We had several news items last week that boggled the mind. The most astonishing was the Bundesbank doing a 180 degree U-turn and saying that the gold that was delivered to them last year was not refined in the U.S.; it was done in Germany after the arrival. This of course raises many more questions than already existed.
Originally when it was “told” that the U.S. refined the gold, the simple question of “why?” was out there. This was passed off by Germany by explaining that these bars needed to be “LGD” (London Good Delivery) 400 ounce bars. This really did not pass the smell test but it was what it was. Questions arose that maybe this gold was “coin melt” and commentators speculated that Germany needed to take the heat off of the Fed by making their “refined in the U.S.” statement. This now is apparently not the truth as Germany now says that they refined the gold?
But now there are more questions. Where in Germany was it refined? Could we maybe see some sort of “chain of custody” or bill of lading showing the movement of the gold? Why hasn’t anyone come forward and cleared this up, someone surely at the refinery or a part of the transport plans could step up and “swear” that they touched the gold, handled the gold or even “saw the gold?” But no, so far no one knows nuthin.’
As I explained in my article last week “Monkey Business,” gold has a fingerprint if it is not 99.999% pure. Based on purity and whatever other elements are mixed in, its origin or previous ownership can be narrowed down quite precisely. THIS is the problem that Germany is attempting to avoid (for the Fed) by making and then reversing their statements. Obviously by reversing their statement, “credibility” now comes into question…because the gold was both refined in the US…or in Germany but…it can’t be both and in reality if it was the SAME, original gold, it shouldn’t be either one! By reversing their statement they announced to the world “we are liars.” One of the two statements is a lie by common logic, which one you ask? Does it matter? They can’t even fall back on the old “it was a mistake” line because we are not talking about whether this gold was in “the front right pocket or left pocket.” Do you realize the logistics that had to have been undertaken? 37.5 tons? 75,000 pounds? 2 billion dollars? The guards and armored trucks involved? The chain of custody? And they want us to believe that “oops we made a mistake,” it was refined 5,000 miles away in a different country, different continent, different time zone in a different refinery? Oops! Really?
Getting to the meat of the matter and forgetting that when you lie once you’ll need to lie bigger and then even BIGGER to cover the first lie(s), why did this gold even need to be refined? Again, because it apparently had a “bad” fingerprint. “Bad” meaning it was not the original fingerprint, shape or size that this German gold was originally delivered in. It’s really quite simple, it’s NOT the same gold that was originally delivered and you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to come to this conclusion.
So…what’s the big deal, they got this gold back right? Well, us conspiracy nuts were screaming a year ago when the deliveries were originally announced that there was no way it could take 8 years to get 20% of their gold back…if it was really there and held in the NY Fed’s vault. Right now it’s looking pretty good for the conspiracy nuts huh? In a nutshell, Germany’s gold is obviously not there any longer…something has happened to it. Was it leased out? Sold? Melted down and given away as Valentines gifts? Who knows? It really doesn’t matter; the only thing that absolutely positively does matter is that the NY Fed did something it wasn’t supposed to do with the gold, the wealth of another sovereign nation that they were entrusted to the safekeeping of…period, end of story.
Of course there are a few other nagging questions like “this was only 37.5 tons, what about the other 262.5 tons that are supposed be shipped?” Oh, yes I know, the real whackos might even ask, “What about the OTHER 1,462.5 tons that are supposedly ‘held’ in safekeeping?” Did Cupid get a hold of any (all?) of this gold and go on a “giving spree?” I have to ask, why are the Germans blowing their credibility to cover for something that they didn’t do? It IS THEIR gold after all. They didn’t do anything wrong except deposit the gold in the first place and now are making false statements.
As with pretty much any and all lies, this one will come to a head. 2014 will be all about “deliveries” or the lack of. It won’t matter whether it’s COMEX, the LBMA, GLD or anywhere else. A failure can be hidden or swept under the rug depending on “whom” it is that gets failed to deliver to, the Germans are a prime example. The Chinese however are a different story and most probably one that we will hear about very loudly!
I’ve probably read a thousand times that one of the reasons that gold is money is that it is fungible. Is this no longer true? If I deposited a $100 bill in the bank and did not get the exact same bill out on withdrawal I wouldn’t read anything into it.
I’m pretty sure that the vault under the NY Fed is similar to your safety deposit box in a bank. If you opened your box and found a different $100 bill in it…would you scratch your head a little? Especially since Germany’s gold was supposedly “allocated” and not available to be lent against or encumbered in any way. I guess what I am getting at is the rule of law, “dystopian atheist” pretty much says it all.
Mr Holter, You make some very good points. I don’t believe that Germany is going to get their gold back. They will get a little in drips and drabs. I don’t feel sorry for Germany at all. They are a party to this whole gold scheme just like the US and Britain is. That’s why they are not making a big fuss over it like they should be. They know they are at huge risk of never seeing their gold again. And, chances are that the US will never see its gold again. Misery loves company. My Mom always told me that and it apply’s here. Thanx, G
The Fed can simply end the repatriation rights of sovereign nations can they not? The US already did something similar in 1971 and nobody went to war.
At this point, perhaps Germany is just saying what they need to say to get any gold back….before a rash of repatriation orders come in.
Unlike France, maybe they don’t want to broadcast what the obvious truth is…just get back the gold and then maybe tell the rest of the world.
yes and no. In 1971 foreigners were told that they could no longer “convert” dollars into gold. It’s an entirely different thing not returning gold that was held for safekeeping.
Listen to this interview by Jim Willie. His take on things is always interesting.
http://usawatchdog.com/dr-jim-willie-treasury-bond-will-be-phased-out-and-gold-phased-in/
I like Jim Willie but he has many views that extend the envelope out to the extreme. When you are in a group and you are brain banging for scenario’s you can come with some really weird stuff that most likely will not happen. I think that is what Mr Willie is doing. He has some smart friends etc. I do not agree with most of the details of his scenario’s. I do agree that there will be global currency reset event in the future although I have no idea when that will happen. They will use this procedure to try and stave off the effects of hyperinflation but it will be nothing more than a temp fix. 2014 could very well be a fairly uneventful year in contrast to some of the guru’s well intentioned predictions.
Germany knows the gold is gone but the minute that becomes mainstream knowledge is the same minute they have to write it off and explain to their own people of their involvement. Denial allows some chance of recovery while avoiding political mayhem.
correct
Could be the ‘fingerprint’ would disclose it came from Indonesia (a story fall 2012 indicated this was the reason for western intervention..to gain control of production of similar yearly quantity committed to Germany.
Or the fingerprint could ‘point’ to US 1933 coin-melt, or to Yamashita’s gold.
What was the origin of the original German origin (assumed to have been made post WWII)? Dental filling-melt from WWII Black-eagle trust gold? Where else would war-debt impaired Germany have gotten any gold immediately post WWII Bretton Woods era to deposit? (here’s your share back of the gold we confiscated from the Third Reich)
I’ve read the majority of the world’s gold is refined in Switzerland. Why would there even be a smelting capacity of any kind in Germany? They have no mines.
The story would be interesting, but as others have said…the real story is tardiness of delivery and less origin of the gold.
the story WAS tardiness which got poo pooed last year as conspiracy thought. Now the story is origin of and where the gold was actually refined ONLY because Germany made these two public statements. Had they said nothing, the only question would have been “why only 37.5 tons?”.
To me, more the point is the lying. We can’t believe ANYTHING the politicos tell us these days because we know they have no problem telling us lies if it will suite their purposes to do so. You don’t question this fact do you? Now we’ve heard two, or three, or four different versions of the Germany Gold story, and we do know they can’t all be the truth… What we do know is we’ve been lied to, and who’s surprised by that? The unemployment figures, the inflation figures, whatever the figures or stories – we cannot be confident what we are being told is the truth… Paraphrasing, “The problem with lying is that when you tell the truth no one can be sure that what you’re saying is the truth.” Is our gold still in Fort Knox? And if so why are the opposed to an audit to prove it is? Don’t be naïve.
“The second vice is lying, the first vice is running in debt… Lying rides upon debt’s back.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
I personally don’t even believe they received the 37.5 tons at all. I believe the whole story is a LIE but made to give some form of credibility that some work on returning the gold is going on. That is the reason the story is changing so much. No gold was returned but the numbers were fabricated just like all the other numbers which are fed to us such as CPI and BLS. Think about this, the original LIE was that it would take 7-8yrs. That in itself is ridiculous for such small amount of gold, when 1000’s of tons trade everyday especially when its time to smack down the price. They can tell us anything but from the beginning the story was a LIE. I believe this negotiation with IRAN is another LIE also. Why? We are being fed information only from our news sources which are bought and paid for. Also, 6mths from now will put us July 20th and that is right when the wheels of this economy should show its real wear coming off. Remember SIRI said July 27th Opening the Gates of Hades? Hmm I wonder why they have 7days after, the treaty is up SIRI is talking about the gates of hell being opened?