By Jeffrey A. Newman Esq.
Silver, the metal which is used in so many products including cell phones, satellites, solar panels, medicine surgical tools, circuit boards and much more. In addition, the metal is traded and heavily regulated and yet silver is vulnerable to fraudulent substitution, fraudulent dilution, fraudulent statements about purity and its true source. The distinct sources of fraud are physical frauds including dilution and counterfeits at the bullion and scrap level and provenance fraud along the globally dispersed supply chain. Presently, silver’s authentication is reliant upon paperwork and the credibility of the sellers.
One company, SMX Security matters public lilmited a technology company based in Dublin Ireland with offices in NY City. It has created an invention that may substantially verify the source and purity of silver. The product, embedded directly into the materials and stems from the development of proprietary back-scattering Interferoometry technology.. This is a technology company that has created a kind of digital passport to prove the origin and authenticity of silver. the product itself is called a molecular identity marker which embeds unique microscopic materials iinto the metal, creating an indelible atomic level marker that survives the silver processing.
Silver is marked at the mining stage during melting stage early in the supply chain. This marker persists through refining, manufacturing transport and resale. The material can be tested at any point to confirm its identity which removes reliance on paperwork and intermediaries. SMX successfully implemented its Marking System across several batches of the silver at the melting stage and was able to differentiate marked from unmarked silver material, providing Brand authentication of the silver material.
If this marker is accepted broadly, this may increase the reliability of the silver in terms of purity, source, lack of dilution and other mechanisms of fraud presently existing in the sale of the silver worldwide. Here are some reasons why this invention is so timely now.
Physical fraud generally targets investors, refiners, or industrial users holding large or standardized forms of silver.
- Counterfeit bars and coins
- Bars can be poured with a cheaper core (e.g., lead‑tin, copper‑lead, or tungsten‑lead alloys) and then plated or jacketed with high‑purity silver to mimic the correct weight and dimensions.
- Some “.999” bars have tested in the high‑80% silver range, with the balance copper and zinc, but are stamped and sold as investment‑grade bullion.
- Why simple tests can fail
- Density tests are less decisive than commonly assumed, because alloys (for example tungsten mixed with lead) can be engineered to approximate silver’s specific gravity closely enough to pass basic specific‑gravity checks.
- Non‑destructive tools like XRF only analyze the surface layer, so a thick .999 silver shell can conceal a base‑metal interior unless more advanced ultrasound, acoustic velocity, or drilling/core sampling is used.
Where dilution shows up in practice
- Fraud tends to concentrate in larger poured bars (kilo and above) and off‑brand or secondary‑market product, where one successful counterfeit produces more illicit margin than a single coin.
- Scrap “silver‑bearing” industrial material can also be misrepresented in grade so that refiners or buyers overpay for the underlying metal content.
Complex, multi‑step supply chain
- Much silver is mined as a by‑product of copper, lead, zinc, or gold, then aggregated and blended at smelters and refineries where feed from many mines and recyclers is mixed; those aggregation points are recognized chokepoints that break granular traceability.
- Once silver is refined into London Good Delivery bars or similar standard forms, subsequent trading, re‑melting into smaller products, and recycling further severs visible links back to an original mine or country
Silver from high‑risk regions (e.g., areas with conflict, sanctions, or severe environmental/rights abuses) can be routed through intermediate refiners or traders and then declared as originating from a lower‑risk country once mixed, a concern explicitly flagged in LBMA “residual risk” discussions
Recycled or illicit material can be re‑refined by non‑accredited refiners and then sold into accredited facilities, obscuring prior links to smuggling, theft, or conflict financing.
Jeffrey Newman is a whistleblower lawyer whose law firm represents whistleblowers revealing violations of export controls, tariff evasions, money laundering, healthcare fraud and other kinds of WB cases. The firm represents individuals both in the United States and other countries. Mr. Newman and his firm staff also represent physicians and other healthcare providers who become whistleblowers in healthcare fraud cases. Whistleblower laws in the U.S. allow individuals anywhere with information about export control violations or tariff fraud to reveal the information under The False Claims act or through the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Whistleblower Program. The Firm’s website is at www.JeffNewmanLaw.com and attorney Newman can be reached at Jeff@Jeffnewmanlaw.com or at 978-880-4758
