The Gold Museum on Saturday said that its 220kg gold brick has risen in value to more than NT$700 million (US$23.33 million), making it the institution’s top exhibit and a key draw for visitors.
The bullion bar has been on loan to the museum in New Taipei City’s Rueifang District (瑞芳) from the central bank since 2004, when its market value was about NT$115 million.
Over the past 21 years, surging gold prices have pushed its value to about NT$718 million, it said.
Photo: Lu Hsien-hsiu, Taipei Times
The large ingot is protected with round-the-clock monitoring, including security guards and digital surveillance, and is enclosed in bulletproof glass. The brick’s protective case has small openings on either side that allow people to touch the gold surface.
Insurance is purchased every year, with premiums climbing in line with international gold prices, the museum said, adding that it could not disclose the exact cost of coverage for security and contractual reasons.
About 180,000 people — mostly Taiwanese — visited the museum from January through last month, it said.
Museum director Lin Wen-chung (林文中) said that Jinguashih (金瓜石) and Jioufen (九份), two neighboring mountain towns, were once considered the best gold mining areas in East Asia.
The brick was once recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s largest gold brick, but that record was broken in 2005 by a 250kg ingot from the Toi Gold Mine in Izu, Japan.
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