The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 34, August 5, 2005, Article 17

LET THE EVIDENCE SPEAK

Fred Holabird writes: "I was forwarded the comments in
last week's E-Sylum regarding ingots.

As a thirty year member of the mining industry, I have dealt
first hand with tens of thousands of precious metal ingots,
many historical, and had the good fortune to observe first
hand many of the collections still in the original mining families
today.

Every collecting discipline has frauds and fakes, particularly
when cash money is at stake. Ingots are no different. I have
spent considerable time in an effort to educate the public about
historical ingots, much of it published in Coin World or the
Numismatist. I have also presented serious scientific papers
at such prestigious forums as the American Academy of
Forensic Science annual meeting. In fact, an Associated
Press story on some of our work was published yesterday
in many newspapers in America.

I have a simple rule: let science and history direct us to the
authenticity of an ingot, or to any precious metal artifact for
that matter. We did not possess the technology seven or
ten years ago that we have developed today. One needs to
keep an open mind and let the science do the talking.

I have had many discussions with Mr. Buttrey, Hodder and
Kleeberg. All have significant points that need addressing,
particularly with some ingots that I have never seen or analyzed.
But scientific analyses costs money. To date, no one has
forwarded me, or any of my colleagues, for professional
analysis many (or any) of the seriously questioned bars, such
as Hoard, Star, or the "Mexican" pieces. [Another author
has addressed many of the Mexican bar issues recently.]

Dave Fitch and I are working on another paper to present
our latest research, some of which was presented at the ANA
summer seminar, as well as at the AAFS annual meeting in
Dallas last year.

[The article Fred mentions was published by the Salt Lake
Tribune and other newspapers. Here's an excerpt:

"Experts now are able to identify atomic components that can
trace metals to their mining district of origin, providing a sort
of DNA fingerprint. Combined with an unprecedented historical
record recovered from the ocean floor, the process is generating
excitement among numismatists - coin collectors - and hobbyists,
who say it could help expose disguised worthless trinkets and
validate the authenticity of others.

''There have been some exceptionally rare pieces questioned
for a long time,'' said Beth Deisher, editor of Coin World magazine.
''If there is a process by which we can determine without question
the origin of the gold, it could be a definite statement as to
whether the pieces are real or fake.''

To read the full story, see: Full Story
-Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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