• 05/04/2022
• By wizewebsite
• 625 Views

The expert advises what to look out for when planning to buy gold<

Gold counterfeits will also be encountered in our market. The MF DNES test two years ago revealed jewelry containing cadmium or highly allergenic nickel. And it's hard to believe that fraudsters would avoid the Czech market now. "People have to buy from reputable companies and not from some foreigner in the parking lot who offers a good price as in an emergency. In addition, even a layman will recognize some counterfeits, "says Miloslav Pilecký and advises how to do it.

According to statistics, interest in gold savings is growing. Do you feel it too? Yes. The long-term rise in gold prices has been evident for many decades. Short-term fluctuations can go against this trend significantly, such as the current Brexit-related mood, but they don't need much attention. In the long run, prices are rising. This phenomenon can be explained by financial experts, our office only accepts it as a fact. The important thing is that after a period when the population was more likely to sell gold, they are now starting to buy more again.

Does the Punch Office control all the gold that is sold in our country? No, the hallmarking law mainly applies to precious metals used in jewelry and related industries. Therefore, our office does not have the ability to control all gold sales. Investment ingots are an example. We can only check them if someone brings them to us.

Therefore, the sale of investment ingots does not even have to be notified or registered to our office, unlike the sale of jewelry products, where the law directly mandates it.

But for some companies that sell investment gold, information about the cooperation with your office appears. If a company that sells investment gold and writes on its website that it is under the control of the Assay Office, this is misleading information. The company may also sell some jewelry, which of course we control, but investment ingots are not controlled.

I would like to buy a gold bar or save on it, but how can I be sure that I am buying from a decent company and not from an unserious seller? Above all, it is necessary to buy ingots only from proven companies. You can bring ingots for us, but its control is partially destructive, which often means that it loses an important trait, and that it is quickly converted into money. The selling company usually promises repurchase only for an intact ingot or intact packaging. So every owner has to consider it.

So it pays off if I plan to buy more gold? When you buy a larger number of some items, products, you should probably not regret having the randomly selected one piece checked destructively, ie by remelting or drilling. The price of gold will be reduced only minimally by this operation. However, there is no doubt about the renowned manufacturers of investment ingots, we have no information that counterfeits would occur in our country.

On your site, you also offer a simple test on how to detect a possible counterfeit. The counterfeit base metal can actually be detected immediately by measuring the density. Instructions for this are published on our website, it is not complicated. (Instructions can be found in our photo gallery, ed. Note.) Sometimes even a magnet check is enough. Density measurement is also very suitable for the control of investment ingots, but it is not a panacea. Surface layers can be checked with the help of X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, and in combination with density measurements, conclusions can often be drawn that are of significant value. For ingots enclosed in plastic film, the surface can only be tested occasionally, but even here some counterfeit could be detected.

Investment ingots produced by reputable manufacturers have, among other things, a unique serial number embossed, which can be checked with the manufacturer (whether such a number exists, what type of ingot has been marked with it). This means that when someone offers you several ingots with the same serial number, it is a very obvious scam. In any case, in case of reasonable suspicion, I recommend visiting some workplace of the Punching Office. We also cooperate with the police.

On the contrary, are jewelry shops under your regular supervision? Jewelery that is registered with us is inspected by our inspectors from time to time. Goods are usually properly marked here, the risk of counterfeiting is minimal. You can check whether the company is registered on our website.

It also includes information about registered online stores. The list of registered entities that have concluded an agreement with us on control purchases also provides some information about the seriousness of internet companies. They thus voluntarily allow our office a simpler administration with anonymous control purchases.

What about gold coins, a popular anniversary gift or Christmas? Czech and many other coins are defined (described, registered) by regulations and in the Bulletin of the CNB and similar foreign national banks. From the described parameters (exact dimensions, weight) it is possible with a high probability to verify coins even without us. The office can also verify the purity on request, but only with the customer's consent that the surface of the coin will be slightly damaged in some places, for example by a stone test. Coins do not stamp. Gold medals, which often look like coins, but are not listed on banks and are not currency, are submitted to our office and, after verification, are stamped.

How do I detect counterfeit jewelry and coins? A hallmark can be found on the jewelry, the validity of which is checked by a magnifying glass at the first approach with a magnifying glass. In a proper stone shop, they also have (it is given by law) visibly placed depictions of our hallmarks - for the first orientation of the customer.

Hallmarks

In the case of coins, counterfeits can be detected by finding coins corresponding to the specimen in the EU Gazette and obtaining descriptions and parameters of the relevant coins (weight, diameter, thickness) from the CNB or numismatists. A counterfeit cannot meet all these parameters if it is made, for example, by gilding a base metal.

Do we have a lot of counterfeits? There are relatively few counterfeits in our country, which is due to the fact that since the beginning of the hallmarking law (Act No. 539/1992 Coll., As amended), entities operating in the sector are subject to professional control, which also has the power to impose fines. This is not quite common in some countries of the European Union. And a hallmarking tradition that has lasted for 210 years also plays an important role. And most residents have a partial awareness that jewelry belongs to the stamp.

How to protect myself if I want to buy gold abroad? When it comes to buying gold abroad, you need to get as much information as possible about the country in question and avoid bargain shopping on the street. After all, this also applies to us. However, it is difficult to advise how to proceed when buying gold. One should definitely clarify whether one is shopping to save money safely in the long run, or whether one wants to have something on hand that one can quickly exchange money for anywhere, anytime.

And how do I know this is an affordable price? It's good to look at the prices paid for gold on the LME - London Metal Exchange. Of course, you won't get gold for those, it will be more expensive, but it should not be a gross discrepancy. Note the purity of what you buy and convert the price to pure gold. It also depends on whether you expect any benefits. For example, commemorative medals can have a significant artistic or later historical award, which increases over time. Be sure to avoid a company that writes in an advertisement that the commemorative coins it sells have an ever-increasing face value. There one has to worry about complete amateurism.

Are you encountering the sale of fake gold? Only rarely, usually when we process a statement for the police or the courts. In everyday life and in the current practice of our office, we rather come across the fact that one of the importers or even manufacturers will present for hallmarking inspection goods that have, for example, a marked purity, which would of course harm the customer. However, this is usually the result of some clutter in production. During inspections in the store, we sometimes come across misleading markings.

Unfortunately, sometimes we get people to buy a ring in the parking lot for a very good price from a "foreigner who is in need and needs gas." The buyer probably thinks that it is being sold by a thief and needs to get rid of the hot goods quickly. So why not take the opportunity, but gradually he starts to have doubts, he comes to us and finds out that he bought a brass ring, nicely polished.

Some tricks of cheaters are more thoughtful ... Yes, they are, for example, brass, well-polished objects with gold protrusions in places that are accessible for testing on stone. The whole item can then be gilded. Stainless steel items made of white gold jewelry are also made. When tested on stone, it is very difficult to distinguish between stainless steel and white gold.

And then there's the tungsten, which has the same density as gold, embedded in a massive gold object. Physically, about a year ago, we encountered a rather amateur case, where tungsten rods were placed in a kind of gold plate. Of course, the density test made the object visibly different from the pure gold bar. Fortunately, we only know professionally processed bricks from a combination of gold and tungsten, where there are no empty spaces and whose density of gold corresponds to them.

And any other tricks of fraudsters? A trick is also described in which the seller of a massive gold chain took the buyer to an independent institution for inspection and, after confirming that it was 18-carat gold, unnoticed, exchanged the chain for the same brass chain.

And there are replicas of historic gold coins that are made of base metal. In appearance, they are very difficult to distinguish from the original. The fraudster sometimes tries to sell them as gold with a reference to the coin catalog, where the reverse and obverse of the coin are depicted. Of course, by weighing or measuring the thickness of the coin, the fraud is easily detected.