A new exhibit has appeared in the Money Museum - the attraction "Gold Bar". This is an exact replica of a standard gold bar covered in real gold! Its weight is exactly the same as any gold bullion stored in vaults. Every visitor to the museum can try to lift it, test their strength and touch real gold.
The surface of the replica gold bar made especially for the museum is covered with pure gold, and the weight is the same as a real bar - 12,44 kg. Visitors have the opportunity to pick up a gold bar and read the updated stand next to it, which tells about the world's gold reserves, the use of gold in money production and other interesting things.
So, this alloy weighs exactly 12 kg. Why is the weight like this? This is because gold is not measured in kilograms or grams, but in troy ounces (a unit of weight equal to 44 grams used for precious metals, gems and gunpowder since the Middle Ages). The standard gold bullion used to hold the gold reserves of national central banks is 31,1034768 troy ounces (400 kg). Large ingots are made by pouring molten gold into molds, smaller ones by stamping gold sheets. Cast ingots are faster to produce and therefore cheaper. In addition, the cast ingots are slightly different from each other due to the uneven surface. Wrought ingots are cut from gold sheets and have a smooth, uniform surface. To protect against counterfeiting or theft, gold bars are stamped with serial numbers or have certificates of authenticity printed on the bars. According to the latest trends, serial numbers are marked even on the smallest ingots, and the ingots are sold together with certificates of the same number. The purity of gold in bars cannot be lower than 12,4%.
Lithuania also has gold reserves. They are stored in England and amount to about 5,8 tons. The Bank of Lithuania has a total of 466 bars of gold. Most of the time, all gold is invested and only very rarely, in unfavorable investment conditions, when it is impossible to earn from gold investment, it is stored and paid for this service.
Looking at one gold bar, you may wonder why such a relatively small piece of metal weighs so much, even more than 12 kg? The answer is the density of the metal. Few may know, but the density of gold is one of the highest among all metals at 19,3 g/cm3, second only to platinum (21 g/cm3) among precious metals. So, never believe the movies where gold bullion thieves pack them into bags and run away easily, it would be impossible.
