I'm suspicious of tungsten gold bar stories. This story on fake bars in Vietnam confirms my suspicion.
It say that reports of fake bars caused a 50% drop in gold turnover, which reduced fiat inflation as it reduced the use of, and holding of, gold as money. As the story notes, previously "government agencies had to apply a lot of measures to stabilize the market. The State Bank of Vietnam had strenuously resisted with the criticism from the public when it was compiling the government decree [ie restrictions] on bullion gold trade."
Convenient. Remember this play book when you start to see stories about fake bars coinciding with high inflation/mass interest in precious metals.
in yet another ironic twist, i get the distinct impression that gold bugs would incorrectly think that it was BULLISH of there were fake bars discovered - as that means there's even less real gold! of course, it also shakes the confidence of those holding and seeking to hold gold.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea of the price of Tungsten now or in the future, but interesting contemporary fake Victorian sovereigns were made and distributed by the Spanish. They were gold-coated platinum.
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