Tungsten-Filled 10 Oz Gold Bar Found In The Middle Of Manhattan's Jewelry District

zero hedge ^

[Perdogg]

It is one thing for tungsten-filled gold bars to appear in the UK, or in Germany: after all out of sight, and across the Atlantic, certainly must mean out of mind, and out of the safe. However, when a 10 ounce 999.9 gold bar bearing the stamp of the reputable Swiss Produits Artistiques Métaux Précieux (PAMP, with owner MTP) and a serial number (serial #038892, likely rehypothecated in at least 10 gold ETFs across the world but that's a different story), mysteriously emerges in the heart of the world's jewerly district located on 47th street in Manhattan, things get real quick. Moments ago, Myfoxny reported that a 10-ounce gold bar costing nearly $18,000 turned out to be a counterfeit. The discovery was made by the dealer Ibrahim Fadl, who bought the PAMP bar in question from a merchant who has sold him real gold before. "But he heard counterfeit gold bars were going around, so he drilled into several of his gold bars worth $100,000 and saw gray tungsten -- not gold. The bar was filled with tungsten, which weighs nearly the same as gold but costs just over a dollar an ounce."

[Wonder Warthog]

Portable XRF Instrument:

http://www.niton.com/en/

[cripplecreek]

Frankly it sounds like manipulation of collateral to me.

I’m just learning the term so my understanding is petty rough.

If you borrowed from me and used your house as collateral and I borrowed from someone else and also used your house as collateral.

[grey_whiskers]

No need. Portable X-ray Fluorescence instruments are easily available and can readily distinguish between tungsten and gold. Non-destructive, no cutting/shearing needed.

Thanks, Wonder.

Better living through (analytical) chemistry / chemical physics! (sound of grey_whiskers purring).

Cheers!

[Jonty30]

The reason why tungsten is being used is because it has nearly the same density as gold.

They are going to have to resort to electromagnetic scanners or something.

[cynwoody]

Turns out ultrasound is useful for more than looking at fetuses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FvM_4B7Pkc

Gold's density is 19.30 g/cc, whereas tungsten's is 19.25 g/cc. Assuming its outer dimensions were not changed, the 10 oz bar should be about 0.7 grams lighter.

[GraceG]

I thought Archimedes solved this problem 2500 years ago.

A properly weighted gold/tungsten/lead bar would pass the Archimedes test...

[DocRock]

It would not pass hydrostatic specific gravity measurement

[DManA]

Also people have wondered if Archimedes was capable of measuring the differences in water volumes precisely enough.

[Boogieman]

The Republicans just added a plank to the platform about auditing Fort Knox, throwing a bone to Ron Paul. Why do I have a feeling that even if Romney is reelecting and we take both houses of Congress that nothing will ever come of that?

[DManA]

Or circulation golden eagles.

[LukeL]

An object denser than water will only displace its volume, so it would not matter if this was lead, copper, quartz, or gold. They all would displace the same amount of liquid given it has the same dimensions.

[Ditto]

Civilization is founded on trust. No trust, no civilization.

True statement and fundamental as well.

Who can we trust today? Not our governments. Not our institutions such as universities, religious or even charitable institutions. The Hard Left has thoroughly infiltrated all of them and corrupted all of them.

When it reaches the point where we can not even trust one another, we become the 3rd world and all hell breaks lose.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

"Portable X-ray Fluorescence instruments are easily available and can readily distinguish between tungsten and gold. Non-destructive, no cutting/shearing needed."

XRF machines are about $15K and really only detect the surface of the metal under test. They are also a tad tricky to use. If a bogus bar was tungsten and merely gold-plated, it would probably fail such a test. But if it started out as a genuine PAMP gold bar and was then drilled, like the bars pictured below (which are silver, not gold, and with lead inserts, not tungsten, but I show them for the fakery technique) with tungsten rods inserted, I have some doubt an XRF assay would reveal the fake core(s).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyQSSmVcb6c

[Red Badger]

His problem involved silver melted into the gold.
This is more insidious, in that tungsten and gold weigh nearly the same, so the volume is also nearly the same.......

[Leaning Right]

Just buy tungsten bars. If you buy a gold bar and someone fills it with tungsten, then you lose, but if you buy a tungsten bar, and someone fills it with gold, then whoopie!

LOL, excellent out-of-the-box thinking. If I should ever become President, I'm appointing you Secretary of the Treasury.

And I will require each cabinet member to use the word "woopie" at least once in every report.

[montag813]

When my team finishes perfecting our molecular fabricator, which will make 4oz per hour of 24kt gold, the market will crash and burn.

[Vince Ferrer]

Or circulation golden eagles.

Coins can be faked just as easily.

Gold Plated Tungsten Coin

Tungsten Heavy Alloy Fake Gold

Tungsten Heavy Alloy Fake Gold Application

[Mr. Jeeves]

A government job. Only question is, which government?

[GeronL]

those Chinese are so wild and crazy with their fake economy

[stevio]

When it reaches the point where we can not even trust one another, we become the 3rd world and all hell breaks lose.

Seems like all is going as planned.