Vietnamese Kim Thanh gold bullion bars
 

I had never seen these before. I ran across this while searching for gold coin images -- thought this was a great story of the power of gold. ~EoL

Vietnamese Kim Thanh gold bullion "bars" or leaves
Fineness: .9999
Actual Gold Content: 1.205 troy ounce (37.5 grams)
(Typically, three leaves wrapped in oil-paper: two leaves at 15gr apiece and a third at 7.5gr) <center><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="650"> <tbody><tr> <td width="100%">
The incident is one of the most memorable of my career. Never before or since has the value of gold in preserving assets been made so abundantly clear to me. It was the mid-1970s. The United States was finally extricating itself from the conflict in South Vietnam. Thousands of South Vietnamese had fled their embattled homeland rather than face the vengeance of the rapidly advancing Communist forces.

In my Denver office, a couple from South Vietnam who had been part of that exodus sat across from me. They had come to sell their gold. In broken English, the man told me the story of how he and his wife had escaped the fall of Saigon and certain reprisal by North Vietnamese troops. They got out with nothing more than a few personal belongings and the small cache of gold he now spread before me on my desk. His eyes widened as he explained why they were lucky to have survived those last fearful days of the South Vietnamese Republic. They had scrambled onto a fishing boat and had sailed into the South China Sea, where they were rescued by the U.S. Navy. These were Vietnamese "boat people," survivors of that chapter in the tragedy of Indochina. Now they were about to redeem their life savings in gold so that they could start a new business in the United States.

Their gold wrapped in rice paper was a type called Kim Thanh. These are the commonly traded units in Hong Kong and throughout the Far East. Kim Thanh weigh about 1.2 troy ounces, or a tael, as it is called in the Orient. They look like thick gold leaf rectangles 3 to 4 inches long, 1-1/2 to 2 inches wide, and a few millimeters deep. Kim Thanh are embossed with Oriental characters describing weight and purity. As a gesture to the Occident, they are stamped in the center with the words OR PUR, "pure gold."

It wasn't much gold-about 30 ounces-but it might as well have been a ton. The couple considered themselves very fortunate to have escaped with this small hoard of gold. They thanked me profusely for buying it. As we talked about Vietnam and their future in the United States, I couldn't help but become caught up in their enthusiasm for the future. These resilient, hard-working, thrifty people now had a new lease on life. When they left my office that day, there was little doubt in my mind that they would be successful in their new life. It was rewarding to know that gold could do this for them. It was satisfying to know that I had helped them in this small way.

I kept those golden Kim Thanh for many years. They became something of a symbol for me-a reminder of the power and importance of gold. Today, when economic and financial problems have begun to signal deeper, more fundamental concerns for the United States, I still remember that Vietnamese couple and how important gold can be to a family's future. Had the couple escaped with South Vietnamese paper money instead of gold, I could have done nothing for them. There was no exchange rate for the South Vietnamese currency because there was no longer a South Vietnam! Wisely, they had converted their savings to gold long before the helicopters lifted U.S. diplomats off the roof of the American Embassy in 1975.
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Re: Vietnamese Kim Thanh gold bullion bars
 

I recall reading this same story a couple of years ago when I was first starting to think about buying some gold. It really drives home the point...governments come & governments go. Fiat currencies come & go. Entire countries come & go. But gold will always, ALWAYS, have value.

Re: Vietnamese Kim Thanh gold bullion bars
 

Same thoughts as well. I'm sure there are many tales to be told of how gold saved the day. I'd love to read a book based on similar events. It kind of brings things into perspective given the recent fiat drop in gold prices and the ensuing panic of some. How the story changes when a complete collapse of a government occurs and the true value of fiat is revealed.
Take care,
Mod1

Re: Vietnamese Kim Thanh gold bullion bars
 

That would make a great book! Any non-fiction writers out there, looking for an interesting topic? I bet there's some old-timers with some interesting stories...

As an aside, without exception, all of the Asian people I know are fully aware of what gold means, and they all own some, in various forms.

Re: Vietnamese Kim Thanh gold bullion bars
 

That they do. Most of the secretaries in my office are Filipina & it's traditional for them to give gold as a wedding gift. Every time one gets married, I give her a 20 Franc "Lucky Angel" coin. It really means a lot to them when they hear the legend behind it.

Re: Vietnamese Kim Thanh gold bullion bars
 

http://www.goldbarsworldwide.com/PDF...stmentBars.pdf

Another picture, upper left corner, along with a variety of other unusual bars from around the world.

Very cool leaf bars. I would get one, but would expect to have to assay it to sell it.

Re: Vietnamese Kim Thanh gold bullion bars
 

I own one of these Kim Thahn sets but have always been a bit sceptical about the published .9999 purity level, knowing the technicial difficulties getting to that standard. Also bearing in mind that they were apparently made from 1935 to 1975, the idea of four nines in back woods 1950's Asia is hard to imagine. I also wonder if the purity varied much over the years.

So I took the plunge and put the sucker in for some spectrograph analysis and here are the very interesting results!

Re: Vietnamese Kim Thanh gold bullion bars
 

Cool!
So, not four nines after all. But look at all the platinum and palladium. And you even get a tiny, little bit of rhodium.:yippee:

Re: Vietnamese Kim Thanh gold bullion bars
 

Awesome info. I'm a sucker for real data. Interesting results, too.

Re: Vietnamese Kim Thanh gold bullion bars
 

Great thread - wish we had more with interesting and educational numismatic stuff (even if it IS bullion) like this........

Cheers!

Re: Vietnamese Kim Thanh gold bullion bars
 

Vietnamese are some of the largest per capita gold buyers in the world.