Hmmm... 22 billion in hard assets

[oddlots]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/wo...ndia.html?_r=1

MUMBAI, India — A court-ordered search of vaults beneath a south Indian temple has unearthed gold, jewels and statues worth an estimated $22 billion, government officials said Monday.

Associated Press
The Indian government sent two dozen police officers to a previously unguarded shrine for round-the-clock security after jewels were discovered.
The treasure trove, at the 16th century Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple, is widely believed to be the largest find of its kind in India, catching officials in the state of Kerala by surprise and forcing the government to send two dozen police officers to the previously unguarded shrine for round-the-clock security.

Errr.... the largest find in India? Does anyone have even a close contender? Anywhere?

[c1ue]

Re: Hmmm... 22 billion in hard assets

$22 billion seems far fetched. This one temple has similar PM reserves as entire European nations?

If half that amount is gold, this means there would be 250 tons of gold there.

I suspect someone misplaced a few zeros.

[DSpencer]

Re: Hmmm... 22 billion in hard assets

$22 billion seems far fetched. This one temple has similar PM reserves as entire European nations?

If half that amount is gold, this means there would be 250 tons of gold there.

I suspect someone misplaced a few zeros.

If it is really $22 billion then sending "two dozen police officers" seems terribly inadequate. Especially if it was previously unguarded and therefore has no other security measures.

[zoog]

Re: Hmmm... 22 billion in hard assets

$22 billion seems far fetched. This one temple has similar PM reserves as entire European nations?

If half that amount is gold, this means there would be 250 tons of gold there.

I suspect someone misplaced a few zeros.

According to this Bloomberg article, the treasure includes bags of diamonds, an 18-foot gold necklace, antique jewelry, and 42 pounds of "precious coins".

This CNN article lists rubies, sapphires, emeralds, pearls, gold replicas of coconut shells, hundreds of thousands of gold and silver coins and bars, solid-gold figurines, crowns and pendants, etc.

This BBC article says there has only a cursory assessment so far, only two chambers have been opened (BBC says out of four, CNN says at least six).

My general take is that they have thrown out a very general valuation number based more on artistic and historic significance than purely market weight value of the precious metals and stones involved, and noting that not everything has even been viewed, much less closely examined.

If it is really $22 billion then sending "two dozen police officers" seems terribly inadequate. Especially if it was previously unguarded and therefore has no other security measures.

This AFP article says there is a 24-hour "three-tier security ring involving 100 armed police".