With China's stock market for gold climbing the ladder, illegal Chinese traders are reportedly selling large quantities of counterfeited gold coins on the Internet.

According to CBS News, most of these fake coins are made of low-quality alloy materials such as tungsten, lead, and zinc - with only a tinge of gold to give color. Thanks to cutting-edge technology, fake coins now appear just like real ones and an average person might not have second thoughts about them.

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"They can get fooled by even a bad fake because they don't know what a real one looks like," Mike Fuljenz from the Universal Coin and Bullion in Beaumont, Texas, said.

Fake gold coins today are manufactured by lasers to create an exact replica of real ones, plus their packaging appears to be legit, Fuljenz revealed. However, an experts' keen eyes can likely spot the difference based on the color, weight and how it reflects light - factors that are rather difficult to notice by newbies.

"There are hundreds of thousands of these things," Scoot Schechter, vice president of the Numinsmatic Guaranty Corp., said. "They're just everywhere."

Fake coin deals are rising across Asia and peddling is growing in Hong Kong and China's flea market, with values ranging only between $1 and $3 apiece.

Furthermore, illegal factories are allegedly busy producing thousands of replicas of in-demand coins like the American Silver Eagles, U.S. Buffalo coins, among others. These products are distributed by Asian coin traders or even sold on websites like eBay or Craiglist.

Meanwhile, Schechter advised average buyers to take note of prices that are too good to be true, explaining that a real gold coin is normally worth the spot gold price plus an average of $50 to $60 markup. He also said it is best to get coins from legit or trusted sellers.

Tagsgold, gold coins, Counterfeit, fake gold coins, china