A gold bar purchased in Ottawa that turned out to contain no gold did not come from the Royal Canadian Mint, the Crown corporation said Tuesday.

But despite the mint's claim that counterfeits are rare, a quick internet search shows such products abound.

"This is not a one-off. Nobody does this once. The real question is, how did this get into RBC's inventory?"

Bosse said most buyers never question the authenticity of gold bars purchased from banks.

"They know they bought it from a bank, so they're sure that it's good. But that concept is now under attack if there's more than one of these out there."