Wow. So simple and yet so sneaky. "...peeled off like foil on a candy bar." http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/09/19/new-york-jeweler-duped-into-buying-100g-worth-fake-gold-bars/
You would like to think that. I for one am reminded of those chocolate coins with the gold foil wrapping
PAMP Suisse bars that have serial numbers and certificates are not generally tested with a scratch test and even if a scratch test were done, the gold outer layer was thick enough to give a positive result for gold. In another article there are more images of the bar and, if I recall correctly, the seller had done reputable business in the past, which makes me think the seller might not have known about the bar, either. Of course a 10-ounce bar may be scrutinized more than a 1-ounce bar. The claim of $100K for 40 ounces of gold (four 10-ounce bars) does not make sense to me since gold is around $1,770 per ounce and this would have been just over $70K in gold.
But his insurance claim might very well have been for $100k. Just sayin'... I have a hard time believing someone who has been in the bullion business for a long time, and a chemical engineer to boot, would have bought $100k worth of gold, no matter who it was from, without detecting they were bogus at the time of sale. Tungsten is close to the density of gold, but not exact. I'm sure he has a scale that would have picked up on the difference, especially on 10 oz bars that had so much tungsten in them that they contained significantly more tungsten than gold.
Yes tungsten isn't quite the same density as gold, but a tungsten bar the same size as a 10 oz gold bar would only be .9 grams light. Make it tungsten with a heavy gold layer the same size and the weight will be even closer. (do 10 oz gold bars have a tolerance range?) Combine that with it being a recognized and trusted brand name, and being sold by a trusted dealer that you have purchased good materials from in the past and it is not surprising it was accepted.
