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Tungsten has a density extremely similar to that of gold (19.25 g/cm³ for tungsten, 19.30 g/cm³ for gold), and is substantially less expensive. And tungsten cou
by pindi 13y ago
Tungsten has a density extremely similar to that of gold (19.25 g/cm³ for tungsten, 19.30 g/cm³ for gold), and is substantially less expensive. And tungsten counterfeiting does happen: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/tungsten-filled-10-oz-gold-bar-found-middle-manhattans-jewelry-district http://www.zerohedge.com/news/tungsten-filled-10-oz-gold-bar...
- jlgreco 13y agoDetectable if you measure density carefully enough (though do people? I don't know). If you did that with plutonium instead (way more expensive than gold obviously, so it would be a silly thing to do) then you could get it as close as you wanted.
- caf 13y agoAs an interesting sidebar, there's a series of photos of some of the scientists on Tinian posing with a small box containing the core of the Fat Man bomb - a 3.5" diameter sphere of Plutonium that was apparently worth at the time the equivalent of about $5 billion dollars. http://nuclearsecrecy.com/blog/2011/11/25/friday-image-posing-with-the-plutonium/ http://nuclearsecrecy.com/blog/2011/11/25/friday-image-posin...
- pindi 13y agoIt's certainly detectable with precise instruments, but it's not practical to test each and every bit of gold one acquires so thoroughly. Hence the opportunity for counterfeit gold that passes casual inspection and weighs about the right amount.