Gold that isn't gold ? 0

[RWB]

Was this magical metal the precursor to "Tupperware?"

Salesville,  [Ed – now known as “Gallatin Gateway.”]

Gallatin Co., Mont.

 April 23, 1900

 Hon. Lyman Gage [sic]

Secretary of the Treasury

 Sir:

            There is reason to believe that the government is coining a metal for gold that may not be gold. I refer to the Alaska product, or at least to a part of it. This metal has been mined, sold and, coined in good faith. It will stand all of the mint tests; but by a combination of accidental circumstances that probably would never occur again, a test was discovered that it will not stand.

            As this metal can be produced artificially at a profit, I wish to know if there is any objection, either legal or moral, to manufacturing it and selling it to the government.

            This communication is confidential. If the information it contains should become generally know, the consequences would be unpleasant, United States coins would be discredited, mines and transportation companies would suffer loss, and in commercial circles the effect would be injurious. Of course you are at full liberty to consult with the official and experts of the mints. There are some peculiarities about the metal mentioned that must have been noticed at the mints, one of which is, that on being re-melted it looses [sic] in weight without gaining in fineness.

            Please send your answer in the enclosed envelope, as an official envelope would attract attention and it might possibly be tampered with.

            Very respectfully,

            Gordon D. Tupper

Edited January 28, 2020 by RWB

[kbbpll]

Maybe "Gordonware" was the second option for naming it. You could post this verbatim to a coin forum today and it would hardly be distinguishable from any other loony post. I especially like the part about the secret envelope.

[Just Bob]

4 hours ago, kbbpll said:

. You could post this verbatim to a coin forum today and it would hardly be distinguishable from any other loony post. I especially like the part about the secret envelope.

I was thinking the same thing. It sounds like some of our past (and current) members.

[RWB]

FYI I came across a Treasury Dept envelope - empty - with the word "Crank" written on it. I wonder what the letter said?

[Moxie15]

It is true! They were able to fool everyone with their fake gold for decades. 

In 1932 one of the conspirators was arrested by the Missouri State Police and charged with fraud for attempting to sell 'manufactured lead'. The 'lead' would crumble to dust when the ambient temperature dropped below 37 degrees below zero.  In a plea deal he gave up his fellow conspirators in the fake gold scheme. The Police contacted the Army as three of the suspects were Russian Communists and one was a German national.

The Army took the suspect from the State Police and informed them it was an army matter and to let the deal with it. It is very difficult to follow the case from this point but the freedom of information act has released several heavily redacted documents concerning the case. It has been determined that the conspirators were tortured under very un-American circumstances in a foreign country. The information learned was sent to the white house resulting in in the June 1933 removal of the gold standard in the gold confiscation that followed.

The prisoners were never tried in public court or held in civilian jails. They were held in the brig of the battleship USS Arizona, and were known to be aboard the ship on 12/7/41. This is the reason that the US Government allowed Japan to bomb Pearl Harbor. There were explosive placed in the ship during the last re-fitment to make certain that they did not escape...

 

If you believe any of this I will introduce you to a woman I knew a few years ago who swore the Pearl Harbor part and had a conspiracy theory for everything.