999 Gold Coins Rust

[jeff of pa]

Not sure what the most intresting part of this story is.

The rust or where this
commercial precious metal trading company
Stored it's coins.

as everyone knows from elementary chemistry courses, gold is the most inert metal in the world - it does not rust, nor corrode. Yet this is precisely what Russian commercial precious metal trading company, International Reserve Payment System, discovered on thousands of (allegedly) 999 gold coins "St George" (pictured insert) issued by the Central Russian Bank. The serendipitous discovery occurred after various clients of the company had requested that their gold be stored not in a safe, but in a far more secure place: "buried under an oak tree."

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/rus...999-gold-coins

[waterfalljay]

Wow! I don't even know which part of that article scares me the most!

[DigginThePast]

Well, it could be a similar case to that of the not so long ago discovered gold plated tungsten. Could also be that a contaminant adhered to the surface of the gold coin and it caused the "rust". They only show the one pic and made no mention of whether they tried to clean the coins.

[jeff of pa]

Well, it could be a similar case to that of the not so long ago discovered gold plated tungsten. Could also be that a contaminant adhered to the surface of the gold coin and it caused the "rust". They only show the one pic and made no mention of whether they tried to clean the coins.

I always thought if gold was inside iron &
the iron rusted the gold could stain,
but they are saying not

[DigginThePast]

Well, it could be a similar case to that of the not so long ago discovered gold plated tungsten. Could also be that a contaminant adhered to the surface of the gold coin and it caused the "rust". They only show the one pic and made no mention of whether they tried to clean the coins.

I always thought if gold was inside iron &
the iron rusted the gold could stain,
but they are saying not

I too believe that to be correct. The staining can easily be removed. Their reaction to it causes me to think that there may be something more nefarious going on.

[mr_larry]

Has anyone heard any follow-up to this story? I would think someone would have cut one of the coins in half and tested the purity of the gold. If the Bank of Russia is diluting the gold, wouldn't this be a huge international scandal?

[Ju8vP3t]

Gold Doesn't Rust