Protecting Investors from Tungsten Gold Bars
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Protecting Investors from Tungsten Gold Bars Richmond Hill, Ontario, September 20, 2012 – Earlier this week in New York City, a new type of counterfeit gold bar surfaced. Instead of being a typical gold plated counterfeit which is easy to detect by professionals, these were genuine recognized bars which had been expertly hollowed out and filled with a slab of tungsten. The bars contained about 2 ounces of gold and 8 ounces of tungsten. Since tungsten has a density very close to that of gold, the weight and appearance of these bars did not suggest that they were counterfeit or tampered with. While traditional wisdom for protecting investors has always been to buy from a reputable dealer, these bars had in fact passed the scrutiny of reputable dealers and were then innocently resold to other investors. Some investors today are reacting with fear that physical gold can no longer be bought and sold with confidence. This reaction may be appropriate if old methods of checking the authenticity of a bar continue to be used, but this is more likely to result in changes being made by the leading gold dealers in how they verify what they buy and sell. Gold has been a secure store of value for over 5000 years, and remains today as an important component of most investment portfolios. Counterfeiting of gold objects, coins and bars has an equally long history, with a progressive contest between fraudsters and detection equipment. In the Victorian era, most merchants would have a “Sovereign scale” to check the weight of the British one pound gold coins. Through the past few years, dealers have been using precise scales, density tests, acid tests and x-ray spectrometers to verify gold coins and bars. It seems that with the possibility of these new tungsten filled bars appearing, the dealers’ level of due diligence to verify gold products will need to be increased. Leading dealers will now be checking gold bars much more carefully for any signs of tampering. Weights and densities will be checked for even the smallest variation from the standard. Damaged or suspect bars will be melted down and transformed into new products. High level electric conductivity tests will be added to check for multiple metals in bars. With an increased attention to the need to verify the integrity of products bought and sold, major bullion dealers will continue to be able to protect themselves and their clients. For individual investors, there are several things that can be done to be able to buy gold with complete confidence. 1. Buy only from a reputable dealer who will ensure the products are exactly what they should be, and will guarantee their authenticity. 2. Buy new recognized products from a first level distributor. New bullion products from the Royal Canadian Mint and The Perth Mint can be purchased from Canadian PMX in metro Toronto, or online at CanadianPMX.com. 10355 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill, ON L4C 3C1 | 1-888-291-1000 | www.canadianpmx.com 3. Consider buying 1 ounce coins or bars, even if you are purchasing a much larger number of ounces. These have never yet been successfully counterfeited at the right weight and size, and it would be much more difficult (and less profitable) for a counterfeiter to fill these with tungsten. 4. Consider products with tamper proof packaging, such as the tamper-proof packaging used by the Perth Mint for its gold bar products. Gold and silver continue to provide security in times of economic uncertainty, and have provided returns about 7 times greater than the stock market over the past 10 years. New types of fake gold bars should not interfere with the object of choosing the best investment products for your portfolio. Source: Steven Bromberg, President & CEO, Canadian PMX Corp. For further information, please contact: Steven Bromberg Dennis Pike President & CEO, Canadian PMX Corp. Chief Operating Officer, Canadian PMX Corp. 905-787-1700 905-787-1700 [email protected] [email protected] 10355 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill, ON L4C 3C1 | 1-888-291-1000 | www.canadianpmx.com .