> If I knowingly create a pallet of fake gold bars and sell them to an unsuspecting idiot for far more than they're worth, then was that "real" wealth?

I almost want to say this is an impossible question to answer. At the time it was, until it wasn't. Likewise, suppose I have an art collection. A bunch of Van Goghs. One of them is a forgery but nobody knows it's a forgery. Is it worth millions?