An artist hid five, £1,000 small gold objects around Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire. If you find these valuable pieces? They’re yours…

It’s not as easy as just finding these objects and cashing in, however. You will have decode encrypted messages starting with five paintings at the local arts centre and the encrypted codes within.
“I like the idea that ancient objects that were once hidden beneath the earth and were discovered and displayed at the museum are now being rehidden,” said designer Luke Jerram. “I hope the public will enjoy visiting 20-21 Arts Centre and exploring the town and surrounding countryside.”

He added: “There’s a real mixture including one that could be solved by a child, others that could be deciphered by the average person and more challenging puzzles for mathematicians or code-breaking enthusiasts to try their hand at. One of the puzzles may take some months or even years to solve, if indeed it is ever cracked.”

Mathematician and professional code-setter Dan Fretwell encoded the artwork.

Code crackers lined up at the 20-21 Visual Arts Centre located in Church Square, United Kingdom.

“There is no way I could crack the most difficult one, I could certainly crack probably two or three of the paintings,” Jerram said to the BBC. “Some are really easy to decode, whereas the most complicated painting, it would take maybe a month for someone to perhaps work it out.”

Some of the codes could take months to decode. The five objects cast in gold are based upon items seen in the North Lincolnshire Museum.

The Treasured City exhibition runs through April 29.

Gold refineries in Switzerland sent a record amount of gold to Shanghai last December, and Russia is buying gold in droves as well, as the United States experiences a time of tumultuous politics and the european banking system is reported to be on the verge of collapse.

Figures released at the end of January by Federal Customs Administrations showed that Switzerland, a world leader in gold production, sent 158 tonnes of gold to China, a five time increase over November’s sum and nearly three times the volume in December 2015. Read More

“To the moon!” That’s the cliche slogan for so many digital currencies, perhaps made most famous not by Bitcoin, but by , whose users since the beginning have proudly proclaimed the slogan. Read More

YouTube channel Crushit recently crushed a gold bar worth nearly $40,000 provided gold company Baird & Co.  Check out the cascading of gold that doing so produced. 

Many individuals claim that gold is a good investment. They usually cite economic uncertainty as a reason for owning gold, which is seen by mainstream investing knowledge as a ‘safehaven’ to protect one’s wealth in times of economic crisis.

But, the YouTube channel Crushit doesn’t really care about savings. They care about views. The video got nearly ten million views in just a few days. 

The 1 kilo or 32 troy ounce gold bar puts on a show demonstrating golds malleability along the way. 

“This will be by far the most expensive crush we’ve done yet here on Crushit,” the host says.

Gold bar came sealed in plastic with corresponding serial number. The bar isn’t huge. More like  aperp weight. “Wow it is really heavy for its size of course its one of the most densest and expensive if you drill a hole through it,” he says. “…The things I could buy with this.” The gold acts similar to liquid as its smashed. 

The hydraulic press indeed has its way with the gold.

“Wow,” the host says, “just look at that it looks like a gold nugget so cool…

The gold wasn’t destroyed, to be sure. Intead, it could easily be sold for face value or melted again into new bullion product. Sure, something was spent on the totally cool experiment, but not $40,000. Whatever it was, it was totally worth it (for Crushit and the viewers, at least).

The Royal Mint partnered with markets operator CME Group to build a gold market with blockchain technology as a means of broadening London’s hip-factor when buying and selling gold bullion.

The Roya Mint, owned by taxpayers, plans to accept trades from the middle of next year on the Royal Mint Gold platform, intended to log each transaction using blockchain. Read More

Islamic Institutions, which follow guidelines issued by a Bahrain based group, now have a new sharia standard for gold-based products so as to incorporate bullion into Islamic finance.

Gold has long been seen as currency in Islamic finance. Investors, however, have yet to speculate on its future value since no clear policy on how to trade gold. Read More

Adolf Hitler’s lost gold has been found, according to a British diver in the  Baltic sea. The ocean explorer’s claims he found gold the Nazi’s stole as they ransacked Europe during World War II horrors.

The discovery is reported to approximate £100 million, has been sought by treasure seekers time-and-time again never to be found…until now. Read More

A weak Australian Dollar has led gold miners there to dig deep, according to quarterly production figures.

In the third quarter, the second largest gold miner after China, Australian output increased 3 percent or 2 tonnes (64,301 troy ounces) to 75 tonnes over the same period from the year prior. This despite heavy rainfall which flooded some pits and derailed operations, according to Melbourne-based Surbiton Associates. Read More

Trump’s 24k vodka might now be defunct, but its demonstrative of the President’s love for the yellow metal, and a big reason why the goldbug community supported the businessman for President. The vodka bottle even looks like a gold brick.

Donald Trump predicted back in 2006 it’d be America’s favorite vodka. Read More

Is India thinking about banning gold imports?

That could be as the trade body Indian Bullion & Jewellers Association (IBJA) informed its 2500 members through text that the government is considering a ban on gold imports into the country per part of a larger crackdown on black money. Read More

The U.S. moved Monday to block gold mining outside of Yellowstone National Park, and the Obama Administration is seeking to keep industry out of natural and environmentally sensitive areas. 

Mining claims on 30,370 acres to the north of Yellowstone would be prohibited for at least two years. A long-term ban is being considered, according to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on a visit to Montana’s Paradise Valley, according to The Missoulian. Last week interior officials blocked new oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean, and cancelled 25 oil and gas leases in west Colorado, as well as 15 in northwestern Montana. Read More

Capital controls often lead people to alternative assets, and it seems India’s decision to phase out 500 notes and 1000 notes is doing just that as India’s jewelry stores were left with empty shelves as gold demand spikes in the region.

Many people came in and cleaned up the shelves with the big notes, but by Tuesday they had disappeared and now a thaw has taken hold over the gold market. There’s panic in India.

People must endure long bank lines to exchange or deposit old currency notes after the government’s demonetization plan to undermine countefeiters and Indians with undeclared income stashed away. 1/4 of India’s economy is on the black market, according to the Finance Ministry, and not many Indians pay income taxes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks to end corruption. He says the move is a fight for the “honest” citizens against those with “cash lying under the mattresses and in the sacks of the corrupt.” He wants to steer the country, which is historically cash centric, towards bank accounts and digital payments.

“The people who have their vaults can shake governments. They are very powerful people. Should I be scared of such people?” Modi said at a rally Monday in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

“No!” the crowd roared back.

“I have your blessings. That is why I have taken on such a big fight,” Modi said.

Half of the citizens in India are said to use cash, and the decision has caused great concern for these individuals. ATMs are short on cash and who knows how long until they can be reconfigured.

“Parents cracked open their piggy banks, the sick deferred medical procedures, and others struggled to find ways to pay tea sellers, auto rickshaw driver and vegetable merchants who take cash only,” according to the Washington Post. “Civic offices, hospitals and gas stations were instructed to accept the old currency but this edict has not always been followed, resulting in some panic, fistfights and even sporadic reports of looting.”

Thus, few are buying gold. Some jewelers were raided. They were suspected of accepting the old currency and issuing forged receipts. Some shops didn’t open, fearing raids.

Jewelers believe in a few months, sales will continue once more. Gold imports will likely have fallen on the year after posting more than 900 tons last year.

The government added new excise duty on gold in recent years, and last spring a 42-day jewelers’ strike added to the issues in the gold market.

What if the  Gold Sovereigns you were looking to buy had been up someone’s bum?

The Royal Mint has been known for beautiful gold and silver bullion products at the national mint level. Their Britannia is not so common in the US, but is in Europe and, of course, the United Kingdom.

Read More

Markets did not know what to do after election results poured in, although many markets had been pricing in a possible Trump victory for about one month prior to the election, as polls were too close to call and also the accuracy of many mainstream polls were thrown into question.

Gold futures fell precipitously Friday, their lowest finish since June, thanks to strength in the U.S. dollars and equities. The Federal Reserve, according to many analysts, might increase interest rates next month. The main reason for precious metals decline is similar to why global currencies have fallen: the strength of the dollar. Read More

Marijuana for medical purposes? President-elect Donald J. Trump is for it. Helping people when they come to the US asking for help? “Absolutely,” he says, with a caveat: “People have to come into the country legally.” Man buns he admits have “never been my thing.” 

As for bringing back the gold standard, the global economy order until World War II, President-elect Trump thinks it will be hard but is open-minded.

“Bringing back the gold standard would be very hard to do, but boy would it be wonderful,” he said. “We’d have a standard on which to base our money.” Read More