when continuing the process of testing. The
complicated testing procedures can damage the gold or silver object that can devalue them in the
market. Therefore, all testing needs to be done with precautions and try to avoid hard stroke when
examining through ping.

The final approach to purchasing decisions

Buyers should always buy precious metals from registered metal dealers, otherwise there will always be
a risk of forgery. The metals purchased from such institution are superior in quality and can be profitable
for the owners. Akin to this, proper authentication of these metals through appropriate tests plays a
significant role for the satisfaction of both buyer as well as seller.