Yes, but it’s cursed which is why no one has nicked it
It’s chocolate
It’s bronze with gold leaf and priceless
Hi. That’s the Victoria Memorial. The top sculpture is called Winged Victory and it’s made from bronze, I believe. I think the gold effect of public monuments is achieved using bronze in most cases. One it’s obviously cheaper, but also as it tarnishes, it can be re-polished and re-gilded.
DM me once you start putting together the heist crew!
You’re gonna have a hard time finding a buyer OP I’m telling you
Get up there, snap a bit off and report back.
It’s cake
It’s only gold plated.
No, it’s pure uranium underneath, they have to put gold on to stop it decaying and killing people
Idk if you know, but nothing can be “made of gold”. Gold is a soft metal. Most of these are made of bronze.
Lmao it wouldn’t last a day if it was gold
Not solid gold, that would be worth tens of millions. The thin gold plating is probably worth tens of pounds.
Gold is very malliable so you can make very effective gold leaf sheets for covering.
For perspective, all the gold mined so far in history wouold fill about 2 olympic size swimming pools.
It’s the Victoria Memorial, the metal statue part of the monument is made out of gilt-bronze, which is basically just bronze that’s been covered in an amalgum made out of gold & mercury (and you find more about how they made gilt-bronze here: [https://www.marcmaison.com/architectural-antiques-resources/gilt-bronze](https://www.marcmaison.com/architectural-antiques-resources/gilt-bronze) ).
The actual gold content in the statue will be incredibly low as it’s just a thin durable layer applied for decorative effect. But even the bronze won’t be as much as it appears, because the casting processes of bronze put a limit on how thick you can make bronze (its about 1-2 inches thick), meaning that all bronze statues above a certain small size are in fact hollow.
As a raw material, without knowing the weight of that particular part of the memorial it will be impossible to guess the scrap metal value of the statue, but bronze is currently retailing at about £5.50 per kilo. But as a cultural & historical artifact (as well as a work of art & peak craftsmanship), it’s value to London and the broader country is priceless.
Victoria was the Romans version of ancient Greeks goddess Nike, who was also a female personification of victory in war & competition ( [https://study.com/learn/lesson/nike-greek-goddess-mythology-symbol-facts.html](https://study.com/learn/lesson/nike-greek-goddess-mythology-symbol-facts.html) ) and it is her wings that the popular sportswear brand *Nike* logo are based on; many people assume that the “swoosh” in Nike’s logo is in reference to going fast, but it is actually a nod to the ancient Greek goddesses Nike’s wings and being victorious against all challenges.
I think the volume of gold ever found is only about 2 Olympic size swimming pools full.
17 comments
Yes, but it’s cursed which is why no one has nicked it
It’s chocolate
It’s bronze with gold leaf and priceless
Hi. That’s the Victoria Memorial. The top sculpture is called Winged Victory and it’s made from bronze, I believe. I think the gold effect of public monuments is achieved using bronze in most cases. One it’s obviously cheaper, but also as it tarnishes, it can be re-polished and re-gilded.
DM me once you start putting together the heist crew!
You’re gonna have a hard time finding a buyer OP I’m telling you
Get up there, snap a bit off and report back.
It’s cake
It’s only gold plated.
No, it’s pure uranium underneath, they have to put gold on to stop it decaying and killing people
Idk if you know, but nothing can be “made of gold”. Gold is a soft metal. Most of these are made of bronze.
Lmao it wouldn’t last a day if it was gold
Not solid gold, that would be worth tens of millions. The thin gold plating is probably worth tens of pounds.
Gold is very malliable so you can make very effective gold leaf sheets for covering.
For perspective, all the gold mined so far in history wouold fill about 2 olympic size swimming pools.
It’s the Victoria Memorial, the metal statue part of the monument is made out of gilt-bronze, which is basically just bronze that’s been covered in an amalgum made out of gold & mercury (and you find more about how they made gilt-bronze here: [https://www.marcmaison.com/architectural-antiques-resources/gilt-bronze](https://www.marcmaison.com/architectural-antiques-resources/gilt-bronze) ).
The actual gold content in the statue will be incredibly low as it’s just a thin durable layer applied for decorative effect. But even the bronze won’t be as much as it appears, because the casting processes of bronze put a limit on how thick you can make bronze (its about 1-2 inches thick), meaning that all bronze statues above a certain small size are in fact hollow.
As a raw material, without knowing the weight of that particular part of the memorial it will be impossible to guess the scrap metal value of the statue, but bronze is currently retailing at about £5.50 per kilo. But as a cultural & historical artifact (as well as a work of art & peak craftsmanship), it’s value to London and the broader country is priceless.
Interesting fact, but the winged figure is not that of an angel (or a young Victoria) but instead depicts Victoria from Roman Mythology, who is the personification and goddess of victory (in fact “Victoria” is literally the female Latin verson of the word “Victory”) [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Victoria-goddess](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Victoria-goddess) and who many statues & wall fresco paintings of which have been discovered across the ancient Roman Empire, such as this alter statue [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/greece/paganism/victoria.html](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/greece/paganism/victoria.html) to this depiction of her found in Pompeii [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Palestra_grande_di_pompei%2C_affreschi_di_Moregine%2C_terzo_triclinio%2C_IV_stile%2C_epoca_neroniana%2C_07_vittoria_con_tripode.jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Palestra_grande_di_pompei%2C_affreschi_di_Moregine%2C_terzo_triclinio%2C_IV_stile%2C_epoca_neroniana%2C_07_vittoria_con_tripode.jpg) .
Victoria was the Romans version of ancient Greeks goddess Nike, who was also a female personification of victory in war & competition ( [https://study.com/learn/lesson/nike-greek-goddess-mythology-symbol-facts.html](https://study.com/learn/lesson/nike-greek-goddess-mythology-symbol-facts.html) ) and it is her wings that the popular sportswear brand *Nike* logo are based on; many people assume that the “swoosh” in Nike’s logo is in reference to going fast, but it is actually a nod to the ancient Greek goddesses Nike’s wings and being victorious against all challenges.
I think the volume of gold ever found is only about 2 Olympic size swimming pools full.
1. No.
2. About tree fiddy.