[Greysard]

In the UK, there have been doubts about the quality of Britain’s paltry remaining gold stock as some of the gold bars are reportedly cracked, have fissures and are ‘beginning to crumble’

Pure gold is one of softest and most malleable metals. It can be rolled into foil of just a few mils thick. I have never even heard of gold "cracking" or "crumbling." You'd need to put a gold bar into a stress test machine - and even then it will probably flow around the holds instead of cracking.

If that's what UK has then it's not gold. There aren't even any metals, AFAIK, that would crack or crumble just by laying on a shelf.

[ChildOfThe60s]

I like the part where the piece says that the Bank of England says “most” of the gold is in mint condition. “Most”? What does that mean?

[M1903A1]

There aren't even any metals, AFAIK, that would crack or crumble just by laying on a shelf.

Cheaply-cast industrial "white metal" will do some interesting things as it ages. Vintage model train collectors have horror stories of their precious pieces becoming almost too fragile to move lest they crumble.

That said, it'd be pretty hard to mistake that stuff for gold.