Real stones, a false depositSourced
Planted gems made an American diamond field look genuine
In 1872, two men persuaded investors that they had found a rich American gem deposit. They had actually planted purchased stones at the site. Clarence King and fellow investigators recognised an unnatural mixture of gems formed under different geological conditions and exposed the fraud.
Genuine gems did not make the claimed deposit genuine.
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Great Diamond Hoax · Wikimedia contributors
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Reviewed: 2026-10-10