The bar looked suspicious to us because of it's external appearance, especially the bottom part, so we rejected to broker it. We suggested that we cut a portion and have it assayed first but the holder refused for us to mess up with it, lest we were willing to pay for the whole bar. The density we computed based on dimensions and weight was quite high so it can not just be a plated bar but had real gold in it.
The holder eventually sold it to a buyer who assayed it and paid for it in cash. It turned to be 17.9 carats. Darn did we miss our chance to be part of the deal.
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Lesson learned, while looks can deceive you, you can't easily fake the density. We should have taken the risk - Audentes fortuna juvat.
