There are about fifty references to GOLD in the New World Book of Mormon. Although recent apologists for the church have emphasized the notion that the plates had the appearance of gold (and therefore, might not have been actual gold), the fact remains that the cornerstone of the religion is peppered with references to the existence of this metal on the Western Hemisphere – which didn’t exist until more than 300 years after the BOM timeline ended.
“[I]n Mesoamerica, gold doesn’t show up in any way until 700-800 AD. PERIOD. There’s NONE.”
Dr. Michael Coe/Anthropologist – Interview with John Dehlin (Salt Lake City, UT: MSPC, 12 August 2011).