Buba explains why US only gave Germany back 5 tonnes of gold

MINING ^ | February 24, 2014 | Frik Els

[george76]

On January 16, 2013 Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, said it will ship back home all 374 tonnes it had stored with the Banque de France in Paris, as well as 300 tonnes held in Manhattan by the US Federal Reserve, by 2020.

Fast forward a year and Buba, as the Federal Bank of Germany is affectionately (or maybe not) known, has only managed to bring home a paltry 37 tonnes of gold.

And a mere 5 tonnes of that came from the US, the rest from Paris. The US Fed holds 45% of the total 3,396 tonnes German gold.

Needless to say this prompted renewed questions whether Germany's gold still exists in those Manhattan vaults or if it has been melted down, leased or even sold.

At the time of the original Bundesbank announcement, there were rumours that Germany wanted their gold back because the Fed refused German officials a viewing of the bullion a couple of months earlier.

...

In November 2011, Venezuela repatriated some 180 tonnes of gold held in vaults in London and elsewhere to store it with the Caracas central bank under orders from late President Hugo Chavez.

[Gadsdenman]

It’s in China.

[RetiredArmy]

I’d be happy if they simply paid us for what we spent kicking their butts in WWII and rebuilding the nation after WWII. The amount of money the US had to spend fighting that war plus rebuilding Germany AND defending it for 60 years after the war runs in the trillions. We could pay off the debt it we could get that money back.

[Red Badger]

May be the reason for all the ‘dead bankers’, every few days, it seems....................

[Red Badger]

Maybe. It could also be in India.................

[LadyBuck]

The inspection refusal is kind of a red flag....

[Obama_Is_Sabotaging_America]

The Netherlands Has Repatriated 122.5 TONS of Gold From US

[Obadiah]

The brain dead Obama/Hillary supporters.

[mj1234]

Good one-

but actually I’d call the CHINESE!

I mean, how hard is it to move a couple of pallets over to
THEIR Vault

[Gadsdenman]

Sure, they get a great premium over the spot price, and buy gold on the open market.

[LadyBuck]

Lobster and Spanx aren’t cheap, even with a volume discount...

[Pecos]

When the Brits got some of theirs back, it had been re-cast. A chemical analysis showed that the bars had been diluted with base metals between the date we got it and the date we gave it back. Who knows how many years this has been going on? No one that will ever tell. When you combine that with “quantitative easing”, the results look like the Weimar Republic.

[The_Republic_Of_Maine]

On January 16, 2013 Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, said it will ship back home all 374 tonnes it had stored with the Banque de France in Paris, as well as 300 tonnes held in Manhattan by the US Federal Reserve, by 2020. Fast forward a year and Buba, as the Federal Bank of Germany is affectionately (or maybe not) known, has only managed to bring home a paltry 37 tonnes of gold. And a mere 5 tonnes of that came from the US,

Why would anyone trust a country that cheats on it's own citizens? Kind of like a guy asking a known adulterer to drive his drunk wife home.

[Teacher317]

Whatever was left in 2008 is likely looted and gone to all of Obama’s friends, just as the treasury has been looted... just as every other African dictator does to his nation.

[Boogieman]

“When the Brits got some of theirs back, it had been re-cast. A chemical analysis showed that the bars had been diluted with base metals between the date we got it and the date we gave it back.”

Do you have any source for this? I know some have recently found bullion on the open market that was debased with tungsten, but I had not heard that any of it was sourced from the U.S. government.

[KarlInOhio]

Not even an inspection would really prove that the Fed didn't "lend" the gold in a fractional (or even zero-) reserve system. The gold might never leave the shelf and still have multiple people claiming to own it.

Why am I reminded more and more of the episodes of the Beverly Hillbillies when Jed or Granny gets the idea to take all their money back from the Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills, much to the panic of Mr. Drysdale?

Yes, Herr Thiele, your gold is perfectly safe. There's no reason to take it back to Germany or even to look at it. It's just as heavy and shiny as ever.

nly once the gold had arrived in Europe was it melted down and brought to the current bar standard. Some of the bars in our stocks in New York were produced before the Second World War.

OK, some of the gold bars do have swastikas stamped on them, but those can be melted right out of them. We call it Operation Golden Paperclip.

[Skepolitic]

There is exactly zero ounces of gold that “back up” US Dollars.

US Dollars are fiat money with absolutely no backing other than the ability to use them to pay taxes and settle debts denominated in USD.

[ChildOfThe60s]

It seems that Germany does.

Maybe hey don't assume that Buba believes that. There is not much Germany can do in the short run if the US can't or won't give back the gold. Starting the dominos falling right now is not in their interest & will get them nothing.

[DoodleDawg]

If Germany owns the gold and stores it at the Fed, the Fed could "lend" it to person A who then sells short (on paper) to person B. Person C then borrows it and sells it short to person D.

No they couldn't because A) the gold doesn't belong to them, and B) the Fed doesn't deal with individuals. Around 98% of the gold in the vault at the New York Fed belongs to foreign countries. Virtually all the rest belongs to international agencies. Only a fraction of a percent belongs to the U.S.

[cynwoody]

I know some have recently found bullion on the open market that was debased with tungsten, but I had not heard that any of it was sourced from the U.S. government.

Apparently, the bad guys acquire real gold bars with appropriate official markings. Then they drill out most of the gold and replace it with tungsten, which has almost the same density as gold. However, the speed of sound in tungsten is quite different from that in gold, so it is easy to detect fakes non-invasively with an ultrasound scanner (video).

[wally_bert]

Maybe some military type in Germany with a last name resembling Kelly should try to sneak in and steal it back.