Fake Silver Coins: Scale Detects 0.5 Grams Over

How to detect a fake silver coin: the scale fails by 0.5 grams

A half-gram discrepancy is enough to raise suspicion. Two 100 peseta silver coins: one weighed 0.5 grams over the legal weight and the other 0.4 grams under, whereas normal wear on a circulated coin hardly removes between 0.1 and 0.2 grams. Not even the magnet betrayed them—they were not steel, but likely alpaca with a silver plating—but the edge did: inscriptions different from the official issue. The precision scale and calipers were, according to this forum user, what exposed the counterfeit coins.

From this arises a practical guide for anyone buying metal with real money: tariffs, VAT, shipping costs, historic pieces, and out-of-print manuals. And a warning: numismatic fraud did not start yesterday.

How much VAT is paid when buying silver and when tariffs apply

The first asymmetry anyone starting out discovers: gold bears no VAT or other value-linked taxes, whereas silver bought with an invoice carries an extra 21%. The same money buys considerably less white metal. From 999 euros in Spain, as noted in the thread, an ID is required; below that threshold, in a physical store, it is not.

The fine print complicates matters when the package crosses a border. Since January 2021, according to a forum user, there are import duties on precious metals from the United Kingdom due to Brexit, and the circulating advice is not to have the delivery land directly at home. The proposed alternative: take advantage of a alucinación and bring it in your luggage, with a limit of 10,000 euros.

Which coin to accumulate: bullion, sovereigns, or Latin Monetary Union

The second axis is the choice of piece. Against modern bullion—Libertades, pandas, eagles, buffaloes—rises a current that reclaims coins that actually circulated. The argument: an ounce with a face value may be beautiful, but it is an ornamented chip; a sovereign or a Latin Monetary Union piece carries an international agreement from 150 years ago to issue identical coins and favor trade between countries. The Alfonsina 25 pesetas, for example, contains exactly 25/20 more gold than a 20 French franc or a Swiss vreneli.

Designs also score. Chinese calendar signs are dismissed ruthlessly—they are said to drag down the value of the set—while the 2019 Vienna Philharmonic is rescued for its shorter mintage compared to the 2020 one, a detail in bullion that introduces a slice of semi-numismatic component. For those wanting easy resale even among private parties, four names are pointed out: sovereign, Alfonsina, Napoleon, and vreneli. And in the small segment, between 5.80 and 7.77 grams fine, the list includes the sovereign itself, the vreneli, the 2 Rand, the Peruvian pound, the 5-dollar Indian, and the 20 crowns.

How shipping costs inflate the ounce of silver

The silent enemy is the courier receipt. Paying 15 euros to bring a single ounce is dismissed as outrageous, and more so within Spain. A circulating calculation compares the final price of the ounce: one supplier comes to 1,600 euros with costs included; another offers 100 crowns for 1,524 euros, leaving the implicit ounce at 1,555, plus 15 euros shipping up to 5,000 euros, and puts it at 1,570. The full breakdown, item by item, changes the winner depending on where the order is picked up. Those looking only at the shelf price are mistaken.

Seville duros and other unclassified counterfeits

Counterfeiting is not a recent phenomenon. The so-called Seville duros, also silver, are notoriously difficult to detect and classify, and even have their own bibliography: a guide signed by José Francisco Martínez Roca and published by Círculo Rojo. There are also pieces no one identifies until someone appears who knows them. A medal minted by J. Ramisa in 22-karat gold, marketed mainly at La Caixa offices in the 70s and early 80s, was for a long time undocumented. For those asking about a single silver piece, the answer is always the same: classify before buying.

There are also reference resources. The free publication of the Spanish numismatics catalog by Aureo & Calicó, with thousands of coins and their valuations, improved compared to the 2019 print edition, was received as the major alert for collectors.

With taxes, tariffs, and weights on the table, the decision seems simple: buy metal at the best price and look no further. It does not work that way. 100 peseta silver coins are obtained between 16 and 18 euros per fine ounce, a low fineness that makes them weight silver on the day of sale, and there lies the arbitrage no one fully closes. It may remain the best available price for a long time, or not. The crystal ball, as always, does not come with the order.