Salted Earth: The Audacity of the Great Diamond Hoax

How did two ragged, uneducated prospectors manage to scam the wealthiest bankers on Wall Street, the founder of Tiffany & Co., and a former Union general out of millions of dollars? The Great Diamond Hoax of 1872 is a masterclass in the absolute blinding power of corporate greed. Philip Arnold and John Slack purchased cheap, low-grade uncut diamonds in London, traveled to a remote plateau in Wyoming, and literally planted them in the dirt—a practice known as "salting." They then guided elite investors to the site blindfolded. Blinded by gold rush fever and desperate to control the next great American monopoly, these brilliant financial minds completely abandoned their due diligence. They threw millions of dollars at the prospectors without ever ordering an independent geological survey of the bizarrely rich soil. This entertaining financial history deconstructs the psychology of the ultimate con. It explores the extreme gullibility of the Gilded Age elite, the meticulous staging of the salted field, and the lone government geologist who finally exposed the geographical impossibility of the find. Discover the limits of elite intelligence. The Great Diamond Hoax proves that when promised unimaginable wealth, even the smartest investors in the world will eagerly buy dirt.