Is the "Zujin Guanyin Statue" that cost over 800000 yuan actually a bronze statue? Wanted to return the gold statue, Guanyin statue, and bronze statue that caused trouble

Recently, Mr. Qiu, who is engaged in jewelry business in Shanxi, complained to Pengpai News that he bid for a batch of confiscated items on May 27th and 28th through Taiyuan Public Resource Auction Center Co., Ltd., including a "Guanyin Golden Statue". On June 5th, he handed over the auction to the auctioneer, but upon returning home, he used a spectroscopic instrument to test and found that the "Guanyin Golden Statue" contained over 79.9% copper, 20.08% zinc, and 0.01% silver.

According to the appraisal certificate carried by the "Guanyin Golden Statue" involved, the results obtained by Pengpai News on the official website of the National Gold and Silver Product Quality Inspection and Testing Center show that the purity level of the "Guanyin Golden Statue" is a thousand foot gold, which means the gold content is not less than 99.9%.

Mr. Qiu said, "I used to frequently participate in similar auctions, but this time due to the tight handover time of the auction items and the large number of items being auctioned, I didn't have time to inspect them one by one. Out of trust in the Taiyuan Public Resource Auction Center, and because the item has an appraisal certificate and AU999 seal, I didn't carefully inspect the auctioned item."

Mr. Qiu approached the auction house with this "Guanyin Golden Statue" and requested a refund, but was refused on the grounds that he could not prove that the "Guanyin Golden Statue" he had taken from the auction house was the problematic one. Later, in the presence of a notary public, this golden statue was deposited into a bank safe. At present, this issue has not been resolved.

The "Avalokitesvara Golden Statue" evaluated as full gold

According to the mini program "Taiyuan Public Auction" of Taiyuan Public Resource Trading Center Co., Ltd., commissioned by the Budget Evaluation Center of Shanxi Provincial Department of Finance, on May 27, 2023, Taiyuan Public Resource Trading Center Co., Ltd. organized a special auction of 7 precious metal collectibles and ornaments, and conducted online public auctions of relevant objects according to the current situation in accordance with the law. According to relevant information, this batch of subject matter is confiscated from the crime of cracking down on organized crime and eliminating evil.

The auction announcement specifically states that "the subject matter is subject to the physical condition, and our company and the client do not assume any guarantee responsibility for the quality or authenticity of the subject matter. Once the bidder participates in the bidding, it means that they fully understand and accept the current condition of the subject matter and all known and unknown defects."

Although the auction announcement contains the above statement of "no guarantee for defects", there is still a relevant evaluation report for this batch of goods.

The statue of Guanyin was sold for 845100 yuan.

The evaluation report shows that a certain asset evaluation company in Shanxi Province has accepted the commission of the Budget Review Center of the Shanxi Provincial Department of Finance. In accordance with the provisions of laws, administrative regulations, and asset evaluation standards, it adheres to the principles of independence, objectivity, and impartiality, adopts the cost method, and follows necessary evaluation procedures to evaluate the market value of jewelry and precious metals involved in the disposal of confiscated assets by the Budget Review Center of the Shanxi Provincial Department of Finance as of September 28, 2022. The total evaluation price is 41573475.35 yuan.

The evaluation report states that after communication with the client, three jewelry appraisal experts were commissioned to conduct non-destructive testing and identification of the assets within the evaluation scope. The specific evaluation method for precious metal products is to use the cost method to evaluate the precious metal jewelry and products sold by grams, and the value composition includes material costs, process costs, and appropriate profits. Material cost: Based on the testing report, evaluators differentiate according to the purity of precious metal products, and determine the material cost by querying the gold price of authoritative institutions such as the Shanghai Gold Exchange and the People's Bank of China on the evaluation benchmark date, and by weighing the assets on site. Process costs and profits: For precious metal jewelry and products within the scope of this evaluation, process costs and appropriate profits will be considered based on market conditions.

In addition, the evaluation also includes on-site verification and identification analysis. This includes evaluators determining the focus of appraisal and appraisal review through preliminary appraisal and professional judgment during the inventory and verification process of physical objects. Then, referring to relevant standards such as the Recent Standard Specification for Precious Metal Jewelry, classify based on factors such as species, status, quality characteristics, and process characteristics. Determine the focus of the description based on the actual object, and independently classify and highlight jewelry and precious metals with special and high individual value.

The subject matter information shows that this "Guanyin Golden Statue" is of full gold. Meanwhile, the auctioneer declares in the bidding notice that "defects are not guaranteed".

The special matters explanation column of the evaluation report shows that all materials related to the evaluation provided by the client and the evaluated unit are the basis for the preparation of this report. The client and the evaluated unit shall be responsible for the authenticity, legality, and comprehensiveness of the materials provided. If there are defects that may affect the evaluation conclusion, and no special instructions are made at the time of commission or relevant information is not clearly stated and provided during the on-site investigation of the evaluation, and the evaluators are generally unable to obtain information based on professional experience, the evaluation institution and evaluators shall not be held responsible.

The detailed list of assets in the entrusted evaluation letter issued by the Budget Review Center of the Shanxi Provincial Department of Finance to the evaluation company shows that there are 282 items in the jewelry category, 479 items in the precious metal category, and 106 items in the ornament category, totaling 660 items and 867 items.

The detailed list lists the names, defects, quantities, and notes of any defects or features of these objects one by one. Among them are "gold ring", "white ring", "jade handle", "yellow metal", "gold necklace", "full gold gold bar", "ingot style metal", "yellow rectangular metal", and so on.

There are two Guanyin statues in the subject matter, one with inventory number "202108252304" and the name "One Yellow Metal Guanyin statue", with a note "classified as precious metal". The other inventory number is "2021081621", named "Guanyin Golden Statue", with a note "classified as precious metal".

After evaluation by the evaluation company, the total weight of the above-mentioned "Yellow Metal Guanyin Statue" is 196.45 grams, with an evaluation amount of 77637.04 yuan, and a note stating "classified as precious metal, full gold". The total weight of the "Guanyin Golden Statue" is 2000 grams, and the assessed amount is 790400 yuan. The note "classified as precious metal, full gold" indicates that this "Guanyin Golden Statue" is also the highest assessed amount among this batch of objects.

According to relevant standards, sufficient gold refers to gold products with a gold content of no less than 99%, commonly known as "two nines".

In the "Explanation on Matters Related to Evaluation" issued by the Budget Review Center of the Shanxi Provincial Department of Finance, one verification conclusion states that "after investigation, the table and the facts are consistent, and there are no errors or omissions.".

The petition opinion letter issued by the auction center states that the reason for not returning the item is that the identity of the item cannot be determined.

Is the "Guanyin Golden Statue" actually a "Copper Alloy Guanyin Statue"?

On May 27, 2022, the 2-kilogram "Guanyin Golden Statue" made its debut in the precious metal collectibles and ornaments section, with an estimated starting price of 790400 yuan. After 212 bids, this "Guanyin Golden Statue" was finally won by Mr. Qiu for 845100 yuan.

Mr. Qiu told Pengpai News that he won over 90 items at the auction on May 27th and 28th, spending over 5 million yuan. There are quite a few gold bars among them, and besides this Guanyin statue, there are also several other small ornaments in the handicrafts.

Mr. Qiu introduced that he went to the public property warehouse of the Shanxi Provincial Department of Finance at around 3:45 pm on June 5th to hand over the items he had auctioned. "I used to participate in similar auctions often, but this time due to the tight delivery time of the auction items and the large number of items being auctioned, I didn't have time to inspect them one by one. At the same time, out of trust in the Taiyuan Public Resource Auction Center, and because the item has an appraisal certificate and AU999 seal, I didn't carefully inspect the auctioned items."

The appraisal certificate mentioned by Mr. Qiu was issued by the National Center for Quality Inspection and Testing of Gold and Silver Products. By entering the inspection number and query code on the official website of the center, the Pengpai News reporter successfully found the appraisal certificate. The inspection conclusion is that it is a thousand foot gold product, with a quality/specification of 2000 grams and a purity grade of thousand foot gold, with a note indicating the statue of Guanyin.

However, after bringing the photographed items home, Mr. Qiu discovered that the "Guanyin Golden Statue" had discoloration. He then placed it on a spectral instrument at home to test and found that the "Guanyin Golden Statue" contained more than 79.9% copper, 20.08% zinc, and 0.01% silver. Subsequently, Mr. Qiu brought the "Guanyin Golden Statue" to the public property warehouse of the Shanxi Provincial Department of Finance to request a refund, but was refused. Mr. Qiu left the "Guanyin Golden Statue" in the security room of the public property warehouse and left.

On June 8th, Mr. Qiu reported his situation to the Shanxi Provincial Bureau of Letters and Visits over the phone. On July 7th, the Taiyuan Public Resource Auction Center issued a letter of opinion on handling petition matters to it.

The opinion letter states: "As you have already completed the outbound procedures for the subject matter '253 Guanyin Golden Statue Inventory Code: 2021081621', it has been 2 hours since you took it out of the public warehouse. There is a dispute over whether the subject matter was the one delivered by the principal at that time. After multiple communications and coordination with the principal, as long as it is proven that the subject matter is the one you have delivered for outbound and does not match the description, the principal will handle the return procedures."

At the same time, the opinion stated, "After multiple consultations, it is currently not possible for judicial appraisal institutions to conduct fingerprint identification on the item. It is difficult to prove that the subject matter is the one you handled for delivery and outbound at that time. Therefore, it is recommended that you resolve this matter through legal means."

Mr. Qiu detected that the copper content of the Guanyin statue exceeded 79% through his home's spectroscopic instrument. Video screenshot

On July 14th, Pengpai News called Manager Zhang, the project consulting contact person for this auction, in the name of Mr. Qiu's partner. He stated that the inspection and evaluation report of the subject matter was provided by the client, and the auction center only provided an auction platform. The client entrusted the auction of the subject matter and did not conduct any appraisal and inspection. At present, Mr. Qiu has difficulty proving that the "Guanyin Golden Statue" he wants to return to the warehouse is the one he took from the public property warehouse. This is because ordinary judicial appraisal institutions can only identify the fingerprints on the documents, and they need to extract fingerprints from the items and compare them with relevant personnel, which requires the public security organs to establish a criminal case investigation. Meanwhile, Manager Zhang suggested that Mr. Qiu entrust a lawyer to handle this matter.

After the controversy arose, the "Guanyin Golden Statue" was deposited into a bank safe in the presence of a notary public.

Zhao Liangshan, Senior Partner of Shaanxi Hengda Law Firm, believes that although the auction announcement contains a statement of "defects and no guarantee" for the auction, there is a relevant evaluation report for the Guanyin statue. The evaluation report shows that the Guanyin statue is fully paid, and Mr. Qiu is bidding for it. If the auctioneer does not deliver a fully paid Guanyin statue, Mr. Qiu can request a refund.

Zhao Liangshan pointed out that currently, both sides are deadlocked on whether the Guanyin statue that Mr. Qiu intends to return to the warehouse is the one taken from the public warehouse. If the auctioneer questions Mr. Qiu's transfer, once Mr. Qiu's transfer is established, he is suspected of fraud, and the auctioneer can choose to report to the police. As the Guanyin statue that Mr. Qiu intends to return to the warehouse has been deposited into the bank safe in the presence of a notary public, the police can identify the fingerprints on the Guanyin statue that Mr. Qiu intends to return to the warehouse to determine the facts of this case and distinguish the truth from the false. If it is found that Mr. Qiu has been transferred, he can be held criminally responsible for the crime of fraud; On the contrary, if it is confirmed that Mr. Qiu did not engage in any transfer, the auctioneer should issue a refund to resolve the current deadlock between the two parties.

Zhao Liangshan stated that if the auctioneer does not choose to report to the police, Mr. Qiu can only resolve the issue through litigation. Mr. Qiu can sue the auctioneer for a refund. In litigation, the court entrusts relevant institutions to conduct appraisal, combined with other evidence, to determine the facts of the case, and the court makes a fair judgment in accordance with the law.