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

Posted on 09/18/2012 7:08:59 PM PDT by 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."

(Excerpt) Read more at zerohedge.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; US: New York
KEYWORDS: bar; district; filled; gold; goldbar; jewelry; manhattan; manhattans; middle; tungsten
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To: Wonder Warthog

So, do you carry one of those with you and will it still work when the SHTF?

Life sure is complicated ain’t it?


61 posted on 09/18/2012 9:02:35 PM PDT by Sequoyah101 (Half the people are below average, they voted for oblabla.)
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To: Kenny Bunk

LOL


62 posted on 09/18/2012 9:09:58 PM PDT by Nailbiter
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To: DManA

The specific gravities are pretty close. 19.29 for gold, 19.62 for tungsten. By the time you get to a 10 oz bar, with a fairly thick coating of gold, the difference is a tad tighter.


63 posted on 09/18/2012 9:10:23 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing)
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To: Perdogg

Well...at least it would make one excellent rivet bucking bar.


64 posted on 09/18/2012 9:16:05 PM PDT by Puckster
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To: Vince Ferrer

The Fisch

65 posted on 09/18/2012 9:28:40 PM PDT by RC one
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To: Wonder Warthog

That would not detect these bars. They are surrounded by a fairly thick gold layer, not gold plated.


66 posted on 09/18/2012 9:30:24 PM PDT by ltc8k6
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To: Nailbiter
Easy solution...just remove the seller's pants and hold a cocked gun to his temple while you test the gold.

If his undies turn brown, then you know it's a fake! :)

67 posted on 09/18/2012 9:57:04 PM PDT by The Duke
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To: Vince Ferrer

I would much rather uncover chocolate... :-)


68 posted on 09/18/2012 10:36:37 PM PDT by Conservative4Ever (The Obamas = rude, crude and socially unacceptable)
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To: Dr.Zoidberg

Have I got a deal for you. I’ll cut them in half on my own bandsaw for free!


69 posted on 09/18/2012 10:39:58 PM PDT by Erasmus (Zwischen des Teufels und des tiefen, blauen Meers)
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To: Erasmus
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
70 posted on 09/18/2012 10:43:16 PM PDT by vox_freedom (America is being tested as never before in its history. May God help us.)
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To: Perdogg; jiggyboy; PA Engineer; blam; TigerLikesRooster; Cheap_Hessian; CJinVA; Jet Jaguar; ...

Goldbug ping.


71 posted on 09/18/2012 10:44:27 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar (The pundits have forgotten the 2010 election.)
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To: DManA

You sure you don’t mean .001 cents in 2014 dollars?


72 posted on 09/18/2012 10:56:00 PM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: DManA

Archimedes didn’t know about tungsten, which has a density almost equal to gold, 19.25 g/cm3 versus gold’s 19.30 g/cm3.


73 posted on 09/18/2012 11:39:36 PM PDT by Skepolitic
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To: Perdogg

Simple test - bend it over a solid steel bar; the tungsten won’t bend, the 9999.9% pure will.


74 posted on 09/19/2012 12:56:41 AM PDT by brityank (The more I learn about the Constitution, the more I realise this Government is UNconstitutional !!)
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To: Vince Ferrer

Careful, the word “whoopie” has a darker meaning these days.


75 posted on 09/19/2012 1:20:45 AM PDT by Fresh Wind ('People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook.' Richard M. Nixon)
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To: LukeL

If given the same dimensions then they will not weigh the same.


76 posted on 09/19/2012 2:44:33 AM PDT by Dusty Road
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To: Wonder Warthog
And yes, I've looked at the ubiquitous stories that all contain the statement "it passed a hand-held XRF test". One even claimed that XRF "..only penetrates the first 0.001 inch", which is complete BS. I suspect this was a completely untrained operator that was using it as a "magic box".

TSA agent, perhaps? /sarc>

Cheers!

77 posted on 09/19/2012 3:57:10 AM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: ltc8k6
"That would not detect these bars. They are surrounded by a fairly thick gold layer, not gold plated."

Without knowing the specifics of the detector, you cannot make such a judgment (what energy/intensity of x-ray source, sensitivity of detection). Some XRF devices will probably not work, some will work. But this is a very specific application. I'm sure some mfg. will come up with a dedicated device that targets this specific application.

Believe me, I understand the physics here. My minor subject in grad school was nuclear science, a fair segment of which was about non-destructive testing using radiographic devices. I'm sure plain old x-radiography with Co-60 and film would quickly distinguish such fake bars....and that the new fully electronic and computerized (and much more sensitive) detectors would do even better.

78 posted on 09/19/2012 4:14:12 AM PDT by Wonder Warthog
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To: Sequoyah101
Rehypothecation sounds like more BS from the usual sources.

First thing I do this morning and flip over to the BBC and they're running a story out of Europe about an insurer doing the same crap with valuable items like rare musical instruments, jewelery, cars, home etc.
79 posted on 09/19/2012 4:33:08 AM PDT by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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To: Wonder Warthog

You can see in the pics that the layer of gold is quite thick. I doubt the bars would get far if they could be detected so easily.

They know such checks are going to be done. They know gold plating will not work. That’s why they go to the trouble of hollowing out actual gold bars.

I’m actually far more interested in how they are hollowing out the actual gold bars, and how they are sealing them up again without this being visually noticeable.


80 posted on 09/19/2012 4:51:45 AM PDT by ltc8k6
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