ABSTRACT
Aprominent theme in every tale of the Conquest is the Spanish lust for golden treasure; this is seen as the driving force behind the rape and pillage of countless native cultures and archaeological sites. Equally strong and equally destructive is the lust of the modern-day antiquities collector for artifacts of the same precious metal. However, just as the Spanish soon learned that all that glitters was not gold (few works were produced in pure gold, most being alloys of various metals, primarily copper), the antiquities collector soon learns, often to his chagrin, that all that glitters is also not old. In South America, spurious artifacts in precious metals are known from the late nineteenth century. However, it was not until the value of metal artifacts came to exceed their bullion price that this particular industry really got going.
