Frequently Asked Questions | Goldanalytix

1. "Autobahngold"/"Highway gold": These are fakes that are sold as real gold, but are made of a different material and are only gold-plated. For fakes of this kind with wolfram, the conductivity measurement with the GoldScreenSensor/GoldScreenPen is very well suited to identify the fake. If the material is different (e.g. brass), the weight or the dimensions as well as the density of the object will also differ from the original.

2. Under-/over-alloying: This type of counterfeiting occurs mainly in jewellery. A different gold content is stamped on the object than is actually present. For example, a gold chain could be stamped 750 gold, although it is actually made of 333 gold. This type of counterfeit is best identified by chemical analysis.

3. Foreign metal cores: These objects often consist of a relatively thick gold layer, but have a core made of another metal (usually wolfram). The dimensions, weight and density are very well imitated, which is why these forgeries are very difficult to identify. For thicker bars the BarScreenSensor is suitable, for smaller ones also the GoldScreenSensor or the GoldScreenPen.

4. Mint/stamp forgeries:This type of counterfeiting exists mainly in the coin sector, but has also occurred in the recent past with gold bars. Older coins with a high collector's value are imitated and attempts are made to sell them. These forgeries can be detected by carefully examining the minting or checking the physical properties with various devices and methods. In the case of gold bars, usually weighing 1kg, illegally mined gold is often stamped with the imprint of renowned affinery, e.g. Argor-Heraeus, and sold as original. With this type of bar, one should pay particular attention to the security features that have been added in the meantime, similar to those on banknotes. Otherwise, the fineness deviates minimally from the 999.99 of the originals, as these have not been produced so cleanly.