I heard about fake silver but have never seen/owned any. Real silver has slight "magnetic properties". Magnet will not stick but has a little drag to sliding the magnet across it. I bought mine from Modern Coin Mart, Silver Towne , Ampex and Engelhard . Nothing fake about those companies. The biggest fear I had as the shipments were coming in was the USPS/UPS/FEDEX robbing me when they figured out what they had been delivering.