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Gold 101: Who's Got It And Who's Finding It
With the dramatic rise in gold's popularity many still need to be educated about some of the core concepts of the gold market, such as who holds it, and who produces it. Courtesy of Money Hacker we have a useful visual representation that answers precisely these two questions. In addition, here are some of the most useful and trivial factoids about gold, that have no bearing on its price whatsoever, but serve as perfect cocktail small talk.
![Who’s Got All The Gold and Who’s Mining It [Infographic]](http://www.moneychoices.com.au/media/uploads/offers/gold-infographic-1200px.jpg)
Some Insights into the data on the infographic:
All Gold Ever Mined – The total amount of gold ever mined is estimated to be worth around US$5 trillion.
How Gold is Used – You might have though (like me)
that most of the gold in the world stored in bank vaults and lock-boxes?
Actually, 78 % of the worlds’ gold is made into jewelery. Other
industries, mostly electronics, medical, and dental, require about 12%.
The remaining 10% of the yearly gold supply is used in financial
transactions.
Producers and Owners – The starkest contrast is
South Africa: number 27 on the list of nations that own the most gold
list despite producing the most gold in the world per year from its
mines.
Gold production in the United States – The State of
Nevada has the world’s lowest cost and most profitable gold mines. The
mines average output is about 7 million ounces per year.
The Fed’s Vault – The Federal Reserve Bank of New
York has the largest accumulation of monetary gold. The vault is 25
meters (80 feet) underground and holds $147 billion worth of gold
bullion.
Current gold price trading on Wall Street:
If the value of gold on the New York stock market is anything to go by then you can see how much its been a safe haven for investors:
And now for some facts and factoids about gold:
Gold Discovery – The first discovery of gold in the
USA is the found of 8-kilograms stone of gold by the son of the farmer.
He and his father were using this stone as the support for a door until
the local jeweller noticed it. And the owner sold this stone for $3.5.
Finally the farmer understood this piece was very valuable and opened
the first gold-mine in the country.
Largest Gold Nugget Ever Found – The largest gold
nugget ever found was in Australia in 1869. It was named “Welcome
Stranger,” It weighed 78 kilograms. After it was melted down 71 Kg of
pure gold was left.
The US Gold Drain – When the American dollar was
first pushed as the world de-facto currency it was backed by gold. One
ounce of gold was worth $35 dollars. After 25 years of the American’s
continual printing of money however, $35 dollars was no longer worth
an ounce of gold. In actual fact one ounce of gold was worth $105. As a
result foreign countries, beginning with France in the late 1960’s,
started to buy gold at $35 dollars until the United States Government
stopped selling its gold, thus removing gold backing from its dollar.
Private Gold Ownership Banned in the USA – Private ownership of gold was banned in the United States for 41 years. It lasted from 1933 to 1974.
Gold Refined and Rare – If all the gold that had
been refined in the world was put into a cube, its sides would be
roughly 20 metres long but would only weigh 1/10 of the Washington
Monument.
Gold Nugget – Gold nuggets are actually quite rare. A gold nugget can sell for up to 4 times the worth of the amount of gold in it.
Gold Leaf – Gold leaf is commonly 0.18 microns
(seven millionths of an inch) thick. It’s so thin that a stack of 7,055
sheets would be no thicker than a dime.
Largest Gold Nugget Still in Nugget Form – The ‘Hand
of Faith’, is the largest gold nugget still in existence. It weighs 27
Kg (60 pounds) and is currently on display at the Golden Nugget hotel
and casino in Las Vegas.
Gold and Medicine – Thousands of rheumatoid
arthritis victims have chemically liquefied gold injected into their
muscles. It is said that the treatment is successful in seven out of ten
cases.
The Heaviness of Gold – Gold is so heavy that one cubic foot of it weighs half a ton.
The Malleability of Gold – A single ounce of gold can be drawn into a wire 60 miles long.
Gold in Water – The worlds’ largest stock pile of
gold is actually in the oceans. For every cubic mile of sea water there
is 25 tons of gold! That’s a total of about 10 billion tons of gold in
the oceans; unfortunately, there’s no known way to recover it
economically.
Artificial Creation of Gold – Gold can be transmitted from platinum by nuclear reaction. But, because of the rarity of platinum, it is far too costly.
Gold in Space – The visors of astronauts’ space
helmets receive a coating of gold so thin (0.00005 millimeters, or
0.000002 inches) that it is partially transparent. The astronauts can
see through it, but even this thin layer reduces glare and heat from
sunlight.
Gold in the Bible – You may be interested to know that gold is mentioned 417 times in the Bible. And, the last book of the New Testament, the Book of Revelation states that in the New Heavens and New Earth the streets will made from pure gold!
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If Ron gets his way, you might need to adjust those numbers.
Indeed, I bet some countries have a lot more gold than they admit, and others likely have little physical left.
I love Ron Paul. He is a true patriot.
However...
Per http://silveraxis.com/todayinsilver/2010/08/25/grounding-the-hype-audit-...
"Paging Dr. Paul! The U.S. gold reserves held at Ft. Knox and elsewhere are actually under the control of the U.S. Mint, a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department, and these gold reserves are ALREADY being audited by the independent accounting firm KPMG. In fact, an annual audit has been ongoing for a number of years, first by inspectors of the U.S. Treasury Department since the 1980s (Treasury inspectors are sworn federal law enforcement personnel) with additional audits by independent accounting firms starting in the 1990s."
Much more in the full article on Silveraxis. Personally, I would be more confident if Mr. Paul, the media, and a few hundred other people were allowed to audit along with KPMG, but that's because I have a very low level of trust on these matters.
Also, astute readers may notice that in the above map of the world's gold reserves that several countries are strangely absent.
Ron was just talking about the US Mint the other day. He also specifically states that an audit would need to include claims on the gold. So it sounds like he's fully aware of these obvious "facts."
maybe we could have moodys fitch and S&P rate the gold too.
audit KPMG...
There is absolutely NO WAY the USA has 8000 tons of Gold. That 8000 ton number was compiled in 1954! Since then we've had the collapse of the London Gold Pool. By the Fed's own admission Gold moved from the NYFed to the LBMA like sh*t through a goose from 1960 to 1968. Does anyone know how many tons they sold before the London Gold Pool collapsed in 1968?
Add to that roughly 20 years of Gold Swaps or Gold "leasing"( it left the US and its not coming back) by Central Banks (i.e. Da Fed). Remember Greenspans "we stand ready to lease gold in ever increasing quantities" speech in 1994 (public record).
Not to mention about 1/2 of the 8000 tons as of 1954 was in 22 carat melt form not 24 carat Good Delivery Bar form. This means the US (i.e. Da Fed) has probably leased around 4000 tons since 1954 and aren't going to get it back unless we want to invade India and start reclaiming gold necklaces.
Since India has Nuclear Weapons and they love George Bush we're unlikely to do that.
Whose gold is in the NY fed and whose gold is in Ft Knox, and if its the same gold why does the fed (private) have the US gov (public) gold.
Good question. Almost as good as Who owns the FED? Oh you mean all the TBTF member banks that got bailed out own/control the FED? And the FED is the 'regulator' of its 'owners'?
OK, now it makes sense.
Yeppers.
This article is based on dated data and probably more than one big lie.
Can we not get the Disney version anymore, please?
++ thesapien - i'm with dr paul on the auditing any promises/derivitives/leverage against any so-called bullion stores, as well as being pretty certain that the entire GLD hoard is a (brilliant) market-value soaking sham.
so, will the emotional history of gold and its growing grip on the average joe's psych be enough to make meaningless the CRIMEX/london price 'fix' someday soon? (barter bitchez?)
and JB, for most in here, it's not an investment, it's insurance. you'll be much happier when you differentiate this distinction when debating the various participants.
by definition, you cannot map insurance value on a squiggly graph (support/resistance, etc.) - in the normal context, insurance is worth nothing until a change in context enables redemption.
slightly oversimplified, but to those in this camp, trading gold is merely a maintenance premium to manage their insurance levels against competing personal demands.
10 years ago (when real-estate only went up), gold was quickly fading into 'barbarous relic' status. just saw a 'got gold?' bumper sticker randomly affixed to a county street sign yesterday... heh.
I kind of think US citizens will follow and not lead this gold bull market. The squeeze will not come from my neighbors.
I do like your gold is insurance theme, though. But, again, my neighbors think insuring their families means putting all of your eggs in someone else's basket and praying they'll hatch instead of actually saving each month and building your own nestegg.
Goled, bitchez
People should take a look at current world production lists and compare those to 50 years ago.
You'll note that RSAs production has declined very steeply and that the production figures in the world were only kept up by going after more, smaller producers, essentially fragmenting the production base. The highest quality ores went first, here, RSA, etc. Only once these were depleted did the miners pursue lesser reserves.
The same is true with oil. We are not in the GOM due to some conspiracy nor mining in backwaters shitholes on account of one.
101 Facts About Gold
Here is a wild card variable that has been dismissed and marginalized. The following is not political or personal, but, only posted as a possible "black swan" event, however unlikely, which may enter into the gold mathematics. The following was an issued press release.
THREE-STAR GENERAL FILES SWORN AFFIDAVIT SUPPORTING LTC LAKIN’S CASE
______________________________________
JUDGE TO RULE THURSDAY ON DEFENSE REQUEST FOR DEPOSITION OF HAWAIIAN OFFICIALS AND FOR WRITTEN DISCOVERY OF ALL OF PRESIDENT’S SCHOOL AND COLLEGE RECORDS
__________________________________
Hearing set for Sept 2 at 1100 at Fort Meade, Maryland
________________________________________
Washington, D.C., August 31, 2010. Retired Air Force Lieutenant General Thomas McInerney has supplied an affidavit in support of Army Lieutenant Colonel Terrence Lakin, who faces trial on October 13-15. The retired Air Force three-star is the highest ranking officer yet to lend public support to LTC Lakin. His affidavit acknowledges widespread concerns over the President's Constitutional eligibility and demands the President release his birth records or the court authorize discovery.
McInerney’s sworn affidavit was filed in Court-Martial in support of Lakin’s motions for subpoenas for all of the president’s school records, and for a deposition of the custodian of Obama’s birth records in the possession of the State of Hawaii. The Judge has set a hearing in the Court Martial on these motions for this coming Thursday, September 2nd at 11:00 at Ft. Meade, Maryland. All court proceedings are open to the public. The courthouse is located within Ft. Meade at 4432 Llewellyn Avenue, which is on the corner of Llewellyn and Ernie Pyle Road. At the first intersection after the Reece Road gate, you should turn left on to Ernie Pyle Road. The courthouse is approximately 1 mile south of the intersection of Reece Road and Ernie Pyle Road.
LTC Lakin is a physician, and is in his 18th year of service in the Army. He is Board Certified in Family Medicine and Occupational and Environmental Medicine. He has been recognized for his outstanding service as a flight surgeon for year-long tours in Honduras, Bosnia and Afghanistan. He was also awarded the Bronze Star for his service in Afghanistan and recognized in 2005 as one of the Army Medical Department’s outstanding flight surgeons. In March of this year, he announced in a video posted on YouTube that he would refuse to obey orders until receiving proof of the President’s eligibility. So far, more than 225,000 people have viewed that video.
McInerney’s affidavit can be viewed at www.safeguardourconstitution.com. The following are extracts:
The President of the United States, as the Commander in Chief, is the source of all military authority. The Constitution requires the President to be a natural born citizen in order to be eligible to hold office. If he is ineligible under the Constitution to serve in that office that creates a break in the chain of command of such magnitude that its significance can scarcely be imagined.
As a practical example from my background I recall commanding forces that were equipped with nuclear weapons. In my command capacity I was responsible that personnel with access to these weapons had an unwavering and absolute confidence in the unified chain of command, because such confidence was absolutely essential-- vital-- in the event the use of those weapons was authorized. I cannot overstate how imperative it is to train such personnel to have confidence in the unified chain of command. Today, because of the widespread and legitimate concerns that the President is constitutionally ineligible to hold office, I fear what would happen should such a crisis occur today.
In refusing to obey orders because of his doubts as to their legality, LTC Lakin has acted exactly as proper training dictates. That training mandates that he determine in his own conscience that an order is legal before obeying it...Indeed, he has publicly stated that he "invites" his own court martial, and were I the Convening Authority, I would have acceded to his wishes in that regard. But thus stepping up the bar, LTC Lakin is demonstrating the courage of his convictions and his bravery. That said, it is equally essential that he be allowed access to the evidence that will prove whether he made the correct decision.
For the foregoing reasons, it is my opinion that LTC Lakin's request for discovery relating to the President's birth records in Hawaii is absolutely essential to determining not merely his guilt or innocence but to reassuring all military personnel once and for all for this President whether his service as Commander in Chief is Constitutionally proper. He is the one single person in the Chain of Command that the Constitution demands proof of natural born citizenship. This determination is fundamental to our Republic, where civilian control over the military is the rule. According to our Constitution, the Commander in Chief must now, in the face of serious-- and widely held-- concerns that he is ineligible, either voluntarily establish his eligibility by authorizing release of his birth records or this court must authorize their discovery. The invasion of his privacy in these records is utterly trivial compared to the issues at stake here. Our military MUST have confidence their Commander in Chief lawfully holds this office and absent which confidence grievous consequences may ensue.
Lakin is represented by military counsel, and by Paul Rolf Jensen, a civilian attorney from California who has been provided to him by the American Patriot Foundation, a non-profit group incorporated in 2003 to foster appreciation and respect for the U.S. Constitution, which has established a fund for Lakin’s legal defense. Further details are available on the Foundation’s website, www.safeguardourconstitution.com.
What is this post doing in this article? Why do I feel compelled to respond to it? Who gives a shit who our president is? They all get their marching orders from TPTB. Stop the childish nonsense of Dem v. Rep cause if that is where you still are on your mental growing curve than it is time to start learning, reading and paying attention. Stop listening to Glenn Beck and start listening to yourself. Let who you are be you not who you are told to be from the damned tv.
+1
Blankman, I did not post for Rep vs Dem paradigm. My only purpose was to post, what is not reported on in the MSM and if a military judge orders Discovery for the defense, in this case, then gold should react. Currently, withheld documents becoming public could lead to an event which prompt civil unrest and a Constitutional crisis. I stated unlikely, but in a gold thread, some may want to follow this issue for it's implications.
Fair enough. Still a bit OT though. Did you show where the source was from - I'll look again.
IMHO the attempt to show Obama is not US-born marginalizes the Republican/Right Wing cause. They should attempt to beat him on the merits. I haven't read much about the school records. I imagine they are just out to show he got poor grades?
The issue of school records apparently have to do with Obama allegedly receiving aid as a foreign student.
I'm not American, and have no political axe to grind, but if Obama isn't eligible for the Presidency under your Constitution, this is not a trivial, partisan issue, surely?
Personally, I think the US Constitution is a little anachronistic on its insistence on a "natural born American" for President, but if that is what it says, who are you to disagree with it?
We shouldn't fear enforcing the very basic rules of eligibility. Everyone gets bent out of shape over the birth certificate thing, but it's not at all trivial. Obama didn't satisfactorily answer to any of those basic requirements. If he is eligible but doesn't prove it, he's eligible but not qualified. And if he is not eligible and tries to hide it, he's neither qualified nor eligible. Can't think of any good reasons to withhold that - I can only think of dishonest ones, such as that he isn't eligible at all.
I don't think you have to be a conspiracy nutjob to think that proving your citizenship is something a citizenry can forego for the highest office of the land, or even the lowest. And a candidate who holds out should be instantly disqualified.
The US Constitution is not anachronistic at all. In fact, it's legitimacy and applicability is proved daily. For instance, obama groveling before heads of states. That's precisely why the natural born rule is there - to prevent allegiances to foreign powers. How about limited government? The US could sure use that today. Gun rights? The citizenry should own the cannons, and the government the peashooters, not the other way around. The list goes on of things our Fathers warned us about.
If Barry Soetoro had nothing to hide he would produce the required documents and end the controversy once and for all.
But of course he does have something to hide so we are where we are today -- with a socialist islamic foreign-born community activist occupying the White House that cannot/will not demonstrate he is a natural born citizen of the United States of America.
Until he does Barry Soetoro is a illegitimate pretender. On many levels B.S. has proven to be
The Great Pretender.
I've read that the Constitution is just a piece of paper and therefore it's not really money.
I've never understood why this matters either. I would never judge a person's leadership abilities based on where they were born.
Moin from Germany,
best summary on GOLD i have seen so far...
Special Gold Report "In Gold We Trust" - Erste Grouphttp://www.gata.org/files/ErsteGroupGoldReport-06-2010.pdf
All Gold Ever Mined – The total amount of gold ever mined is estimated to be worth around US$5 trillion.
.......and we are in debt as a nation almost $14T!!!!!!
Taking everything into account, it is approaching an estimated TWO HUNDRED TRILLION.
Yea, $14T officially reported. Don't pay any attention to that unfunded shit! It will never come due!........and where do these people see a recovery?
Ahhhhhh....the joy of fiat currency.
On the statement of who's got it, I would like to know how much gold is in the hands of the general public vs institutions. A long historical chart of this would be very enlightening.
Why do I think things are very different now from 10 years ago.
I'm curious as to what has come from all the "cash for gold" ads as well as the lesser known coin cashing machines... I'm guessing most of the pre 65 quarters have been farmed from these services... if not already supplied by banks back up the chain.
My guess is the trends would be for general households to liquidate gold holdings to pay creditors because of liquidity problems (europe?)
Good point. I just wonder who is getting the better deal?
The poor who are desperately trying to survive or the rich trying to protect their wealth.
I am sure the dealers love it.
This vue of gold reserves is so distorted.
Belgium for example has over 1900 tones of gold. (All from the courtesy of their former colony Congo which they luted like crazy.
This gold is NOT deposited in their national bank.
It's all in the "National portfolio" (1370 tonnes), a very obscur holding. King Leopold I put it there in 1867 after he found out that his heirs where retarded and would spoil all the money.
So he put it in some kind of fund that is paying out some form of divident to his heirs.
This gold doesn't comme up in any charts, but also England and the Netherlands have a fund like that for their royalties.
I remember a story from 2005 2006 where they said that if all the diamonds in the world and gold in the world that is in vaults would be put on the market, their value would drop to almost nothing.
The Beers controls the value of Diamonds.
The national banks control the value of Gold.
Would it be that strange of a story to think they are now jacking up prices to sell high, downpay their debt and make hughe profits and buy it back once everyting crashes again?
I'm not saying these people aren't honest and hardworking people, but never say never...
I'm being a pedantic a-hole.
http://www.art.com/products/p10297055-sa-i805728/caravaggio-lute-player-...
But, since Fort Knox hasn't been audited in full since the 50's I think, the joke could be on us.
I think the joke could be on you and that there might be even more gold there then they say.
Almost no gold is being used anywhere and they keep on digging up up year after year.
dig it, melt it, stack it and keep it. After a few decades, that mountain might become pretty big I think.
If gold is so "scarce", why is it still so easy to buy?
Interesting point. Admittedly, the whole gold thing is pretty murky.
By all accounts, there are more human beings in the world than there are ounces of gold ever mined.
+
barring a large scale war (vs these ongoing skirmishes), or a *real* h1n1-like pandemic, the population count should continue to outpace the gold refining rates.
"there might be even more gold there [Fort Knox] then they say."
Wow I never thought of that one, I can use that one to death now. Fort Knox could have 1 million tons of gold and we don't know since it hasn't been audited.
Just when i thought my imagination had been exhausted for making up stuff to scare the dumb gold bugs
SD - i wouldn't say "this couldn't be", but when you consider things from the human-nature and agenda-alignment perspective, where would you put your chips? :
- we have more than we say, and even though this asset doesn't generate any income just sitting in the basement, we are holding it *just* to be sure our reserve currency has world-confidence, and our debts are backed by real assets.
or
- we don't really have much left, and by leveraging the hell out of what little we have, we're making bank and we're successfully suppressing the entire market.
ladies and gentlemen, place your bets...
"But, since Fort Knox hasn't been audited in full since the 50's I think, the joke could be on us."
Entirely likely.
And even if the weights are there...I would like to know the quality...as in 24k.
Russia's reserve holdings?
About 27 billion as of August 1.
http://www.cbr.ru/eng/hd_base/mrrf/?C_mes=01&C_year=2010&To_mes=09&To_year=2010&mode=&x=38&y=10
Looks like gold reserves are about steady since Jan, but I think I read they conceal their true gold reserves.
cool - a chance to add some value to a gold thread before the peanut gallery shows up
the banksters are going to end up owning the gold mines they have financed - they will do this via 'short of gold' derivatives- this is especially prevalent among the junior miners
in order to finance a precious metals mine, the banksters require the mine owners to enter into a derivative contract where the miners are short gold and the bankers, obviously, take the long side of the deal
once the price suppression of gold and silver ends (per design or due to failure), the price of the metals will shoot higher - then the banksters will go to the miners and exercise the derivatives - the miners are short gold so, when the price shoots up, they will have a margin call by the banksters - no miner will have enough cash on hand to cover the margin call and the banksters aren't going to loan them any more money so the banksters will take over ownership of the mines in lieu of payment on the derivative contracts
pretty fancy way for the banksters to end up owning the mines
it took me a while to understand what Jim Sinclair was talking about but I think I have summed it up pretty well here - check these links for more detail
http://www.tanrange.com/i/pdf/WallStTranscript.pdf
http://www.goldonomic.com/categories_of_gold_shares.htm
in this article Stewart Thomas is saying that the banksters are long $400 billion in these gold derivatives vs the $20 billion they are short on the COMEX - ie, their massive short position used to suppress the price of gold is chump change to them
http://www.safehaven.com/article/13531/graceland-updates-4am-7am
Here's a conspiracy theory:
Central Banks replace the government's physical gold (which belongs to the people) with paper gold IOUs.
Mainstream Media tells everyone else to buy paper gold ETFs.
Central Banks are told they must dump physical and suppress prices in order to maintain government legitimacy and social order, even if they losing money in the process. They also tell ETFs to dump their physical.
The PTB (perhaps more specifically the Rothschilds) buy up the world's gold at suppressed prices in the London Bullion market (which they own).
When all mines are empty and neither individuals nor governments hold anything but paper gold IOUs, the Rothschilds squeeze the market and gold skyrockets, thus truly making them the new Masters of the Universe.
Finally, we all build modern-day pyramids everywhere in reverence to our new overlords.
When will this day come to pass? Perhaps when the new gold mine in Quebec is depleted. Or perhaps when Afghanistan is out of gold…
it sounds plausible and might be 'how it works'...
but, when i consider the probability that the owner of any production facility would enter into a banking relationship where he was forced to short his own success... that doesn't seem likely.
if i were going to open a mine, i'd never deal with a bank on those conditions. i'd find others who are as greedy as me and surrender percentages of yield until it became 'not worth it'.
i'm sure the banks would love having the deals as you've described, and would certainly propose them...
all of this is completely irrelevant. tomorrow is a jobs report....
so, who is bringing the pop corn, and who's on for the beer for the JPM take down?
and should we invite bart chilton, or just skip it ...cause we know they've got better screens at the CTFC.....and probably better liquor as it is most likely supplied by JPM.....
Look to the Yukon, fellow gold players!
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=ATC.V
"If all the gold that had been refined in the world was put into a cube, its sides would be roughly 20 metres long but would only weigh 1/10 of the Washington Monument."
The Washington Monument's total weight (exterior structure + foundation) is about 116,000 metric tons.
Total gold above ground stocks (by WGC), AFAIK amount to above 165,000 metric tons
For me it's like a drop of shadow on the article's credibility.
did you ever visit the Washington Monument? It's pretty fucking big you know! It even has a elevator inside it!
And as they hardly really use gold, and build one EVERY FUCKING YEAR made out of gold, THAT WOULD REALLY BE IMPRESSIVE!
Imagine seing only 50 obelisks like that made out of gold IN A ROW!
http://mobarrett.net/photos/domestic/2005/10_dc/images/dc_0510_960_31.jpg
There is a difference between above ground "gold" stocks, and all the gold ever mined. The same gold appears on multiple entities balance sheets thanks to gold leases/gold swaps, etc.
i have 82000t as the weight of the monument...not including foundation.
A 20m cube contains 2000^3 cc's of gold, each with a weight of 19.3g. That's 154000 metric tons of gold, easily exceeding the weight of the monument. Perhaps the author meant volume.
What stuns me more is not the POG, but platinum. There is ridiculously less of this stuff out there, ever mined, stocks, production, etc. 6% by weight annual production of Pt vs Au. Half of this goes to consumption-based ends. Most of it comes from one place, Bushveld in RSA. Only Russia really has any commercially significant production beyond that.
Either gold is overvalued or Pt is undervalued.
I also thought that. And Pt is being used as a catalysator in cars, so demand is way higher then gold.
But putting your money into it is like watching a snail doing a triathlon...
fed vault???? audit audit audit
until then they can make up any #
The Secret Gold Treaty by David Guyatt
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/esp_sociopol_gold.htm#top
Author claims there is 10 times as much gold in existance as official stats claim.
"One of the biggest surprises during my research was my incredible discovery that the official gold figures are pure nonsense. Representatives of the gold industry from the Bank of England through to the London Bullion Market Association and the World Gold Council kept making the point that only a tad over 100,000 tonnes of gold had been mined in over six thousand years. In fact, the actual official figure today is closer to 140,000 tonnes - but still a long way short of reality. This disparity soon became a sort of background "hiss" to my investigation. I would phone a source in the "unofficial" gold market and during the conversation I would be told how little gold had been mined historically.
This refrain was repeated so often without my asking the question that I was led to investigate the figures touted by official sources. It immediately became evident that the pre-American Gold Rush statistics were badly flawed -- probably designer-flawed. Over the next few years I concluded that the official figures were designed to conceal what I believe is one of the biggest secrets of finance, namely, the sheer abundance of gold. This may not strike some readers as greatly significant, but it should, for reasons that I hope will become clear.
The world’s central banks still use gold as a reserve asset and the obvious dilution of this underlying asset is of the very greatest significance. Moreover, very large quantities of this "black" gold have been -- and still are -- controlled and moved around the world by forces that are fascist or so ultra right-wing as to amount to the same thing."
You're saying that governments around the world have far more gold than they are saying?
Maybe China. The West--no way. If we had so much gold, the price would still be below $500, as the predominante political interests of the central bankers and politicians is to pretend that the dollar is strong. If they had a bunch of gold, they would use it to support that illusion.
I'm not saying it, the author is. I have no idea if his claims are true but in any case it's a great adventure story.
I've heard those kind of claims before. Let's just say I'm skeptical.
For anyone interested in gold, politics, and history, "Gold Warriors: America's Secret Recovery of Yamashita's Gold" is a MUST read. This is a meticulously researched and sourced book that makes a compelling case that there is a lot more gold hiding in the shadows than we know about. And, this book will dramatically change your view of history and global politics.
This book is VERY difficult to find, even though it was written only 10 years ago. My copy was from the Minneapolis public library, it had been purged from the library collection only 3 years after the book was published! I paid a lot of money for this used copy on amazon, and it was worth every penny.
http://www.amazon.com/Gold-Warriors-Americas-Recovery-Yamashitas/dp/1859...
"Wages of Crime" is another interesting book that dedicates a chapter to the black market gold trade. Other than these two books, very little has been written on the subject.
http://www.amazon.com/Wages-Crime-Markets-Illegal-Underworld/dp/0801489601
Some other interesting facts about gold (and silver): when an investor purchases American or Canadian minted coins, by law, dealers are required to report those sales to the US government. The reason dealers are required to report sales is because both American and Canadian minted coins are linked to futures contracts.
Anyone who thinks they're being all stealthy by buying US or Canadian minted coins and stashing them, the government knows about every gold coin you own...UNLESS the bullion you purchased was minted in Austria. Unlike American and Canadian minted coins, Vienna Philharmonikers are NOT linked to any futures contracts. Purchases of Austrian bullion do not necessarily have to be reported to the US government.
The market maker for Austrian gold and silver bullion is based in the USA: www.buying-gold-online.com
do they sell tungsten too? :^)
kidding
i've heard similar stories from reputable sources, but i think when you read such disclosures in places like this or from folks at 1-800- numbers, those games are 'up' and you underestimate the thoroughness of the money-trackers. starting to sound like a 'honey-pot' scheme to me.
most of the coins i've bought have been given out as ad-hoc gifts, etc. anyway.
money is overrated :^)
BGO thanks for the link to the book.
I can't comment on the situation for our southern neighbours, but here in Southern Ontario I've made multiple silver and gold bullion purchases over the past couple of years, no one purchase being over $10K, always for cash, and have never had to give any personal info to the coin dealer. I receive a receipt detailing the purchase in terms of bullion description, quantity and price, but it has none of my info on it. Mostly Maple leafs.
Where did you get this info from?
isn't it possible that the gold is held by non-government entities and non-central-banks? perhaps these people have different motives? perhaps they recognize that gold is the only real money and they have stocked up as opportunity presented itself?
how much gold does the royal family in England hold? the Rothchilds? do you think they publish the real numbers?
how much gold has the church looted in their 2000 year history of raping and pillaging? do you think they publish the real numbers? how much gold has been given to the church in their 2000 year history? again, do you think they publish the real numbers?
read the history of South America - literally hundreds of ships full of gold and other booty were sent back to Europe - is it possible (even likely) that some (a lot?) of this booty ended up in private hands (or the hands of monarchs who could do pretty much what they wanted with the loot)?
it wouldn't surprise me at all to find that the authors numbers are realistic - that's why I say, "silver, bitchez!!!"
Bingo! (as I stated above)
Trying to figure out how much gold there is amounts to deciding how many angels can dance on the head of a pin:
Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaaaaaaaaaaa!!!
Now this is funny! This David Guyatt guy. He needs to learn banking and then he'll be able to understand why the numbers don't match up.
Somewhat off-topic, but...
I spent a couple afternoons this summer panning for gold. It's fun even if you don't find any (like me). I watched some youtube vids first. I used a plastic bowl purchased at a dollar store for panning, a five gallon bucket, and a dollar store strainer as a classifier.
I smashed some lead into little pieces and mixed them into the samples, because the process of panning is to identify the densest materials. I know my technique was adequate because the lead always made it to the bottom of the pan. Sadly there was no gold, but for me it was much more fun than fishing.
Big storms (like Earl) that cause creeks and small streams to rush provide opportunity because everything gets moved (including gold). Look for spots where rushing water slows (like the inside of a sharp bend, or point of constriction), because the densest materials fall first when the water slows.
Don't expect much, but I'll tell you, I experienced a primal sense of enjoyment just sifting through the dirt.
I should add, I found quite a few pieces of fool's gold (I saved them all). If you have any doubts, remember gold's an excellent conductor, so an ohm meter will tell you what you've got.
ditto - colorado. first time panner. finally got the hang of it after letting a few tons wash through my pan...
found three flakes that i don't want to actually check with a meter... :^)
probably saved a few pounds of pyrite... (don't tell the IRS)
+ on the primal appeal. therapeutic to be sure.
learned a few things from the mine tours:
- nobody refines gold in US anymore - too expensive, too regulated (environmental regs, etc.)
- chinese are buying small US mines and shipping ore back to china (probably processing on the way and dumping the arsenic-laced tailings in the pacific (ala japanese timber processing from pacific-NW)
- US mint buys plancettes (sp?) from "out-of-town" - no domestic production.
can anyone verify? if true, it's beyond sad.
I dunno where the blanks actually come from but according to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode31/usc_sec_31_00005112----000-.html
4) Source of gold bullion.—
(A) In general.— The Secretary shall acquire gold for the coins issued under this subsection by purchase of gold mined from natural deposits in the United States, or in a territory or possession of the United States, within 1 year after the month in which the ore from which it is derived was mined.there was an indication that the gold itself must be US in source, but no info on whether the refining or blank pressing has to be done domestically.
generally sad that we don't have a thriving metals production capacity in-place, and certainly no accident. hell, we can barely process our own petro-resources anymore, and most *everyone* uses that resource.
Credibility alert: That would be transmuted.
Are you keeping the fax straight?
The BIS is not in the top ten?, yet haven't they been accumulating a few hundred tons here and there recently? I wonder if the quantities shown for the countries holdings are physical (representing ownership), or just storage being held for leased gold. GATA has repeatedly said that most of the gold is leased out.
Ron Paul may be upset with the results of a gold audit - but it's the right think to do.
Isn't there more gold in India then the rest of the world combined? All worn.
this data is highly dated....unless south africa has made a sharp recovery it is 3d or 4th largest producer with fast depleting mines....and there is no gold in fort knox save for some gold plating on some tungsten bars...
see ron paul's gold audit bill
this data must have come from the msnbshit news desk.
http://www.kitco.com/KitcoNewsVideo/kitco_news.htm
I'll tell you who aint got it...the three idiots who go by the names Johhny Bravo..Robo Trader..and Jon Nadler...what a bunch of freakin stooges..man are we gonna grill those piggies on the BBQ or what..talk about dumber than zero..and the Nadler guy sends a post today on how he is going to scare us..what a freakin moron...
-100 points for personal attacks.
Tyler... Phil'sStockWorld loves this piece.
http://www.philstockworld.com/2010/09/02/gold-101-whos-got-it-and-whos-finding-it/
BTW, does anyone know anyone who has had success with chemically liquefied gold in their
Tx of Rheumatoid arthritis?
I am a Sovereign Man, so please add me to the list, I have 1oz. of gold (planning to get more)
moved, sorry.
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