[–] 20364838? 0 points 4 points 4 points (+4|-0) ago
Reuters reports that most of counterfeit bars appear to be made in China? Yep, nothing but cheap crappy counterfeits come from there.
The gold is real, and very high purity, with only the markings faked? Good way to bypass little things like sanctions, trade restrictions and to launder money undetected.
Interesting they are made of real gold because when I first read the headline I thought they were just gold plated fakes.
[–] 20365958? 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago
They drill holes down the length of the bar, and then stuff the holes with tungsten rods. Then melt some gold into the ends to cap it off. This means they don't have to worry about replicating the markings, because they start with a real bar.
So, think not so much a "plating" but more that it's filled like a chocolate eclair.
Tungsten is close enough to gold that this will pass a simple density test.
But it will fail ultrasound inspection.
[–] 20364918? 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
2019-08-28 | Smuggled gold bars have been stamped with fake branding and slipped into the global market | Daily Mail Online
"And it still exists, and it still works. 'Fake gold bars - blocks of cheaper metal plated with gold - are relatively common in the gold industry and often easy to detect."
'Gold bars fraudulently stamped with the logos of major refineries are being inserted into the global market, causing a crisis in the industry. '
'Sophisticated criminals have been branding the sub-par gold with the logos of prestigious Swiss refineries in order to give their inferior product legitimacy. '
'Kilobars are the most common form of gold in circulation around the world, passing fluidly between banks, refineries, dealers and individuals. ', "The Shanghai Gold Exchange, which regulates China's gold market, said in a statement it was not aware of counterfeit bars being made in or transported through China. 'The Shanghai Gold Exchange has established a thorough delivery and storage system."
[–] 20365148? 0 points 14 points 14 points (+14|-0) ago
The gold is probably not pure. But this is irrelevant to anybody reading this who isn’t a billionaire. There’s no reason to buy such large amounts of gold at once. The whole point of this article and the timing of this article has to be to stop people from buying gold so that they can get it all, the little that’s left on the market. There’s no silver for volumes of investment above what regular people do. Rob Kirby said many months ago that he was finding it harder to for fill tons of silver than gold.
[–] 20365928? 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago (edited ago)
you are correct. it's fud. Buy from any major reputable dealer and you will get real gold. Also, stick to gold eagles and avoid anything packed in plastic.
If you buy from random people on ebay, that is not very smart.
If you are bvuying a lot of coins or bars, get yours a "sigma metalytics" analyzer and you can test them yourself.
And if you are a banker who buys pallet loads of 400oz bars, you get yourself an ultrasound tester and you can test those too.
EDIT: apparently I should have read the article a little closer... they are saying the gold is real but the stamps are fake. So this is apparently somebody with a large qty of illegally obtained gold that is laundering it.
Excellent response. Excellent advice. There are a lot of vendors who work in small quantities by internet. Apmex, Gold Silver, ITM trading (plastic ok, they like collectibles in case confiscation), Silver Gold Bull. Feel free to respond with more I missed. Also, there is a gold store in Oakland: Oakland Silver and Gold. Very good for new buyers.
The Fed tells visitors its basement vault holds the world's biggest official gold stash and values it at $240 billion to $260 billion.
But "no one at all can be sure the gold is really there except Fed employees with access," said Ronan Manly, a precious-metals analyst at gold dealer BullionStar in Singapore. If it is all there, he said, the central bank has "never in its history provided any proof."
...
Other theorists suspect the gold beneath the New York Fed's headquarters at 33 Liberty St. may be gold-plated fakes. Some conspiracy-minded investors think the Fed has been secretly leasing out the gold to manipulate prices.
This is why you buy bars that stopped being made before any of this junk started. There are several but one that comes to mind is Johnson-Matthey for silver bars it's my only direct experience but there are a couple of others. If investing -- and this IS "Investment Advice" -- then call 2 or 3 of the larger online dealers. It's not hard to reach someone who knows a lot & works with it every day. Ask their opinion. Also talk to the sales and acquisitions dept and ask...Some will pay a premium FOR certain bars of certain makers.
[–] 20364743? 1 point 0 points 1 point (+1|-1) ago
Fucking chinks. Nuke ‘em to dust.
[–] 20365072? 1 point -1 points 0 points (+0|-1) ago
No