# Gold Bar Certified By Royal Canadian Mint Exposed As Fake



## LastOutlaw (Jun 1, 2013)

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-...ar-certified-royal-canadian-mint-exposed-fake

*"This Could Be Huge": Gold Bar Certified By Royal Canadian Mint Exposed As Fake*

The last time there was a widespread physical gold counterfeiting scare was in the summer of 2012 when as we reported the discovery of a single 10 oz Tungsten-filled gold bar in Manhattan's jewelry district led to a panic among the dealer community, which then resulted in local jewelry outlets discovering at least ten more fake 10-ounce "gold bars" filled with Tungsten. Fast forward to today when a similar instance of gold counterfeiting has been discovered, this time in Canada, and where the fake bar in question had been "certified" by the highest possible authority.

According to CBC, the Royal Canadian Mint is investigating how a sealed, "pure gold" wafer with proper mint stampings has emerged as a fake. According to the Canadian press, the one-ounce gold piece, which was supposed to be 99.99% pure, was purchased by an Ottawa jeweller on Oct. 18 at a Royal Bank of Canada branch. The problem emerged when *tests of the bar showed it may contain no gold at all.* And, when neither the mint nor RBC would take the bar back, jeweler Samuel Tang contacted CBC news.

_
Joy Creations owner Samuel Tang contacted CBC News when neither RBC nor the _
_mint would take back the one-ounce gold piece he'd purchased_

"Who is going to make sure those [gold wafers] are real?" asked Tang. "I am worried there are more of those [gold wafers] out there, and no one knows."

Following the news, RBC felt an obligation to pick up the bar and returned it to the mint for testing, refunding Tang the $1,680 purchase price.

The Royal Canadian Mint said in a statement to CBC it is in process of testing the bar, "*although the appearance of the wafer and its packaging already suggests that it is not a genuine Royal Canadian Mint product*."

_
Samuel Tang purchased what he thought was a one-ounce bar of 99.9999% _
_pure, Royal Canadian Mint gold from a Royal Bank branch_

Questions about the fake bar's origins aside, a more immediate concerns is that, just like in 2012, if there is one fake bar, there are likely many more. William Rentz, a professor at the University of Ottawa's Telfer School of Management and an expert on investments and equity, says the discovery is "troubling."

*"A currency counterfeiter doesn't make just one fake $50 bill," he said. "They make a whole lot of them. So I would suspect this might just be the tip of the iceberg." *

While the RCMP said they are aware of the incident, no formal complaint has yet been made.

* * *

As CBC details, the mystery of the fake gold began on Oct. 18, when Tang purchased what he thought was a 99.99% pure gold wafer from an RBC branch just across the road from his Glebe-area boutique, Joy Creations.

He carried the business-card-sized bar, still sealed in its Royal Canadian Mint blister-pack, back to his shop.

His goldsmith, Dennis Barnard, said he cut open the plastic mint packing and placed the one-ounce wafer in a hand-cranked jeweller's tableting mill.

"I thought my age was catching up with me - because it was so hard to roll," said Barnard

Once doubts emerged about the integrity of the gold bar, Barnard tried bending the wafer, as pure gold is usually pliable and can be bent easily. Instead, the goldsmith said the wafer snapped, leaving a jagged line.

_
Goldsmith Dennis Barnard subjected the bar to an acid test after he found _
_he wasn't strong enough to roll the metal flat in his jewellers' mill_

"That's when I started realizing something is amiss," said Barnard, who then proceeded to test the gold himself, using an acid testing kit. In an acid test, the jeweller rubs a streak of the metal across an abrasive test stone. Then, a drop of pre-mixed acid is added to the center of the streak.

If the metal streak changes colour or disappears, then the metal is less than the karat of the test acid. Gold of 99% purity is considered to be equal to 24-karat gold. But the bar from RBC failed a test that gold of 18-karat or higher purity would pass.









_A metal streak from a counterfeit gold bar, right, dissolved in acid, failing a test of purity_

That's when Tang contacted RBC.

*"This could be huge. There could be quite a few people out there who've been rolled over," *said Barnard.

The news turned from bad to worse when CBC took the same bar to Ernest Marbar, owner of the Gold Lobby, an Ottawa buyer of precious metals. Marbar also found the bar failed an acid test for 14-karat gold. His conclusion: *"The bar that came from that package is a piece of junk*" the gold expert said, adding that the "million-dollar question" is "*how it ended up in that plastic case.*"









_Ernest Marbar, owner of the Gold Lobby, an Ottawa buyer of precious metals, _
_dismissed the wafer as 'a piece of junk_

Back at Joy Creations, goldsmith Barnard said his concern wasn't with goldsmiths being duped, it's with end buyers of the product who assume the purity and quality of the mint-endorsed purchases are sacrosanct: *he and Tang are worried the bogus gold could be widely distributed and difficult to find, since most buyers are investors and leave the metal in the mint's blister-packed cases.*

"Who's going to run around and open their packages, which are sealed by the mint?" asked Barnard. It's a concern echoed by professor Rentz: *"It's a serious problem. If the trust disappears, it could be seize up the market, at least temporarily*."

Ultimately, the onus is on the those who endorsed the fake product - the mint. Rentz said the mint would be motivated to get to the bottom of this case, since the discovery of a counterfeit undermines confidence in their product.

Meanwhile, Tang said last Monday he spoke with the manager of the RBC branch where he purchased the bar. He said the manager was told by a mint dispatcher they were checking security footage, and trying to trace everyone involved in the handling of the bars.

Amusingly, if the swap turns out to be an inside job, it wouldn't be the first time. As we reported at the time, last September, 35-year-old Leston Lawrence was *found guilty of smuggling C$180,000 worth of gold pucks, each the size of a small muffin, in his rectum over several months. *Lawrence worked at the mint from July 2008 until March 2015. The punchline: his job included _*purifying *_gold...


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## musketjim (Dec 7, 2011)

Alarming news. I wouldn't be able to tell. Some of my magazines say to store diamonds, but once again I couldn't tell a diamond from a CZ. On the same note I often wonder about my #10 canned food preps some I use but some are stored, completely random. So far all the cans I've used have been exactly what they are supposed to be but sometimes I wonder. Same thing with heirloom seed cans. This is a good commercial for doing all your own food and seeds. I'll have to work on that.


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## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

There are several YouTube videos about counterfeit Gold bars. Almost all the professional Gold collectors have said to buy Gold bars at your own risk. They did say that Gold coins are much harder to counterfeit.


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## bkt (Oct 10, 2008)

This blew my mind: counterfeit U.S. gold bullion coins. Gotta love the "Warking Liberty" bit, though.

https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...ml?spm=a2700.7724857.main07.58.690f228bpfEQZJ


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## RedBeard (May 8, 2017)

Caribou said:


> alibaba usually deals in commercial quantities and they don't target the individual.
> 
> China is known for producing fake gold.


When i lived in ct the guy i worked would buy shipping containers of mopeds and scooters off alibaba. You can get anything from them as long as its a shipping container full.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

> Following the news, RBC felt an obligation to pick up the bar and returned it to the mint for testing, refunding Tang the $1,680 purchase price.


Shocking. The bank did not give a crap until it hit the news and THEN they felt an obligation. 

If the US was still on the gold standard they would just make up new fake bars whenever they needed to. So perhaps it was some other gov't that is still on the gold standard.


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## LastOutlaw (Jun 1, 2013)

bkt said:


> This blew my mind: counterfeit U.S. gold bullion coins. Gotta love the "Warking Liberty" bit, though.
> 
> https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...ml?spm=a2700.7724857.main07.58.690f228bpfEQZJ


Yes, this is rearry scary. I can't help wonder how many of these are being sold around the US as genuine gold coins. When fake gold is manufactured they use tungsten as the main metal as the weight is very close to the weight of gold. The fake gold bricks that were supposedly sent to china from the Clinton Presidential era were centered with tungsten.


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## bkt (Oct 10, 2008)

In thinking about this more, I suggest we not overlook another possibility: the guy who claimed to buy the fake gold COULD have taken the real gold and substituted the fake stuff. It doesn't seem terribly smart for several reasons, but it's possible. I like to think that's more plausible than sovereign mints scamming Joe Sixpack out of legit metal.


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## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

Notice to the posters that are saying that Gold coins are counterfeit. The OP article is referring to one ounce Gold bars which are easy to counterfeit. Coins are not as easy to counterfeit and were not mentioned in the article.


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## LastOutlaw (Jun 1, 2013)

Tweto, didnt you see this that BKT posted? https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...ml?spm=a2700.7724857.main07.58.690f228bpfEQZJ


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## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

The article says right up front that this is not a solid gold coin. This is a gold plated coin and the really big obviously problem is the $300-$500 asking price. No one would sell a solid gold coin, one ounce for any less then $1300 now.

BTW the coin selling channels sell these every day.

The people selling it are admitting that they are not real.

No one mentioned that the OP said that he paid $1600 for a Gold one ounce bar. That's way over the normal selling price.


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## bkt (Oct 10, 2008)

The point is, alibaba is a supplier to individuals/companies that wish to dupe others into believing those coins are real. The key here is the use of tungsten rather than some other metal: its purpose is to make the weight very close to that of a real gold coin.

The gold-plated silver coins sold as collectibles on TV are a different thing altogether.


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## LastOutlaw (Jun 1, 2013)

Tweto, let me know when you are in the market for some Walking Liberty coins please.


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

Everything that glitters ain't gold,lol. 
Nothing surprises me anymore.


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## VoorTrekker (Oct 7, 2012)

Those alibaba fake coins do not say fake on the coin. In a grid down Mad Max scenario, someone will pass them off as the real thing, so in that case, melt the coins and then acid test the metal.


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## rhrobert (Apr 27, 2009)

RedBeard said:


> When i lived in ct the guy i worked would buy shipping containers of mopeds and scooters off alibaba. You can get anything from them as long as its a shipping container full.


I buy from alibaba and have never needed to buy a shipping container full. it just takes a little longer for a combined container.


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## RedBeard (May 8, 2017)

rhrobert said:


> I buy from alibaba and have never needed to buy a shipping container full. it just takes a little longer for a combined container.


Ya boss man liked buying in bulk so that's just the way we bought from them.


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