“Good morning! Treasure-inspectors!”

I’ve often tried to speculate just how the gold & silver which was to be offered for the

Arkenstone was to be verified.

Presumably, as Thorin (at that time) had naught but his 12 companions, they could offer little resistance. So elf/human representatives would’ve had to be allowed to see what remained in the treasure hoard within so as to ascertain that they were indeed receiving their due share.

This leads me to imagine the dwarves running around the halls stuffing gold and silver into anything they could so as to hide it (in a vase; under the carpet; in the loo).

‘Not so hasty’ said Gandalf [>Bard] ‘[in three days>] we will give you until the day after tomorrow. At noon on that day we will return, and see if you have brought from the hoard the gold and silver that is to be set against the stone. If that is done without deceit, then we’ll depart, and the elfhost shall go back to the Forest. In the meantime, farewell. [‘The History of The Hobbit’, Third Phase, Chapter XVII, ‘The Battle of Five Armies’, (Tolkien/Rateliff)]