• PhlubbaDubba@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    39
    ·
    7 months ago

    Doesn’t the US literally have the vast majority of the world’s original gold reserves from the bretton woods agreement before Nixon abolished the gold standard?

    • barsoap@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      edit-2
      7 months ago

      possession /= property. During Bretton-woods everyone deposited their gold in the US.

      The US own around 8.1k tonnes, EU member states 11.7k, Switzerland another 1000.

      Germany has the 2nd largest reserves by country (after the US), 3300 tons, and has been bringing gold physically home, completely emptying Paris’ vault, moving 500t from New York to Frankfurt, London stayed about stable.

      You now might be asking yourself “how the fuck do they transport 500t gold across the Atlantic” and the answer is: Nobody knows. The Bundesbank isn’t saying a thing short of that the gold went to Switzerland to be analysed and re-melted. It’s not much volume-wise though, about 9m3. My best bet is submarine to Germany’s north coast, then an inconspicuous train to Switzerland (it’s not like German subs can’t operate in shallow water but the Rhine, nope).

      • PhlubbaDubba@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        7 months ago

        Could have also used a transport barge, they’re apparently the most efficient means of shipping materials over long distances, granted this is primarily over river conditions.