How A Manhattan Jeweler Wound Up With Gold Bars Filled With Tungsten

09-20-2012 • http://www.businessinsider.com, Rob Wile

In other words, a gold bar was filled with a much cheaper metal to defraud buyers. An ounce of gold is worth $1,766, while an ounce of Tungsten is worth about $360.

An alarmed, if skeptical, post from Felix Salmon first drew attention to it.

A more breathless take from ZeroHedge, referring to another alleged incident in 2010, sent conspiracy theorists into a frenzy:

So two documented incidents in two years: isolated? Or indication of the same phenomenon of precious metal debasement that marked the declining phase of the Roman empire.

Both the 2010 and March cases were subsequently debunked by the Perth Mint in Australia.

But in no way has that ended speculation of a vast conspiracy that the world's gold supplies are being debased by filling gold ingots with tungsten.

A gold dealer in Manhattan's Diamond District on 47th Street discovered last week that an evidently certified gold bar was in fact more than 75 percent Tungsten.

Today we decided to follow up.

Ibrahim Fadl came to New York from Egypt in the mid-70s to earn a Masters in chemical engineering from Columbia University.