Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Sigma original gold tester

Anyone have an opinion on how well a sigma original works for testing gold and silver coins? Thinking of buying one. Thanks

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You can save yourself a lot of money by simply having one of each type of, verified authentic, gold coin that you intend to accumulate. Then it's a simple matter of comparing any possible new acquisition in terms of circumference, thickness (both just eyeballed), and weight (just buy a jeweler's scale).

No fake can defeat the above test. It would violate the laws of physics.

If this isn't enough to allay your concerns, buy a cheap "Pocket Pinger," along with the matching smart phone app. The pinger will allow you to ring the coin like a bell, and the app will listen to it and tell you whether it's authentic or not. This is a 100% verification. Much cheaper than a Sigma.

Sounds good. Thanks

Good info.

On some of these televised coin sales the small print shows “gold plated”.

Can’t test pcgs or any other slabbed coins with the pinger method. I used to buy slabbed coins if the price was right. I felt that at the time of resale a buyer would feel more confident if they were graded by a reputable outfit such as pcgs. Now even they are being counterfeited. That’s why I was asking about the sigma testers, they can test through plastic. I was just wondering if anyone on here has used them.

Dealers generally will not buy slabbed or assay-carded bullion coins/bars, i.e., they will insist you remove the coin/bar so they can test it.

Dealers generally “do” buy pcgs and ngc graded coins.

I’ve never heard of a dealer asking for the removal of a coin that has been graded by pcgs or ngc. I have experience limited to 3 towns in ND.

I didn't say they didn't. Read more carefully. I said they don't accept bullion, generally, unless they can remove it from the assay card or slab to test or examine it. Bullion is like an American Eagle coin, or a Pamp Suisse bar. Their being in graded slabs or assay cards is a complete waste.

I misunderstood a little there. I guess I thought you were talking about coins.

I purchased 4 Pamp Suisse one-ounce platinum bars from a seller on ebay. Packaging was perfect, the bars looked good but they were counterfeit. Got refunded, be very careful, have everything tested.