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.

[Regulator]

This is what got Nixon in trouble..when France tried to exchange dollars for gold.

They are all nervous after 6 years of massive money printing and would like to get rid of funny money....but there probably is no real metal to back it up....even a bit of it.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Just goes to show ya, physical gold needs to be in your possession from the SECOND you buy it.

Dopes.

[nascarnation]

It’s a bad feeling knowing this is gonna puke someday, but not knowing when.....

[LadyBuck]

Does anyone believe the gold is still there?

[GeronL]

I don’t

[Army Air Corps]

It seems that Germany does. I, for one, think that most of it is long gone.

[BCable]

But theft of a nations gold in your safe keeping would be grounds for war, wouldn’t it?

[Red Badger]

I don't, but it has to be somewhere........................

[Rusty0604]

I read in an article awhile back some German official said it was delayed for political reasons.

[Red Badger]

Gone but not forgotten. It has to be somewhere. I’d call the DNC................

[Red Badger]

Good a reason as any................

[Jet Jaguar]

Goldbug ping.

[Farmer Dean]

Check out select Democrats retirement plans.

[Army Air Corps]

The political reason being that that it is gone? ;-)

[Red Badger]

I've mislaid my car keys, my glasses and even my wallet. How can one misplace 300 tonnes (that's metric tonnes) of gold?...............metric tonne = 1000 kilograms is equivalent to approximately 2 204.6 pounds..............

[Army Air Corps]

Perhaps Debbie Downer spent it on mayonnaise for her hair.

[KarlInOhio]

I believe the Fed got caught playing fractional reserve banking games with the gold. 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. So that same hunk of gold belongs to Germany, B and D while the Fed, A and C all are liable for the gold. If Germany demands physical delivery then the whole short sale chain falls apart unless the Fed can get some other gold. It's like a run on the bank emptying out the vault of all the real cash leaving the bank unable to pay other depositors and trying to call in their loans.

If you see an unruly line forming at your bank, you're smart to get into it before they run out of money.

The question is did Germany's contract with the Fed allow them to do fiscal tricks like lending it for short selling, or did they get caught with their hands in the cookie jar when the Germans contracted for undisturbed physical storage of the gold? It's like the difference between a checking account where you don't expect to get the same stack of $20 bills back from the bank and a safe deposit bank where you expect your money will be undisturbed.

[Red Badger]

[Obama_Is_Sabotaging_America]

Would the U.S. mint be producing gold coins if the U.S. held no physical gold?