Ping Test for Silver Coins & Bars

Simple ping test to detect fake silver coins and bars.

Pay special attention to the pitch/tone and the length of the sound.

[swishonu]

hmm.. that fake silver bar still rang...

[mike]

I got the same noise as the ones you said were fake one my silver rounds. I actually cut one in half to find out it was all sliver. So that test is not accurate.

[lonestarhog]

Old cash registers - yeah, I worked with those - had a marble shelf. The purpose was to check the validity of coins. The merchant would tap the coin on the marble. It was easy to tell a real coin from a fake. I use a small marble slab and drop the coin. PING!

[rustyyb]

Using an audio spectrum analyzer on your smart phone you can have reported to you the composition of the sound as the analyzer will display the frequencies in Hz (cycles per second). Each coin may have it's frequency cataloged. My Morgan & Peace dollars pretty much ring out with two frequencies composing their ringing sound 4350Hz and 10KHz. I have one Peace Dollar ringing out at 4308Hz and just under 10KHz, the edge of the coin is just a shade thicker and more squared than the others, they all stop a pendulum magnet.

[surfmotor]

The ping test only works when comparing the same coin. I have many different 1 ounce silver coins from different country mints and they sound different. Example the american eagle sounds different than the canadian maple.

[humilulo]

i propose that we stop calling 90% silver 'junk' silver when it's not junk and it's real silver. i propose that we call the common quarters today 'junk' quarters. why don't we call things as they are?

[kovko]

Don't do this to coins, you will only damage them. And if you have a really rare, expensive coin, you're going to devalue that coin considerably. The first thing you should do is weigh the coin, and check to see if it's magnetic (use a neodymium magnet; silver has a very, very slight attraction otherwise it's practically non-magnetic). If you still suspect that the coin is a counterfeit, then check for die markers and see if they designs match up. There are references all over the 'net as well as in books to help you look for specific die markers.

[CuSTACKS]

Every bullion coin/round/bar will sound different depending how it was made and if it is truly 999 or 9999 also the size in which it was minted will make a difference. The ping test is no conclusive by far. Sorry.

[scottfree]

The time doesn’t matter, the tone does... and even that can vary based on geometry. The ping test really isn’t very reliable.

[SilverCoinscom]

sorry the audio for the ping is not the best, it's a high frequency of 6145 so the sound when pinging real silver lasts longer than it sounds.  The audio just doesnt completely pick it up ...

[crzyofficial]

What I do is flip the coin, from the flick it will make the coin ping

[maroinmybones]

Thank God, mine passed the ping test, got them all off Ebay, was a little nervous.

[danofiremano]

You can also use a short 3/8 or 5/16th dowel and get very similar (almost these exact results) results with way less of a chance of damage to a coin!

[oneword]

The only piece of silver I have that didn't ring is the .999 1 ounce I got from the bank. Weird.

[nielsjensen]

Many viewers didn't understand it right. It's not enough that the coin rings some sound. It should be the exact right sound (in many cases lower pitch than a fake) and it should last noticeably longer than a fake. Of course any coin, including fakes, makes a ding sound, but not the right sound. If it pings, that doesn't mean that it passed the test. It has to ping the correct pitch and last long, like If your ears cannot hear the difference, then there is an app on the phone that tests the silver and gold bullion. And if you test silver bars, then you have to test a real one too, otherwise the test is useless.

[thephilarmy]

For those hard of hearing like myself, look up the silver magnet test. I personally find it much more conclusive 👍🏻

[leoguy]

Like using Sigma Metalytics Precious Metals Verifier but you need to be aware that older gold and silver coins like from pre-civil war aren't always accurate in it's content and may be out of  the range area on the Sigma Metalystic Precious Metals Verifier.

[jedijeff]

The thickness is a big factor... generic silver rounds are thicker and won’t ring like that... I hope your not only relying on the ping test to determine if they are real.... you should always do a magnet slide test and acid test on any pieces in question

[robpanel]

1:38 a sweet sound
1:59 sounds like my paycheck all day

[bakairy]

So for those that don’t know if it’s real silver it sounds like a bell