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Chinese Gold Bar Mystery
http://www.iacr.org/~iacr/china/china.html
Cryptograms on Gold bars from China
The following mystery was brought to IACR by the
curator of a museum in the US. I don't have the
complete story, but it seems that seven gold bars
were allegedly issued to a General Wang in Shanghai,
China, in 1933. These gold bars appear to represent
metal certificates related to a bank deposit with
a U.S. Bank. The gold bars themselves have pictures,
Chinese writing, some form of script writing, and
cryptograms in latin letters.
Not surprisingly, there is a dispute concerning the
validity of the claim for the deposit. It may
help to resolve the dispute if someone can decipher
the cryptograms on the bars. Nobody has yet
put for the a theory as to their meaning. I am also
unable to recognize the script writing. The
Chinese writing has been translated, and discusses a
transaction in excess of $300,000,000. It also refers
to these gold bars which weigh a total of 1.8 kilograms.
To assist in your investigation, I have compiled the
cryptograms and their arrangements. Below are images
of the bars, available in two sizes. The ones shown
here are about 20K each, and clicking on any of them
will download a larger version (about 200K). The gold
bars were photographed against a blue or green
background that appears around some edges.
Unfortunately, neither I nor IACR can provide any
further information regarding this. If you are
seriously interested in trying to solve the mystery,
I advise you to contact one of the following
individuals:
Bin J. Tao
15475 Rochlen St.
Hacienda Heights, CA 91745
USA
Telephone and fax: (818) 333-6125
Peter Bisno
Law Offices of Bisno and Samberg
201 South Lake Avenue
Suite 411
Pasadena, CA 91101-3016
USA
Telephone: (818) 585-8899
Fax: (818) 585-1899
[14 images of golden cryptograms; some appear to show a
bearded, pony-tailed cryptoanarchist]
prepared by Kevin McCurley
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