DCP - your June 4 Mormon Times article on John Whitmer

[_Themis]

Another possility. Or it could even have been polished materials like copper or some other metal made shiny. There are many possibilities other than using large quantities of gold as suggested by the article.

I always thought this one would be feasible, especialy since we know so little about how they were viewed, or if indoors or out. I tend to think the spiritual eye may be better since we do have evidence suggesting this, and it was common amoung them. Joseph himself was already skilled in doing this with others with his treasure digging.

[_Dan Vogel]

Anybody notice DCP didn't respond to my post?

[_GlennThigpen]

That would have introduced another layer of complexity into the process. Getting someone with the skills and chemicals to do the work for Joseph, then to keep quiet about it.

Glenn

Not that I think much of this hypothesis, but I am not sure why Joseph would need someone skilled. He or another co-conspirator could have learned the basics if needed.

Of course that adds another ad hoc hypothesis. Plating using gold chloride involves immersing the objects to be plated in the solution. Obtaining enough gold chloride to perform that task on a large number of plates would have been rather expensive. Producing gold chloride itself was also fairly expensive and used chemicals which produced rather deadly gasses.
So, it is a possibility that Joseph, or a co-conspirator actually gold plated tin plates, what are the probabilities?

Glenn

[_Themis]

Of course that adds another ad hoc hypothesis. Plating using gold chloride involves immersing the objects to be plated in the solution. Obtaining enough gold chloride to perform that task on a large number of plates would have been rather expensive. Producing gold chloride itself was also fairly expensive and used chemicals which produced rather deadly gasses.

Well, I did say that I didn't think much of the hypothesis.

So, it is a possibility that Joseph, or a co-conspirator actually gold plated tin plates, what are the probabilities?

No one knows what the probabilities are. We just don't have enough information on what was going on, but i would say it is possible.

[_Nightlion]

They didn't say they were really gold.

Quite so. And a gold alloy such as tumbaga would have, precisely, the appearance of gold:

http://maxwellinstitute.BYU.edu/publica ... m=1&id=393

Tin plates spray-painted gold would . . . um, not.

Here is a thought. Perhaps the two/thirds sealed portion was not gold. That might help make the weight figure. What were the dimensions of the plates?

[_moksha]

If you have access to some sort of gold-colored paint that, applied to tin plates, would convince somebody holding them and closely inspecting them that they were really made of gold, I suggest that you create such an artifact and let us see it.

Would the gold painted plates have to pass the test while covered by a sheet or seen with spiritual eyes, or the more rigorous test of close visual inspection and possibly putting them on a scale to compare then with a 50/50 mixture of gold and aluminum?

by the way, wouldn't 19th Century gold paint be made of gold dust?

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