Magnet Test on a Real and Fake Engelhard 100oz Silver Bar

Shows you how to use the "magnet test" to determine which 100oz Engelhard silver bar bar is real, and which is fake (made from lead).

Silver is diamagnetic, meaning that a magnet will not stick to it, but you will feel strong resistance when moving a strong magnet on the surface of the silver. Although lead is also diamagnetic, it is much less so, as this video shows.

Note that this test will likely not detect real silver bars that were hollowed and filled with lead (the ring test might, however).

The magnet test can positively determine that a bar is fake, but cannot positively determine that a bar is real. For a very accurate test, you can use an ultrasonic thickness gauge (check our our other videos to see one in action; we were the first to use this technique).

See http://About.Ag for more information.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• silver
• silver bar
• Engelhard
• fake
• counterfeit
• test
• magnet
• 100 ounce
• 100 oz
• real

[HaloHamstur]

Can you just weigh them? isnt lead going to weigh a lot more when they are the same shape?

[AboutAg]

@HaloHamstur Lead and silver have almost the same density. Lead is slightly denser than silver, but it can be alloyed with another lighter metal so that the density is identical to silver. Therefore, two metal objects of the same shape and size could weigh the same, even if one was real silver and one was not.

[MrMaypole14]

What about just testing it with chemicals, (nitric)

[AboutAg]

@MrMaypole14 Testing with chemicals is good, and will detect many fakes (e.g. most 1oz size fakes, and this Chinese pure-lead fake). However, they will not detect some, such as the Engelhard 'drilled and filled' silver bars (which were real bars, with holes drilled in them and filled with lead). The chemicals won't reach the lead, so they will just see the pure silver.

[dayadayadaya123]

for the stackable 100 oz Apmex silver bar , do you measure (the thickness) it from the top to the bottom???  The big bar has like a step down, do you start there or from the very top?

[AboutAg]

@dayadayadaya123 I would place the bar flat (as if you were about to stack another on it), and measure from somewhere in the middle of the bar.

[WhoDaresWins1189]

why didnt you put the 2 bars on the same level stand (eg a book) so u can do the test properly instead of doing it by judgment, you had the fake silver bar on a much higher angle than the real one, therfore i will have to confiscate both your bars for further testing of my own, please send them to 74 Royce avenue, QLD Australia

[medabrundibar]

@heroinjapan The resistance is caused by eddy currents induced in the conductor when the magnetic field changes. The current value depend on the magnet strength, speed and the electrical conductivity of the metal (till depth about an inch).

Force is then result of the currents and magnet strength.

So this test in fact compare the electrical conductivity - the silver is about 15x better conductor than the lead, causing the way slower speed.

[heroinjapan]

"Silver is diamagnetic, meaning that a magnet will not stick to it, but you will feel strong resistance when moving a strong magnet on the surface of the silver. Although lead is also diamagnetic, it is much less so, as this video shows."

This seems counter intuitive. I interpreted "resistance" as the kind of magnetic resistance you feel when trying to fit two + magnets together (they repel each other, and hence if silver had this quality then a magnet would slide off it quickly.

[datzfast]

i have seen it slide very very slowly on aluminum on you tupe. so what is the fake is aluminum and lead?

[ebayisajoke]

glad I didn't buy anything from this company

[GalaticTG]

damn dude i'd be pissed if i bought a 100 ozt fake bar.

[ebayisajoke]

yeah apmex is a rip

[RaMpAgExMoDz]

@schizrade "waste'' happy now princes?

[schizrade]

@RaMpAgExMoDz A "waist"? LMAO, dumbass.