The same is true for silver bars. A few months ago there was a story about fake bars floating around. The way to tell is they are somewhat thicker than the real bars. And there are lots of fake coins floating around like Rich mentioned. I try to buy my silver for not more than half of real value but of course you won't get that type of price at any dealer. Just try to get as close to spot value as you can and keep an eye on spot value itself. Silver has been going up for the last month or so and I have no idea if it will continue up or pull back.