Do you own this old LG air conditioner? Its gold logo is now worth a fortune
YouTuber Ringring Unni shows pure gold melted from a logo on an LG Electronics Whisen air conditioner sold 20 years ago in a video released on Dec. 11. Captured from YouTube
An LG Electronics Whisen air conditioner sold as a limited edition two decades ago is drawing renewed attention after it was revealed that its front logo was made of solid gold, a discovery amplified by the recent surge in global gold prices.
The buzz began after a case surfaced online in which the logo from a long-forgotten, unused air conditioner was removed and sold for more than 700,000 won ($475).
The story gained traction after a Seoul-based gold shop owner and YouTuber known as Ringring Unni uploaded a customer consultation video to her channel on Dec. 11. The customer brought in a small gold piece, saying it had been removed from the front of an LG Whisen air conditioner. She said a delivery worker at the time had told her it was gold and that advertisements from the time of sale had also described it as real gold.
After melting and analyzing the piece, she confirmed that the Whisen logo was made of about 3.75 grams of pure gold. She later called the customer to say, “It is not 18-karat gold, but pure gold. The purity came out at 99.3 percent.” She purchased it for 713,000 won. The video has since surpassed 1.12 million views.
A scene from a video uploaded on Monday by YouTuber Ringring Unni shows a gold logo once attached to an LG Electronics Whisen air conditioner. Captured from YouTube
The gold logo is believed to have come from a limited-edition Whisen air conditioner released in 2005. LG Electronics sold the product to 10,000 customers on a first-come, first-served basis to mark ranking first in global air conditioner sales for five consecutive years.
Gold prices were far lower than today. The customer recalled, “Back then, they told me it would be worth about 10,000 won if you removed it.” In 2005, gold prices stood in the range of 50,000-70,000 won for 3.75 grams, the amount used in the logo. On Tuesday, the international gold price had climbed to 763,425 won for the same amount, based on the Korea Exchange’s closing price, representing a huge increase.
Additional cases of Whisen logo sales have since emerged. In another video uploaded on Monday, a different customer said her husband believed the logo was gold and took it to a gold exchange, only to be told it did not appear to be gold because there was no certificate. She said she had considered throwing it away and left it lying around until a video appeared in her feed. Ringring Unni purchased it for 748,000 won.
Online reactions poured in, with comments such as “This is a total jackpot” and “LG basically helped customers invest without them knowing.” Others expressed regret, saying they had thrown similar logos away without realizing their value, while some said they believed the same model might still be sitting in their parents’ homes.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.