Mormonism and Wikipedia/Golden plates/Composition and weight

Described format, binding, and dimensions

A FairMormon Analysis of Wikipedia: Mormonism and Wikipedia/Golden plates A work by a collaboration of authors (Link to Wikipedia article here)

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An analysis of the Wikipedia article "Golden plates" (Version December 10, 2009)

Described composition and weight

-	Wikipedia Main Article: Golden plates–	Wikipedia Footnotes: Golden plates–Notes	A FAIR Opinion
	The plates were first described as "gold", and beginning about 1827, the plates were widely called the "gold bible".	Harris (1859) , p. 167; Smith (1853) , pp. 102, 109, 113, 145; Grandin (1829) .	Correct, per cited sources
	When the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, the Eight Witnesses described the plates as having "the appearance of gold".	Smith (1830)	Correct, per cited sources
	The Book of Mormon describes the plates as being made of "ore".	Smith (1830) .	1 Nephi 19꞉1 wherefore I did make plates of ore that I might engraven upon them the record of my people.
	In 1831, a Palmyra newspaper quoted David Whitmer, one of the Three Witnesses, as having said that the plates were a "whitish yellow color", with "three small rings of the same metal".	Cole (1831)	Correct, per cited sources
	Joseph Smith, Jr.'s first published description of the plates said that the plates "had the appearance of gold"	Smith (1842)	Correct, per cited sources
	. But Smith said that Moroni had referred to the plates as "gold." Late in life, Martin Harris stated that the rings holding the plates together were made of silver,	Joseph Smith History 1:34; Harris (1859) , p. 165.	Violates Wikipedia: Neutral Point-of-View off-site— All Wikipedia articles and other encyclopedic content must be written from a neutral point of view, representing fairly, and as far as possible without bias, all significant views that have been published by reliable sources. Violated by Aaronshaf —Diff: off-site The wiki editor inserted a deliberate juxtaposition.
	and he said the plates themselves, based on their heft of "forty or fifty pounds" (18–23 kg),	Harris (1859) , p. 166	Correct, per cited sources
	"were lead or gold".	Harris (1859) , p. 169.	Citation abuse— The meaning of a source quotation has been altered, or the source used does not support the author's conclusion. Violated by COgden —Diff: off-site The wiki editor leads the reader to believe the Martin Harris concluded that the plates were either "lead or gold." Harris goes on, however, to state that he knew that Joseph didn't have the means to purchase lead. This is left out of the wiki article, thus altering the meaning of the cited source. The cited source states: While at Mr. Smith's I hefted the plates, and I knew from the heft that they were lead or gold, and I knew that Joseph had not credit enough to buy so much lead.
	Joseph's brother William Smith, who said he felt the plates inside a pillow case in 1827, said in 1884 that he understood the plates to be "a mixture of gold and copper...much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood".	Smith (1884)	From the cited source: One could easily tell that they were not a stone, hewn out to deceive, or even a block of wood. Being a mixture of gold and copper, they were much heavier than stone, and very much heavier than wood.
	Different people estimated the weight of the plates differently. According to Smith's one-time-friend Willard Chase, Smith told him in 1827 that the plates weighed between 40 and 60 pounds (18–27 kg), most likely the latter.	Chase (1833) , p. 246.	Painful prose "Different people estimated the weight of the plates differently."
	Smith's father Joseph Smith, Sr., who was one of the Eight Witnesses, reportedly weighed them and said in 1830 that they "weighed thirty pounds" (14 kg).	Lapham (1870) .	Correct, per cited sources
	Joseph Smith's brother, William, said that he lifted them in a pillowcase and thought they "weighed about sixty pounds [27 kg] according to the best of my judgment".	Smith (1883) .	Correct, per cited sources
	Others who lifted the plates while they were wrapped in cloth or enclosed in a box thought that they weighed about 60 pounds [27 kg]. Martin Harris said that he had "hefted the plates many times, and should think they weighed forty or fifty pounds [18–23 kg]".	Harris (1859) , pp. 166, 169.	Correct, per cited sources
	Joseph Smith's wife Emma never estimated the weight of the plates but said they were light enough for her to "move them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work".	Smith (1879)	Citation abuse— The meaning of a source quotation has been altered, or the source used does not support the author's conclusion. Violated by COgden —Diff: off-site The wiki editor states that Emma "said they were light enough" immediately after stating that she never estimated the weight. The cited source supports the first phrase, but not the second. Emma never said that the plates were "light" at all—she simply stated that she moved them. From the cited source: I moved them from place to place on the table, as it was necessary in doing my work.
	Had the plates been made of 24-karat gold (which Smith never claimed), they would have weighed about 140 pounds (64 kg).	Vogel (2004) .	The cited reference work is missing.

References

Wikipedia references for "Golden Plates"

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