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Tungsten-Filled Gold Bar Found in U.K. — Here’s Why You Should be Worried

Mar. 26, 2012 1:30pm Becket Adams

Here’s an unsettling story out of the U.K.:

Last week, the gold dealer ABC Bullion received an email from one of its refinery partners warning them about a Metalor 1000gm Au bar that had been drilled out and filled with Tungsten.

“This bar was purchased by staff of a scrap dealer in [the] UK,” the email states.

“The bar appeared to be perfect other than the fact that it was 2gms underweight…The owner of the business that purchased the bar only became suspicious when he realized the weight discrepancy and had the bar cropped. He estimates between 30-40% of the weight of the bar to be Tungsten.”

With the price of gold skyrocketing, should we expect to see an increase in these types of gimmicks? Probably.

In fact, as the writers at Zero Hedge point out, this is the second time in two years this sort of thing has happened.

“The last time a story of Tungsten-filled gold appeared on the scene was just two years ago, and involved a 500 gram bar of gold full of tungsten, at the W.C. Heraeus foundry, the world’s largest metal refiner and fabricator,” the Hedge reports.

“So two documented incidents in two years: isolated? Or indication of the same phenomenon of precious metal debasement that marked the declining phase of the Roman empire.”

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Comments (218)

mbean
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 6:07pm
I prefer Gold Pressed Latinum.

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South Philly Boy
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 6:01pm
I have always said… If you want to buy gold, buy US Gold Coins.

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Aerocog
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 6:00pm
It means the gold has been used to pay off people and they have to bloat supplies in order to maintain a superficial appearance of wealth.

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Mike N
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 5:50pm
Looks like there’ll be newfound demand for tungsten . . . better buy contracts while it’s still affordable!

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Lover of America
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 5:41pm
You know what is worse than reading through a comment that is difficult to read, is the fact that you people take the time to point out that someone has misspelled a word. For crying out loud, leave it alone and move on.

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LibertyGoddess
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 5:15pm
I bought an additional 5,000 lbs of wheat to barter with. Most people will want food over gold someday…just my insight.

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nelan72
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 4:57pm
You know that someone was just trying to find out where all the chocolate has gone.

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wordweaver
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 4:52pm
Sounds like buying 24K gold coins would be the best way to go and avoid the ingots. Bound to be a safer plan.

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Fantastic Four
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 4:50pm
The O’bama gold that backs up his O’bama bucks to buy votes

Kinda like food stamps instead of REAL money

either way your getting FOOLED……

and his grace says he deserves another 4 years?………..how 25 to life no parole

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TexBork
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 4:48pm
I buy silver coins. I really can’t get into gold at the moment, but the silver is actually performing very well also.

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Captain Crunch
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 4:30pm
Hey Glenn….better check your stash. Obama has a drill press.

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father_of_10
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 4:15pm
Check this out: I know this guy that is quitting his managing sales job a a large new car dealership, where he told me he made about $120K last year, to move to southern CA to go into the “buying scrap gold in home parties” business. Is he foolish or is he going to make a ton of moolah?

I hated communists even before they started calling themselves liberals.
http://fatherof10.com

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father_of_10
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 4:11pm
I have some gold in 1 oz. coins, Maple Leafs and Krugs. But certainly my entire portfolio nor my emergency fund is all based on gold. Smart people have a diversity of objects that have intrinsic value as well as some that have extrinsic value, like gold and silver. A bullet has value because it has defninite purpose. a loaf of bread has value because it has nutrition. Gold’s omly value is what people think it can be traded for. If I havet o go out and soot my supper, gold isn’t going to help much. If I lose my job and the economy is rolling along like it is now, gold can ehlp me buy food and gas.

I hated communists even before they started calling themselves liberals.
http://fatherof10.com

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mjs6029
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 3:47pm
Gold is another balloon soon to burst. Gold is only worth what someone else will pay you for it. It doesn’t really have any value at all. If two people were left on earth and one had one ton of gold and the other one ton of wheat. Who do you think will survive? I can eat the wheat and the guy with the gold will give it all to me for a pound of wheat. I wouldn’t give him any and watch him starve to death. Then I’ll have both. You can’t eat gold. In a crisis, you can have all the gold in the world, but if no one wants it your totally screwed. Invest in food and weapons to protect your food and you’ll survive.

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jakartaman
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 3:40pm
Silver is the play
and silver eagles are the best play – hard to copy!

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rfycom
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 3:26pm
Wait a minute. I bet money that guy Dakota Fred from Gold Rush is behind this.

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rfycom
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 3:25pm
Nah, don’t bother me down here on the pig farm. If I was in the gold buying or selling business I would make sure what I had was the real thing. We make sure everything we buy here on the farm is what we paid for. Of course we simple down here. You thirsty? I am. Beer time.

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hatchetjob
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 3:24pm
I’m glad I didn’t get involved with gold.

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barber2
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 3:22pm
Not to worry. Obama will appoint a Gold Czar and some regulars !

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- barber2
  Posted on March 26, 2012 at 3:22pm
  oops. that should be “regulators”….
  
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- riseandshine
  Posted on March 26, 2012 at 3:25pm
  You did all right…the regular socialists.
  
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drugbunny
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 3:18pm
Huh, did you know that China owns most of the Tungston in the world?

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) – Used in everything from light bulbs to
bullets, tungsten is a metal that’s all but monopolized by China, which
produces about 85% of the world’s supply — leaving the U.S. at a handicap.

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SmarterThanTheAverageBear
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 3:12pm
I wouldn’t be too worried about this as it’s still very difficult to fake gold bars. The reason they use tungsten is that the density is very close to that of gold. Lead is about 70% lighter and would be a clear give away. The problem with tungsten is that it’s hard to work with as it has one of the highest melting temperatures of any metal (over 3400C). There are sophisticated tests that can determine the presence of tungsten. Most investors are best served by purchasing smaller coins from reputable mints. It is very difficult to fake 1/10, 1/4, 1/2, 1nd 1oz gold coins. Know what you’re buying, have a good scale and pair of calipers, plus know what real gold looks like and you will have little to worry about. The gold I would worry about are all the paper shares outstanding plus all the banks claiming to own something they may not have.

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- chazmo
  Posted on March 26, 2012 at 5:13pm
  YES!!! Finally someone that has a clue..
  
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- JP4JOY
  Posted on March 26, 2012 at 6:20pm
  During the Clinton Era our government ordered 15,000 tungsten bars milled to 1/4 inch less outside dimensions than an equivalent 400 oz gold bar. Those are the same as you would have found in Ft. Knox. In Singapore they discovered an amount (undisclosed) of gold bars plated with 22 carat gold (same grade as the melted US $20 gold pieces used to make the bars at Ft. Knox) a couple of years ago. Nixon closed the Gold Window in 1971 probably due to not having any gold left at Ft. Knox. No one of outside influence has been allowed into Ft. Knox since 1954. No outside audit has been done nor has a tour (Senators or Congressmen) been made available. There is a coverup being perpetrated here for some reason. Stay tuned.
  
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- chips1
  Posted on March 26, 2012 at 9:11pm
  I heard years ago that Ft. Knox isn’t where they keep the gold. I heard it was in N.Y. underground. Rumors everywhere. Don’t believe very much anymore.
  
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Meyvn
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 3:06pm
Piss on gold.

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- hatchetjob
  Posted on March 26, 2012 at 3:25pm
  Amen!
  
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KidCharlemagne
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 3:00pm
We’ll probably see another Executive Order 6102 before it’s all over with:

——————————-
“Executive Order 6102 is an Executive Order signed on April 5, 1933, by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt “forbidding the Hoarding of Gold Coin, Gold Bullion, and Gold Certificates within the continental United States”. The order criminalized the possession of monetary gold by any individual, partnership, association or corporation.

Executive Order 6102 required U.S. citizens to deliver on or before May 1, 1933, all but a small amount of gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates owned by them to the Federal Reserve, in exchange for $20.67 (equivalent to $371.10 today) per troy ounce. Under the Trading With the Enemy Act of October 6, 1917, as amended on March 9, 1933, violation of the order was punishable by fine up to $10,000 ($167,700 if adjusted for inflation as of 2010) or up to ten years in prison, or both. Most citizens who owned large amounts of gold had it transferred to countries such as Switzerland.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102

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garylee123
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 2:59pm
This is why US coins have ridges. They keep people from “shaving” the coin and making it underweight.

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- chips1
  Posted on March 26, 2012 at 9:15pm
  Ruffles have ridges. Are they trying to stop people from making fake Potato chips?
  
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kegbuna
Posted on March 26, 2012 at 2:55pm
Here’s why you should be worried: The coming caliphate race war civil war food shortages buy seeds horde gold Obama the Marxist is taking your guns the Roman Empire fell drone technology. panic panic panic

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- paleoman
  Posted on March 26, 2012 at 4:39pm
  kegbunny, I see nothing bothers you, no fear at all, I wish I was half the man you are. I’ve been preparing for 3 1/2 years, now I’ve even picked it up a notch. Just one question for you does you mommy pay for that keg of beer & does she tote it down to the basement for you.
  
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- chazmo
  Posted on March 26, 2012 at 5:15pm
  that’s right, and… ? Can you deny any of this??
  
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- kegbuna
  Posted on March 28, 2012 at 9:33pm
  Not sure if the keg reference came from my username but no that’s not where my name comes from.
  
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