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[–] 20365958? 0 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.

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[–] 20368805? 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

That's pretty much what I thought but according to how I read the article that's not what they are doing. The gold is real but the marking are not and in some ways that's actually worse believe it or not.

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[–] 20371878? ago 

Thanks for correcting me... wow this is interesting. If the article is true, then they aren't trying to defraud anyone on the value of the bars, because these refinery stamps have almost no value per se.

Rather, it means perhaps they are dealing in large quantities of gold that has been stolen. Maybe it has Nazi stamps or it was previously recorded by some country's Central Bank or something like that.

They can't send it straight to a reputable refinery to be re-cast because the refinery would report it. So they are re-casting it themselves.

The counterfeits in these cases are subtler: The gold is real, and very high purity, with only the markings faked. Fake-branded bars are a relatively new way to flout global measures to block conflict minerals and prevent money-laundering.

Such forgeries pose a problem for international refiners, financiers and regulators as they attempt to purge the world of illicit trade in bullion.