The Ringer - 916 & 999 coin rings explained

The Ringer works the best with 917 fine coins like the American Eagle, Krugerrand, Mexican 50 and 20 Pesos, 100 Coronas and other gold coins that are not 999 fine gold. The silver & copper in the Eagle, and the copper only in the others, give the coins a long ring like a bell. Listen to the recording in the Fisch Family pages - The Ringer Sounds of Coins & Fakes.
The Ringer works with 999 coins like the Maple Leaf or Buffalo. However the ring is not as obvious and can be hard to hear. It is a short, soft ring best heard, by some users, by holding the Ringer up to the ear as the hammer strikes the coin. There is a recording in the Fisch Family pages - The Ringer Sounds of Coins & Fakes - of a genuine and fake tungsten Maple Leaf 1oz gold coin. Listen to that.
The ring of a tungsten fake is not a ring at all. Just a dull thud.