LayarHijau – A unique incident recently became a hot topic among netizens after a man in Jiangsu, China, melted a limited-edition gold poster featuring celebrity Bai Lu into a gold nugget weighing nearly 10 grams, only to suffer a significant financial loss.
The man had won the poster, a collaboration between Bai Lu and Amuxi, a popular yogurt brand in China, labeled “999 pure gold 10g,” with only 10 copies released nationwide. After confirming the authenticity of the gold through spectrometer testing, he removed the printed surface layer and melted the poster down into a 9.93-gram gold nugget. With current gold prices at around 1,000 yuan per gram (approximately USD 140 per gram), the gold nugget is worth about 10,000 yuan, or roughly USD 1,400.
However, the intact poster’s resale value on the secondary market—driven by its extreme rarity and Bai Lu’s popularity—has been estimated at around 40,000 yuan, or approximately USD 5,500. By melting the poster, the man effectively lost about 30,000 yuan, or nearly USD 4,100. Although there were claims online that the poster had been listed for between 50,000 and 100,000 yuan, no verified transaction records support those figures, making them highly speculative.
A man melted a rare gold Bai Lu poster just to gain a few grams of gold.#bailu
Source: Baijiahao Baidu pic.twitter.com/JnhlzyY0Pd
— Layar Hijau (@layar_hijau) December 19, 2025
The man believed that converting the poster into physical gold still guaranteed a profit because the value was clear and tangible. Some netizens shared this view, saying that holding physical gold feels more secure. Collectors, however, stressed that the poster would have been far more valuable if kept intact, as its scarcity and the emotional value tied to a celebrity endorsement significantly boost its collectible worth. Once melted, that collectible value is permanently lost.
The incident highlights the contrast between material value, based on gold weight, and collectible or emotional value, which comes from rarity and celebrity appeal. With one of only 10 posters destroyed, the remaining posters have become even rarer, potentially pushing their value even higher. In this case, the emotional and collectible value clearly exceeded the value of the raw gold.
At the same time, the melting process inadvertently confirmed that the poster contained nearly the full promised gold weight—9.93 grams out of 10 grams—effectively validating the brand’s claims. Amuxi capitalized on the attention by launching a new promotional giveaway, emphasizing that its gold posters come with official gold certificates, further strengthening its marketing impact.
The episode has become a clear example of how modern product pricing is shaped by multiple factors, including material worth, emotional attachment, and investment potential. Relying on a single perspective can easily lead to misjudgment, especially for those unfamiliar with the collectibles market.
Netizens commented, “This Bai Lu poster could sell for up to 50,000 yuan (around USD 7,000) on resale platforms. It’s hard to make money from something that lies outside your understanding. For someone who isn’t even a fan, winning such a rare prize really is a waste.”
