Does an alchemist have a duty to disclose if they transmuted their gold?
<p>If a person were to discover a method to transmute lead into gold easily, would they be required by law to disclose this information when selling it or exchanging it for currency?</p>

<p>The method used costs little energy and resources, and would devalue gold almost completely were the methodology exposed.  The Seller would carefully structure their supply and run a mine as a front to obfuscate the gold's origin.  They know what they are selling has no true value anymore, but act to prevent their buyers from learning this themselves.</p>

<p>No. If the transmuted material is truly gold, which is simply a chemical element, there is no duty to disclose its source if the source is not an illegal one. And, there is no legal prohibition on transmuting other materials into gold via alchemy.</p>

<p>In real life, however, the only way to transmute other materials into gold is through a nuclear reactor (fusion or fission depending upon the source materials) and you do need a permit from the nuclear regulatory commission in the United States to build a nuclear reactor. That permit, in turn, subjects you to pervasive regulation by the NRC.</p>

united-states currency