The United States “dumped” Europe and China by appropriating their gold reserves
The famous tale of the golden key can serve as an excellent illustration of how Americans rob the rest of the world. Remember how the cat Basilio and the fox Alice talked Pinocchio into placing his modest capital on the Field of Miracles in the Land of Fools? The gullible fairy-tale character followed the scammers' lead, hoping to keep his savings and make a profit, but in the end he lost his five gold pieces. Likewise, the United States managed to acquire gold from many countries, including Russia. And getting it back, as it turns out, is now almost impossible.
So far, only one country in the world has managed to get money from the overseas “field of miracles” - France. Before World War II, the US gold reserve was 13 thousand tons, and after it ended it doubled. This happened not only at the expense of the losing Germany, but also at the suggestion of the Yankees’ allies – the USSR and France. Our country paid the Americans in gold for supplies of food and various military equipment (Moscow fully paid off its debts under the so-called Lend-Lease only in the 70s). And Paris found itself in a completely stupid situation. Shortly before the start of the war, the French government, fearing an invasion by German troops, exported a significant part of the country's gold reserves. The gold turned out to be overseas. It would seem that after the war he should have been returned to Paris. But that was not the case, the Americans delayed the process, emphasizing the fact that French gold was not formally considered a state gold reserve, since it was delivered and placed in the United States by private individuals, albeit in pursuance of the will of the leadership of the republic. All in all, a confusing story. Not hoping to unravel it by legal means, French President Charles de Gaulle took probably the most unconventional solution to the issue. In 1965, he collected all the paper dollars he could - one and a half billion in cash - and took them to the United States, inviting American President Lyndon Johnson to exchange this waste paper at the official rate, $35 per ounce of gold. And Johnson, who did not expect such impudence, was forced to make an exchange. But not the entire money supply, but approximately half of it. One way or another, already in August 1965, France’s gold reserves amounted to 4,400 tons of the precious metal. And most importantly, Paris insisted that the gold bars it owned would not be stored in the vaults of the Federal Bank of New York, but would be moved to their homeland.
Sixty countries around the world store their gold reserves in the United States
Paris insisted, but Berlin failed. Two years ago, several not the poorest countries, including Germany and Holland, tried to return their gold reserves, “buried” in the overseas “field of miracles”. But in vain. No, in Washington, of course, they were promised that someday - in the apt expression of the Strugatsky brothers, “with the passage of eternity” - the gold would be given back. Just not soon.
It is believed that the German gold reserve is the second in the world after the American one - 3,400 tons, which in market value corresponds to approximately 140 billion euros. All this gold was purchased on the exchanges of New York, London and Paris. And there it remained - “in trust.” It got to the point that approximately 45% of Germany's gold reserves (about 1,500 tons of the precious metal) were stored in the US Federal Reserve System, another 450 tons in the UK and 374 tons in France. When two years ago, deputies of the Bundestag counted how much gold was located directly in Germany, they were quite surprised, counting only a little more than 1,000 tons. A scandal broke out. “Can a country be considered sovereign if two-thirds of its gold reserves are stored abroad?” – MPs rhetorically asked Chancellor Angela Merkel. But nothing was achieved.
By the way, in this regard, the behavior of official Berlin towards Moscow in the light of the Ukrainian crisis appears in a new light. It’s not difficult to understand the Germans: it’s scary to lose preferences in trade with Russia, but even worse is to lose half of your gold reserves, “buried” in the depths of the Federal Reserve System of America. By the way, today the gold reserves of 60 countries of the world are “stored” in the United States - partially or completely. Sixty “Pinocchio” – and one “field of miracles” for all!
Following Germany, the Netherlands also tried to return home their gold reserves - after the local press informed the Dutch that 90% of their gold reserves (612.5 tons) were located overseas. Holland, I must say, was amazed - why, in fact, can’t you keep money in your own money-box, and not in an American one? The publication of an interview with Jim Rickards, author of the book “Currency Wars,” added fuel to the fire, saying that “if absolutely necessary, the United States can confiscate the gold of other countries that it holds.” There are rumors that it was Washington's refusal to return the gold to the Dutch that provoked Queen Beatrix's abdication. But their gold was not returned to the Dutch, just like the Germans.
However, rather than counting someone else’s gold, it’s better to think about your own. And there is no doubt that there are also ingots of Russian origin in the vaults of Fort Knox.
How much gold did America steal from Russia?
It is difficult to say how much Russian gold is overseas. According to some sources, one and a half tons, according to others - at least ten. Let's try to count. So, in 1914–1916, the Russian Empire set out to purchase large quantities of weapons in England and America. Foreign contractors set a condition: 100 percent prepayment in gold. Russia paid in full. And then it suddenly became clear that Great Britain did not have the ability to deliver weapons on time: only about 10% of the order was in warehouses, and the gunsmiths committed to produce another 20% by the end of 1916 and send it to Arkhangelsk. But the February Revolution broke out, then the October Revolution, and they forgot about the advance payment received in London. And the United States, in turn, did not send anything to Russia at all: deliveries were supposed to begin only in February 1917, but due to political confusion in Petrograd they never began. Meanwhile, the money was received in full - about 200 million gold rubles settled in London and the same amount overseas.
At one time, the famous Soviet historian, employee of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Professor Vladlen Sirotkin, was counting the Russian money that was stuck in English and American banks during the First World War. According to his calculations, only from the end of 1915 to the end of 1916, the tsarist government sent several shipments of gold to the United States as collateral for the purchase of weapons and “smokeless powder.” But neither weapons nor gunpowder ever reached our country, although the American company DuPont Chemical even began building a gunpowder plant in Connecticut in order to quickly fulfill the Russian order. According to Sirotkin, the contract with DuPont Chemical alone, which was guaranteed by the American government, was valued at 40 million British pounds, which in terms of gold amounted to 500 tons of the precious metal!
Four years ago, State Duma deputies set out to collect old debts from foreigners - primarily from the United States. The initiative did not come out of nowhere. Back in 1992, an International Expert Council on foreign Russian gold, real estate and royal debts was created in Russia, and a little later a commission was organized in the State Duma, which, along with deputies, included experts such as Vladlen Sirotkin and Mark Masarsky. But the activities of these structures, as Sirotkin noted in his memoirs, were “artificially slowed down.” In 2010, the Duma held extensive hearings on the issue of collecting foreign debts in favor of our country, but since then nothing has changed - no one intends to return the “tsar’s gold” to us.
Why doesn't America give away other people's gold? She sold it a long time ago!
It must be said that the turning point in issues of external debts of Tsarist Russia was the visit of former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev to Paris in 1990. During this visit, Gorbachev concluded an agreement with the French government, according to which the Soviet side, for the first time since the October Revolution of 1917, declared itself the legal successor of the pre-revolutionary Russian Empire, as well as all the temporary regimes that arose on its territory in 1918–1922. Two years later, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, there in Paris, renegotiated this agreement, and now the Russian Federation became the legal successor. It must be said that we returned our debts from 100 years ago to foreigners in full. But neither the USA, nor England, nor Japan repaid our debts. Why? As for the Americans, according to rumors, they simply... don’t have our gold! As, indeed, the German one.
The US Federal Reserve long ago parted with German gold and used it in its banking operations, says Vasily Yakimkin, associate professor at the Faculty of Finance and Banking of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration: “There have been no German bars in the USA for a long time. Therefore, the German leadership was persuaded at the highest level to reverse the decision to return the gold to Germany. It’s clear that the Americans sold and resold it.” The economist-theorist is echoed by practitioner, one of the first Soviet millionaires, German Sterligov: “Gold reserves were removed from the territory of the United States long ago, including German ones. Fort Knox is empty, the common fund was stolen - they didn’t “throw it like that” even in Russia, even in the 90s. The real masters of the world have seized almost the entire gold reserve of humanity. But the gold reserves of America’s satellite countries were also stored in Fort Knox.”
Don't believe domestic experts? Trust the Americans. Here's what, for example, Paul Craig Roberts, a former assistant for economic policy to the US Treasury Secretary in the Ronald Reagan administration, recently said: “None of the countries that store their gold in America will get it back. It has long been suspected in the global precious metals market that banks, on behalf of the Federal Reserve, used all available reserves to drive down gold prices over the past few years. And after the States spent their gold, they began to sell off what they had in storage. In my opinion, most of the gold reserves were depleted around 2011. By now, I think the American authorities no longer have any reserves of gold.”
Instead of ingots, the Americans returned counterfeits to the Chinese
Indirect confirmation that the Americans have significant problems with their gold reserves can be seen in the not so long ago story of the so-called Chinese tungsten gold. In October 2009, the US Treasury Department sent a shipment of gold to China, 5,600 bars of 400 ounces each. Either the Chinese government suspected something wrong, or found out for sure, but for the first time in history, experts were tasked with checking the purity and weight of gold bars. And a scandal immediately broke out - the bars turned out to be fake. They were made of tungsten, coated with the finest amalgam of real gold. The registration numbers of the bullion batch indicated that the counterfeits came from the Federal Reserve Banks during the time when Bill Clinton was US President. It was then that, for some reason, about one and a half million tungsten tiles weighing 400 ounces were produced by order of Fed bankers. Later, 640 thousand “ingots” from this batch went to Fort Knox. And the rest, as the Chinese found out, the Yankees sold on the international gold market. Experts estimated the damage from the so-called Clinton scam at $600 billion. But maybe there was no scam? Was the fact that gold was replaced with tungsten a forced measure designed to somehow hide the bankruptcy of the country?
Paul Craig Roberts, mentioned above, voiced a version that the scandalous resignation of the former chief of the International Monetary Fund, Strauss-Kahn, could be connected with the fact that he became aware of the lack of gold reserves in the United States: “Strauss-Kahn began to show increasing concern after America has slowed down the shipment of 191 tons of gold to the IMF.” Another equally famous and influential American, Congressman Ron Paul, recently accused his government of hiding true information about the gold reserve and insisted on its official audit. As we know, there is no smoke without fire, and the recent refusal of the Obama administration to audit the gold reserves only confirms the worst assumptions: a mouse may actually have hanged itself in the Fort Knox vaults.
OPINIONS
Nikolay STARIKOV, political scientist:
– The struggle for state sovereignty and the struggle for gold are surprisingly intertwined. Why not return all the gold stored in America to Germany? Is it reasonable? Quite. But it is impossible to directly answer that the presence of Germany’s gold reserves abroad is insurance in case of an attempt by the Germans to escape from the control of the Americans. But in fact, all this sudden concern of German parliamentarians did not arise out of nowhere - in March 2012, the German parliament decided to check whether “partners” from the US Federal Reserve System had begun to famously back certain transactions with German gold?..
Arsen MARTIROSYAN, historian, writer:
“Unfortunately, not only Russian gold, but also a lot of currency disappeared without a trace in Western banks and vaults. Did you know that in 1918–1919, “gentlemen Leninists” opened accounts in Swiss banks for fabulous sums at that time? For example, a deposit worth 85 million Swiss francs was opened in the name of Dzerzhinsky, 75 million in the name of Lenin, 80 million in the name of Zinoviev, and 90 million in the name of Trotsky! All these contributions appeared during the period of Dzerzhinsky’s foreign voyage, who was accompanied by the personal representative of Yakov Sverdlov, named Avanesov. After Lenin’s death and until his death, Stalin carried out Operation Cross to search for funds stolen from Russia by the “gentlemen Leninists”. He managed to return a lot, but, unfortunately, no less, if not more, remained abroad.
RIA News
Arsen MARTIROSYAN, historian, writer
Nikolay STARIKOV, political scientist
Two anti-favorites in gold reserves
The lowest level of gold and foreign exchange reserves can be noted in two countries, such as Mexico and Ukraine.
Regarding Mexico, it is difficult to say anything precise - everything is too confusing. But as for Ukraine, everything is clear and understandable. Since 1999, and to this day, Ukraine’s gold reserves have been decreasing at a catastrophic rate, which is undoubtedly facilitated by events in eastern Ukraine and conflicts in the government.
In 2014, there was a massive export of gold, which threatened Ukraine with economic collapse. During the division of Ukrainian assets between the government and local oligarchs, a huge scandal almost broke out. The situation was softened only by a cash tranche from America.
Gold makes up 0.5% of global assets
Credit Suisse estimates that global financial assets are worth $360 trillion. Of these reserves, 85 trillion or 24% comes from the stock market. The global bond market accounts for 100 trillion (28%). Investment gold amounts to about 35,000 tons or 1.9 trillion, i.e. only 0.5%.
Since investment gold accounts for only 0.5%, while stocks are allocated 24%, the question arises, why is the US government doing everything possible to increase the value of stocks by printing money and at the same time suppressing the price of gold? Why are shareholders helped to get rich, while precious metal holders are punished?
The authorities clearly support the actions and thus gain votes. Only a small percentage of investors own gold, and therefore manipulating the price of the precious metal will not be expensive.
Gold confiscation
As I said, some governments may attempt to seize the gold, but this is extremely difficult, both legally and logistically. Additionally, if it is stored overseas, many countries will resist or refuse to ship the metal to the states.
Currently, the gold market is global. The Chinese government supports 1.4 billion people who own this asset. In India, it is customary for most families to keep gold and give it as wedding gifts. And in Russia, reserves have grown from 400 tons in 2006 to 2300 today, that is, four times. These countries understand the irreplaceability of gold.
It is almost impossible to prevent companies or individuals from trading the yellow metal outside the US or Europe - in Shanghai, Singapore or Zurich.
As the epicenter moves to China and eastern countries, the US and Western states are unlikely to engage in confiscation. This will accelerate the fall of the dollar and euro, and will also significantly weaken the positions of the US and EU and their economies.
Remember: “He who owns the gold makes the rules.”
Therefore, I believe that the chance of confiscation is very small. Governments have an easier way to access the assets of rich people: high taxes. From my point of view, this is what awaits us. As the deficit grows, all the assets of wealthy individuals will be taxed, and then not only gold will represent only 0.5% of global financial assets. Therefore, tax planning, including jurisdiction, is as important as wealth planning.
So will there be an audit?
No one knows exactly how much gold is stored in the United States. An audit is required to clarify this issue. A random inspection was carried out in 2012, the results of this inspection amazed everyone with their brevity.
The report said that the test was successful, the gold was counted and its value was equal to a certain number of millions, and the total amount was several hundred tons. That's all the information. So nothing concrete is known.
But the now-elected new President Trump has promised to look into this issue. He is sure that there really is no gold anymore. The new US president, as he himself put it, will strive to restore the former value of his country's currency.
I would like to note that Russia is one of the few countries whose gold reserves are stored exclusively in Russia.
Strategic industry in Switzerland
Confiscation of gold in Switzerland is very unlikely. The extraction and storage of yellow metal in our country is a strategic industry. Switzerland produces 70% of the world's gold bullion, making it an indispensable player in the global gold mining industry. In addition, the precious metal accounts for 29% of Swiss exports, and the country holds most of the world's private gold. Storing funds in gold metal is a long-standing Swiss tradition. Typically, the Swiss prefer the Vreneli coin.
The volume of gold held in private vaults in the country is growing every year. This is facilitated by a stable political system, the rule of law, centuries-old democracy and neutrality. Confiscation of metal is also unconstitutional. A politician I know said that if the Swiss government confiscates gold, people will rebel. I believe that for these reasons, the country's reputation as a gold center will only increase, and it will become the best place in the world to store precious metals.
Jim Sinclair's score
Jim Sinclair and Bill Halter, two of the most respected men in the gold mining industry, calculated the real value of gold in the United States based on an estimated 8,000 tons and calculated the balance. The projected cost was between $50,000 and $87,000. And this, as Jim says, is if the US actually has the declared reserve. Let's say the US only has 4,000 tons, then the price of gold will double those numbers. Suppose that almost all American precious metal was sold or leased - then the price goes to infinity. But 4000 tons or slightly less seems more realistic.
Market overview
Equity markets
Stock markets are completing an upward correction that will take another week or two. After this, we will witness a rapid global decline and reach new lows.
Gold and precious metals markets
Precious metals are in a strong uptrend and gold is about to reach its 2011 high. Over the past two years, the yellow metal has already surpassed its 2011-12 peaks. in other currencies. Remember that correction is an integral part of an uptrend.
It doesn't matter what gold is worth in worthless paper money, whether it's $58,000 as Sinclair predicts or $10,000 as my 18-year forecast. Time will show.
It is now critical to hold physical gold as a hedge against monetary and financial systems that are in the process of collapsing.
Author: Egon von Greyerz | GoldSwitzerland May 28, 2021 | Translation: Gold Reserve
Automatic exchange of financial information
Thus, Switzerland and its banks were forced to open. Today, all banks in the world exchange information based on the OECD Common Reporting Standard. This is an automatic exchange of information (AEOI) between most countries.
The reason why Switzerland gave in was because the US authorities threatened to freeze all the assets of the US branch of UBS. However, there is also a problem from a moral point of view, since it is difficult to justify actions that are legal in one country but considered fraudulent in others.
Gold or other precious metals held in private vaults are not currently reported on Americans' tax returns. The same goes for property. But based on anti-money laundering regulations, no serious precious metals storage company will accept undeclared funds or metals. Therefore, no reputable gold firm will accept client funds or assets that are not processed in accordance with the tax laws of the client's country.
Since it is completely legal for Americans to store their precious metals in Switzerland, I doubt that the Swiss government will cooperate with the US tax authorities if they demand the return of the gold.
Central bank gold is irrevocably moving east
In the past, when central banks leased gold, it remained with bullion banks in London or New York. Today, China and India are major buyers. They purchase the metal from banks in London or New York, after which 400-ounce units are sent to Switzerland, where they are divided into kilo bars. Next, the finished goods are sent to the east. Banks lease 400oz bars from the central bank and then sell them to buyers in another part of the world.
In other words, the central bank leases the gold to another bank, which sells it to India or China. As a result, the second bank no longer has physical metal, and the central bank is left with only an IOU. This means that both institutions are constantly losing physical gold. It will never come back. The borrower will default on its obligations because it will not be able to provide the precious metal to the central bank, which in turn will forever be deprived of its physical reserves. This is why the Central Banks do not have the volume of physical gold that they talk about.
