Three generations have cherished the "heirloom" as a gold ingot, but it turns out to be a copper ingot.
The Provincial Gold and Jewelry Testing Center: Nine out of ten "gold ingots" brought in for testing are fake.
"Is this 'gold ingot' actually a copper ingot?" asked Mr. Wang Huaqing, a seventy-year-old man, as he sought the evaluation of his family heirloom at the Guizhou Provincial Gold and Jewelry Testing Center. After receiving the results, Mr. Wang was reluctant to believe that his cherished heirloom was merely a gilded copper ingot, a fact confirmed by the center's director.
According to Mr. Wang, his grandfather had passed down two "gold ingots" to the family, which they had carefully preserved over the years. Believing them to be valuable antiques, the family treated them as precious treasures. However, due to urgent financial needs, Mr. Wang decided to bring the "gold ingots" to the market during a visit to his hospitalized younger brother in Guiyang. To his surprise, vendors offered only a few hundred yuan, an astonishingly low price. This prompted him to seek professional appraisal.
Unexpectedly, after examination by the Provincial Gold and Jewelry Testing Center, the "gold ingot" was identified as a gilded product with a copper core. Director Wang Bing of the center explained that although the weight and volume of the "gold ingot" resembled those of a real one, closer inspection revealed its copper-red color and lighter weight. Director Wang further noted that many such counterfeit gold ingots exist on the market. He warned that about 90% of the gold ingots tested at the center were found to be fake. Many people claim to sell ingots acquired from rural areas, but these are often fraudulent, urging collectors to be vigilant in distinguishing genuine items from fakes.
By reporter Lu Dan