A Letter from The Inventor of THE FISCH

30 January 2010

Dear Gold, Platinum & Silver Buyer

INVENTORY UPDATE 30 January 2010  Ready to Ship! Aside from the Platinum Noble Fisch. Due to a production error, there will be a delay before more are available. Expected in April 2010.

All orders are shipped in the new packaging, not the packaging shown here. A major benefit of this is that all the Wallets can now be held in one holder. The instructions are now in a larger format, simplified and yet more comprehensive.

If, when you bought, the Wallet #1 and #6 were out of stock, and you want one or both these wallets, drop me an email. I will supply them to you at a reduced price.

I am adding to the range - the American Buffalo, the Australian Nugget & Kangaroo and the Austrian Vienna Philharmonic. All 1oz gold versions. I expect to have them around April 2010. Email me to be notified when they are available.

More on the Fisch:

The Fisch is a modern version of the fake gold coin detector. A man named Gideon B. Smith patented the first back in 1853. Over the next 30 years the US Patent Office granted many patents for gold coin detectors. Around 27 patents, if my memory is correct. Fake detectors were a common sight in stores across the country. They were needed; fake gold coins were a real problem. Their detection was a serious business as the buying power of even a small gold coin was great.

An interesting side note is that these fake gold coin detectors are now collectibles. I have just bought a Sovereign detector from an antique dealer in and want to buy some early American  gold coin detectors.They cost a lot more than the Fisch!

When I started buying gold in the late 1970’s, I came to realize that I had no idea that what I was buying was actually gold. Apart from what the seller told me, of course! I started researching fake gold coins. I discovered that fakes were a subject dealers and mints didn’t want to talk about. At least, not with a customer.

The more I researched the subject, the more worried I became. Investors like me, not knowing the history of fake gold coins, were blind to the dangers. Who was it that said, "Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it"?  Inventors fill needs. Judging by the number of fake coin detectors patented when gold coins were in everyday circulation, there was a strong need. Nothing had changed. A modern, accurate, easy to use version of the old fake detectors was needed.

 I looked at the simplicity of the principle behind the early designs. (Read Why the Fisch Works) Based on that principle, my brother, a friend and I designed a detector utilizing modern material, die making tools and injection molders. We called it the Fisch. How we came up with the name is another story.

That was back in 1980. In 1981, I moved to the US and started producing and selling the Fisch. Since then the Fisch has been sold to all the major mints and dealers around the world. (Although reluctant to talk about fakes, they were quick to buy the Fisch!) But I am happiest about the investors in over 50 countries around the world who are now protected by the Fisch.

I still love the letters telling how the Fisch saved someone from buying a fake gold coin in some far off place. My marketing budget has never been big. The Fisch sells mainly by word-of-mouth with some investment advisor and dealer recommendation. Here’s a recent email I got from a customer, only a few days after his order was shipped. He put the Fisch to immediate use:

Hello Ken
I checked a 100 Corona coin today and it was fake, too large around, too thick, and not heavy enough.  Your product saved me a fortune.

The Fisch Works! It makes you your own gold coin expert!

I have since moved on to other businesses, but I keep the "shipping" part of Fisch Instruments operating in Sacramento, California from where your order will be shipped. Actually, the shipper's operation is in Roseville, a city adjoining Sacramento. She and her husband operate a postal/shipping service and as a result know everything about shipping. They are fast and efficient.

Since 1996, I am living back in South Africa in a small town on the south coast called Knysna. It is 300 miles east of Cape Town.

While the business may seem like a money spinner, it has not been. But the other pleasures such as shipping the Fisch all around the world, the sales to the big mints and dealers and most of all, giving investors a practical way of protecting themselves from common metal counterfeits has made it worthwhile. I  enjoy is the chats with people from all over the US mostly and other countries. I  call on Skype over the internet and it costs almost nothing.

After deciding years ago that I would not make any more Fisch, I have made more again. I realized that as much as I thought I would just close the business down, I would miss it when it was gone!

The current range was chosen in the early 80’s and other gold bullion coins have come on the market since then, other have become less popular. 

I am hooked into the PayPal payment system so you can order over the Internet with the confidence that your credit card and other information is secure. We still take mail (your check is OK) and fax orders. See the order form. Or you can call me on my US phone line (916) 626 4980 and leave a message. Let me know where you are and a time to call so I don't call you in the middle of the night. I will call you back and take your credit card details. 

South African residents: I keep a few Wallet #2’s (Krugerrand/American Eagle) at home which I supply to you at a SA Rand price and you will also save on the postage. Email me.

Sincerely, Ken 

My e-mail address is ken@fisch.co.za