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  • November 23, 2009 at 8:53 PM #16706
    Adebisi
    Participant

    Interesting story that if true means physical gold is way undervalued:

    http://beforeitsnews.com/story/0000000000000499

    The gist of the article is that there are between 1.3 million and 1.5 million in fake 400 OZ gold bars out there. The ‘fake’ part of the bars is actually tungsten. It’s unclear from the article whether the GLD ETF tests the gold bars that they take delivery of, but they have a legal disclaimer that basically says there’s no guarantee that the gold in the trust is actually real.

    It will be interesting to see if this story has legs.

    November 23, 2009 at 9:29 PM #485920
    scaredyclassic
    Participant

    it’s worse than that; they don’t actually own any gold

    November 23, 2009 at 9:29 PM #486088
    scaredyclassic
    Participant

    it’s worse than that; they don’t actually own any gold

    November 23, 2009 at 9:29 PM #486461
    scaredyclassic
    Participant

    it’s worse than that; they don’t actually own any gold

    November 23, 2009 at 9:29 PM #486547
    scaredyclassic
    Participant

    it’s worse than that; they don’t actually own any gold

    November 23, 2009 at 9:29 PM #486777
    scaredyclassic
    Participant

    it’s worse than that; they don’t actually own any gold

    November 24, 2009 at 11:17 AM #486119
    ucodegen
    Participant

    You wouldn’t use tungsten to ‘salt’ the bars. To much of a pain to work with. You can’t pour molten tungsten into hollowed out gold bars because it would melt the hollowed out gold bar. Melting point of tungsten is 6192°F while gold is 1947°F. Machining tungsten to shape is also a pain. It is a tough metal.. so tough that it is used as the cutting bit in metal machining equipment.

    If you are going to fill the bars, you would probably use a combination of lead and aluminum (621°F, 3632°F) respectively to get the weight right (aluminum centered within lead, centered within gold). Hollow out gold bar, suspend small aluminum bar within hollowed out segment and fill remainder with lead.

    November 24, 2009 at 11:17 AM #486286
    ucodegen
    Participant

    You wouldn’t use tungsten to ‘salt’ the bars. To much of a pain to work with. You can’t pour molten tungsten into hollowed out gold bars because it would melt the hollowed out gold bar. Melting point of tungsten is 6192°F while gold is 1947°F. Machining tungsten to shape is also a pain. It is a tough metal.. so tough that it is used as the cutting bit in metal machining equipment.

    If you are going to fill the bars, you would probably use a combination of lead and aluminum (621°F, 3632°F) respectively to get the weight right (aluminum centered within lead, centered within gold). Hollow out gold bar, suspend small aluminum bar within hollowed out segment and fill remainder with lead.

    November 24, 2009 at 11:17 AM #486660
    ucodegen
    Participant

    You wouldn’t use tungsten to ‘salt’ the bars. To much of a pain to work with. You can’t pour molten tungsten into hollowed out gold bars because it would melt the hollowed out gold bar. Melting point of tungsten is 6192°F while gold is 1947°F. Machining tungsten to shape is also a pain. It is a tough metal.. so tough that it is used as the cutting bit in metal machining equipment.

    If you are going to fill the bars, you would probably use a combination of lead and aluminum (621°F, 3632°F) respectively to get the weight right (aluminum centered within lead, centered within gold). Hollow out gold bar, suspend small aluminum bar within hollowed out segment and fill remainder with lead.

    November 24, 2009 at 11:17 AM #486746
    ucodegen
    Participant

    You wouldn’t use tungsten to ‘salt’ the bars. To much of a pain to work with. You can’t pour molten tungsten into hollowed out gold bars because it would melt the hollowed out gold bar. Melting point of tungsten is 6192°F while gold is 1947°F. Machining tungsten to shape is also a pain. It is a tough metal.. so tough that it is used as the cutting bit in metal machining equipment.

    If you are going to fill the bars, you would probably use a combination of lead and aluminum (621°F, 3632°F) respectively to get the weight right (aluminum centered within lead, centered within gold). Hollow out gold bar, suspend small aluminum bar within hollowed out segment and fill remainder with lead.

    November 24, 2009 at 11:17 AM #486978
    ucodegen
    Participant

    You wouldn’t use tungsten to ‘salt’ the bars. To much of a pain to work with. You can’t pour molten tungsten into hollowed out gold bars because it would melt the hollowed out gold bar. Melting point of tungsten is 6192°F while gold is 1947°F. Machining tungsten to shape is also a pain. It is a tough metal.. so tough that it is used as the cutting bit in metal machining equipment.

    If you are going to fill the bars, you would probably use a combination of lead and aluminum (621°F, 3632°F) respectively to get the weight right (aluminum centered within lead, centered within gold). Hollow out gold bar, suspend small aluminum bar within hollowed out segment and fill remainder with lead.

    November 24, 2009 at 4:22 PM #486227
    Hatfield
    Participant

    I own some GLD, so naturally this thread caught my eye. I googled around for more reputable citations and found this in my travels

    http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-03/how-make-convincing-fake-gold-bars

    So I guess you would cast the tungsten first since it has a higher melting point, then cast the gold around it.

    I’m still not sure what to make of any of this, but any ETF that holds physical gold could potentially be at risk.

    November 24, 2009 at 4:22 PM #486396
    Hatfield
    Participant

    I own some GLD, so naturally this thread caught my eye. I googled around for more reputable citations and found this in my travels

    http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-03/how-make-convincing-fake-gold-bars

    So I guess you would cast the tungsten first since it has a higher melting point, then cast the gold around it.

    I’m still not sure what to make of any of this, but any ETF that holds physical gold could potentially be at risk.

    November 24, 2009 at 4:22 PM #486769
    Hatfield
    Participant

    I own some GLD, so naturally this thread caught my eye. I googled around for more reputable citations and found this in my travels

    http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-03/how-make-convincing-fake-gold-bars

    So I guess you would cast the tungsten first since it has a higher melting point, then cast the gold around it.

    I’m still not sure what to make of any of this, but any ETF that holds physical gold could potentially be at risk.

    November 24, 2009 at 4:22 PM #486856
    Hatfield
    Participant

    I own some GLD, so naturally this thread caught my eye. I googled around for more reputable citations and found this in my travels

    http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-03/how-make-convincing-fake-gold-bars

    So I guess you would cast the tungsten first since it has a higher melting point, then cast the gold around it.

    I’m still not sure what to make of any of this, but any ETF that holds physical gold could potentially be at risk.

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