Buying Chinese "silver boat" ingot
 

I'm in China. I have a potentially interesting deal in my hands. 25 US bucks (smells tuna) for one of those nice Chinese silver ingot (Qing dynasty and a bit worned, but I find it nice nonetheless). Size: my little finger's lenght ;)

Ok... so anyone knows how to evaluate the value of one of those boat-shaped Chinese ingots? It'd be nice if I could evaluate if it's a fake to start with! :albertein

Re: Buying Chinese "silver boat" ingot
 

The vast majority of them are lead, some with silver plating.

Stay away, even if you get a real 90% silver piece, it will be hard to sell because of all the fakes.

Re: Buying Chinese "silver boat" ingot
 

Fasttcar, you sure got your nick from somewhere. Thanks, it's a solved case. It might be a fake from the Qing dynasty, because it really seems worned by time and not artificially (scratches with sides not all as used up, etc.).

Thx.

Re: Buying Chinese "silver boat" ingot
 

Tap it with something like a spoon and see if it rings.

In China, sight unseen, 9 times out of 10 fake.

But if it pleases you and you don't intend to sell it, by all means buy.

Re: Buying Chinese "silver boat" ingot
 

come on silgo, you cant be serious.
just wait till you get back home. then you can buy it on ebay for 99c with $24 shipping.
hopefully that should make it a bit easier to decide :)

Re: Buying Chinese "silver boat" ingot
 

I wouldnt touch it with a ten foot pole.

Re: Buying Chinese "silver boat" ingot
 

hehe Fine, I will bring a 20 foot long spoon to test and be sure to not get contaminated. I wont buy but it's still worth checking :P

Re: Buying Chinese "silver boat" ingot
 

Almost certainly a fake, along with the damn Chinese counterfeit coins, bullion rounds (including pandas), and almost everything else.