Pretty packaging
Some people will go to quite a bit of trouble to steal a measly $7,446.
Like the guy who made up 866 fake one-ounce silver bars and encased them in plastic.
Then, according to the Delco Times, he took them to a pawn shop outside Philadelphia, which incautiously accepted them as real without breaking open the plastic to test.
Not right away, anyhow:
“(Pawnbroker) Oblon told police he has purchased one-ounce silver bars from other customers in the same way in the past. . . .
Oblon became suspicious and broke open several randomly selected bars and tested them. The test showed the bars were not real silver, police said.
The story does not say what the fakes were made of. It is possible that even non-destructive testing could have detected them, although that would require breaking open the cases.
The Delco Times story does not say, but presumably the seller left his ID and address etc. with the buyer, which is required in many jurisdictions. At any rate, the pawnbroker knew where to find him in New Jersey.
It was a bad deal all around. The $7,446 paid for the fakes was only half what 866 ounces of real silver are worth among big dealers. Small dealers like coin shops and pawnbrokers buy at a discount, but a 50% discount is steep.