Best way to buy 24K gold in Taiwan

Taiwan Where Can I Find...?
23

You think people who invest in gold sit around and play with it?

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24

It’s more like you pay money to these guys to “buy” the gold but you don’t ever have it in your possession, so you basically trust they won’t screw you.

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25

Just like the all the money I have in stocks? They’re gonna screw me?

I better sell! I should have the oil and tobacco and pipelines and medication and stuff in my garage!

26

That’s not true. I’ve been a dealer in the gold industry for over 15 years and have never personally seen tungsten fakes. I’ve seen gold plated fakes (not tungsten), but they are very easy to spot.

I’ve sold gold in Taipei. The gold buyers I visited all use a specific gravity test to determine gold purity. It’s very easy to do and requires minimal equipment (accurate scale + jug of water).

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27

Another finger in the leaky dike of misinformation.

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28

When I used to invest in gold sovereigns, I would get them out and just stare at them, admiring my treasure, at least once a day.

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29

Didn’t you just dive into your vault pool of coins?

30

Supposedly it was found in large gold bars, which is much easier to hide tungsten in. The problem is that tungsten has similar density to gold making density checks much harder to detect fakes. I doubt it will ever happen to 1 gram bars, but 10oz or 1kg bars, much more likely. I know they got those assay packages and such, and as a lot of fakes are sealed in those, I broke them open and tested them whenever I get it.

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Wouldn’t they be better off doing something else too, to rule out the possibility of people using plated tungsten (/tungsten alloys)? It doesn’t seem like a specific gravity test would be sufficient.

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I think they’d X ray it, as tungsten is just as dense as gold, so density tests are not sufficient.

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I think at my height of investing in them, I only had about 15

34

I smoked way more cigarettes than that.

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35

If you buy gold coins from reputable mints (Perth Mint, Canadian, US) you’ll never get tungsten fake. It would be too difficult to make, and very easily spotted.

I have never heard of any tungsten coins, it simply isn’t a thing.

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Dealers use XRF machines to test for purity. But they cost upwards of $10,000 USD.

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And that 10oz bar is the only tungsten fake I’ve heard of in 15+ years for bars less than 400oz. Probably why it’s so newsworthy.

XRF would probably pick that up, as tungsten is a lot harder than gold.

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I didn’t realize we were only talking about coins there, but fair enough.

I’m not sure? AFAIK, XRF doesn’t detect hardness, and the penetration depth seems pretty limited too (as far as I can tell from a quick look, from tens of microns to 1-2 mm for the top-of-the-line commercial instruments).

Maybe ultrasound could?

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39

The good XRF machines are advertised as penetrating “several” millimeters. I have a 10oz bar with me now, it’s exactly 10mm high. So if you tested both sides, and different areas, it would probably pick it up. And yes they will detect different metal compositions.

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I know. They detect elements via the fluorescence originating from electronic transitions of the atoms. I’m broadly familiar with them from reading a ton of chemistry/materials science stuff. What I said is that they don’t detect hardness.

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I should have said different compositions.

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Unless things have changed the Bank of Taiwan doesn’t density test gold in front of you when you buy it. You only get a certificate of authenticity. The gold dealer I go to tests gold he sells in front of you in seconds using his XRF machine. What’s interesting is the test results display shows a readout of all the elements including trace elements found in the sample to a fraction of a percent. I prefer XRF due to its “exceptional accuracy.”

Hallmark Check

A widely used and straightforward method to assess the purity of a gold coin involves checking for a hallmark. A hallmark is a small stamp or mark imprinted on the coin by the mint, indicating its purity and authenticity. In most countries, hallmarks are a legal requirement for precious metal items. For example, in the United States, you may find stamps like “999” or “24K,” indicating 99.9% purity (24 karats), and “585” representing 58.5% purity (14 karats).

Density Test

The density test is a highly accurate and reliable method used to verify the purity of gold in a coin. This technique involves precisely measuring the coin’s density and then comparing it to the known density of pure gold. Professional jewelers and gold dealers use specialized tools like precision scales and displacement fluids to carry out this assessment. Since different metals possess distinct densities, the density test effectively helps identify any non-gold elements in the coin. By determining whether the coin’s density aligns with that of pure gold, experts can gauge its authenticity and overall purity. Consequently, the density test is a valuable means of ensuring the legitimacy and quality of a gold coin.

X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Test

The X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) test is a cutting-edge and non-destructive method used to determine the purity of a gold coin with exceptional accuracy. This advanced technique employs X-rays to analyze the coin’s composition without causing any harm to its physical integrity. By utilizing specialized XRF machines, experts can precisely identify the elemental composition and the percentage of each element in the gold coin. As a result, you gain precise and reliable information about the coin’s purity, giving you the confidence to assess its value and authenticity.

Methods for Assessing Gold Coin Purity: Types to Determine Quality.

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