On the price plunges in gold, silver. Yes, it is true: “Gold is dead.”

The U.S. Mint reports gold at Fort Knox has been entombed under “16,000 cubic feet of granite, 4,200 cubic yards of concrete, 750 tons of reinforcing steel, and 670 tons of structural steel” watched over by heavily armed guards, and army units totaling 30,000 soldiers, with associated tanks, armored personnel carriers, attack helicopters, and artillery. Gold rests in peace (somewhere), oblivious to the chart seizures around its death(s).

UPDATE on the ‘somewhere’. “More than $66 Billion in Gold Missing from Fort Knox.” Globe December 15, 1981. (Credited to SilverDoctors.com)

Gold rests in peace (somewhere) … During the 1970s period noted in the article, U.S. President Richard Nixon (1969 to 1974) closed the gold window in 1971; countries could no longer redeem U.S. dollars for gold. President Nixon appointed as U.S. Treasury Secretary John B. Connally, who accepted the position on the condition that “if I’m going to do that, I think you [Nixon] ought to find something for George Bush to do”(Barnes. (2006). Barn Burning, Barn Building, p.189). In 1971 U.S. Treasury Secretary Connally told a group of European finance ministers concerned about the export of dollar inflation that the U.S. dollar “is our currency, but your problem.” The previous posts indicate the direction of the problem has changed, as reflected in the severity of the past week’s orchestrated plunge in gold and silver. The 1981 Globe article raises questions about how much, if any, gold remains. Even before the 1970s, gold flowed out of Fort Knox.

In 1956, the Chicago Daily Tribune’s Washington bureau chief reported Fort Knox vaults $12.843 billion in gold, which at the standard 400 oz. bar and $35 per ounce at the time would be equivalent to 10,400 metric tons, or at the official price of $42.22, about 8,620 metric tons. Fort Knox held slightly over half of the $21.8 billion gold holdings in the United States, half of the gold foreign-owned.  In 1962  half a billion dollars of gold at Fort Knox was moved to an undisclosed location (“U.S. Taps Gold Supply Stored in Fort Knox.” Chicago Daily Tribune Aug 18, 1962). In July 1966 the Chicago Tribune’s chief again reported $11 billion in gold was withdrawn from Fort Knox, some of which could have been purchased by private hands – suppose at the official price of $42.22, that would be slightly under 7,400 metric tons; Switzerland alone took $1 billion (“U.S. Finances Gold Raids at Fort Knox.” July 22, 1966).

 About six months later the Chicago Tribune reported “amidst a cloud of security Fort Knox sent about $240 million worth of gold to Britain” (“Ship Gold Secretly to U.K. Bank.” Dec 1, 1967), and just three months after that, Continue reading →