We had to slip some fake ones in to replace the gold we stole for the Iran deal.
Posted on 08/28/2019 8:58:55 AM PDT by Steve1999
LONDON (Reuters) - A forgery crisis is quietly roiling the world’s gold industry.Gold bars fraudulently stamped with the logos of major refineries are being inserted into the global market to launder smuggled or illegal gold, refining and banking executives tell Reuters. The fakes are hard to detect, making them an ideal fund-runner for narcotics dealers or warlords. In the last three years, bars worth at least $50 million stamped with Swiss refinery logos, but not actually produced by those facilities, have been identified by all four of Switzerland’s leading gold refiners and found in the vaults of JPMorgan Chase & Co., one of the major banks at the heart of the market in bullion, said senior executives at gold refineries, banks and other industry sources.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
At the end of the day, if the gold is real, the markings do not matter
Unauthorized, PIRATE gold, huh.
Yeah, right.
This hints at why I only do junk silver.
One can google “chinese gold” and find sites that advertize fake gold bars. They actually have a pretty thick gold coating. The idea is that they are great “sales contest” prizes.
They are tungsten filled and, apparently, tungsten and Gold weigh pretty closely the same.
Gold is gold......
Right? Who gives a crap about the markings if it’s gold 99.99% then who cares what shape it is ?
This is the Richie rich elite talking to themselves
Possible attempt to disrupt the global economy? ...It’s Trumps fault crowd.
There are fake gold coins and bars available on Alibabba and eBay.
as long as it’s 99.9% or better...
That's what I would have figured, too. But the article explains: "Without the stamp of a prestigious refinery, such gold would be forced into underground networks, or priced at a discount. By pirating Swiss and other major brands, metal that has been mined or processed in places that would not otherwise be legal or acceptable in the West – for example in parts of Africa, Venezuela or North Korea – can be injected into the market, channeling funds to criminals or regimes that are sanctioned."
So apparently the markings do add a measure of value as it assures the buyer it has not come from illegal sources or not involved in criminal activity. What is not said is exactly how much value is added by the markings and how much the criminals injecting the counterfeit bars are able to make. I would think that the great majority of value (99%+?) is in the base metal, not in the markings.
If there is a lot of value in the markings, it sounds like a cartel operation like De Beers.
Tungsten and gold weigh “scary” the same (very very close)
But silver is not immune. Pewter (and there a hundred different alloy compositions of pewter possible) in a fairly precise proportion can weigh and specific gravity out just like silver. It of course will not ring like silver and will not act like silver when brought near a neodymium magnet.
As you say, junk silver is IMO a reasoned choice as it is “self-assaying” as long as you stay clear of silver dollars, which are getting to be very widely counterfeited. For the moment, nobody thinks it would be worth it to counterfeit a 1959 quarter. That means sooner or later, you’ll be able to count on it happening.
We had to slip some fake ones in to replace the gold we stole for the Iran deal.
Nobody "makes" gold. And nobody buys gold bars merely because it has passed through Switzerland, Gucci or anyone else. They buy the chemical element Au as an immutable store of value which is independent of central banks and corrupt governments. Certain mints have put their stamp on it as a measure of purity, so this is possibly an issue for them, but even then, the premium they may earn is miniscule. All this episode does is prove that currencies are often faked, whether by criminals, or by politicians.
Also, "conflict gold" isn't even a thing. Should we not own gold now because Cortez took a bunch from the Aztecs? Because (black) miners in South Africa don't make a "living wage?" Their propaganda my FRiend, is designed to make you poor. Don't accept it.
One can see why china’s been so hurried buying gold up from outside sources. They buy good bars and then create fake bars to put back into circulation. Its known they are the ones that have wrapped tungsten with a thin layer of gold and made fake bars this way.
Yeah. The difference is that it’s gotta be worth it to replicate “fake” worn morgans. I don’t think the incentive is there...yet.
I agree.
...as long as you stay clear of silver dollars, which are getting to be very widely counterfeited.
“They buy the chemical element Au as an immutable store of value which is independent of central banks and corrupt governments.”
Absolutely, And the real value and stable purchasing power of Gold comes from the labor required to mine and process it. This creates welcome and needed jobs no matter where it sourced.
First go to a long-standing and legitimate dealer. While that in itself is not a foolproof guarantee, they usually have relatively inexpensive equipment which can test the basic authenticity of gold and silver coins with an immediate read-out, and also show you what fakes look like. They should be happy to show that to you.
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