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Switzerland and gold.

edited November 2014 in Off-Topic
Huh? I don't get it. Switzerland owns gold. For whatever reason, a big bunch of it is sitting elsewhere, rather than domestically. If the referendum wins, it will be required that Helvetia repatriate all of its gold. Gold is gold is gold. Are they afraid it's being stolen? There's a lot of funny business in the financial world. But I don't understand why this is an issue. Someone explain this for me? Thanks.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/stephenpope/2014/10/25/switzerland-set-to-greedily-grab-gold/

Comments

  • Howdy Max,

    Hope you're doing well.

    There has been a lot of talk in recent years about market manipulation and counterfeit ingots but more importantly, that the amount of 'paper' gold greatly exceeds the amount of real gold. Now, keep in mind that it really doesn't matter if any of this is true or not . . . what matters is that some people believe it - and act accordingly. The Swiss, being more conservative than most, apparently have a goodly percentage of their population that are believers.

    As an aside, it's believed by many that modern Switzerland was the result of the Templars fleeing France and Black Friday (Friday October 13, 1307). The Swiss at that time were individual tribes fighting the Austrians. Apparently, they got help from mounted knights in white. Note that they had already created a 'credit card' system for those traveling to the Holy Land. You deposited your money in Europe and all along the road would stop at Temples, present your receipt and receive local cash. Lastly, the Swiss Franc has the cross on the shield on its reverse.

    https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR2Px2cJ9T3pxdsdgX9EeW0r8Vc4yN-idBL93BK_NGRxUMnEkXj2Q

    I bet they vote to bring it home.

    and so it goes,

    peace,

    rono

  • Using the word "greedily" in the headline was not necessary. It's a bit misleading IMO.
  • I appreciate the replies, you guys. That was interesting info, Ron. I suppose the fact that they were once "individual tribes" way back when helps to explain that among the cantons, there are several official languages: (Wiki:) "In 2011, the languages most spoken at home among permanent residents aged 15 and older were: Swiss German (4,027,917, or 61.1%); French (1,523,094, 23.1%); Standard German (637,439, 9.7%); Italian (545,274, 8.2%); Ticinese and Grisons (107,973, 1.6%); Romansh (37,490, 0.57%); and English (278,407, 4.2%). Speakers of other languages at home numbered 1,382,508, or 16.5% of the population.
    Jeez. I thought Canada had it bad off with just two.
  • Just from the tiny bit of Swiss in my ancestry, what I have learned was that even today Switzerland has three regional tendencies if that's the word. French Swiss, Italian Swiss, and German Swiss. Depending where in the country you are the accent, foods and other culture leans a bit to the other country.

    It is very interesting stuff.
  • :) I'd love to go!
  • edited November 2014
    Because they finally got around to seeing the third "Die Hard" movie. (For those who haven't seen it, it involves gold stored at the NY Fed.)
  • Germany Wants Its Gold Back—Should You Worry?

    http://www.cnbc.com/id/100382718
  • 2013, Dex. You knew?
  • If we see the Swiss army show up at rono's place we'll have a pretty good idea who has what and why!
  • Howdy,

    A lot of this stems from two things - 1. There have been counterfeit ingots show up here and there during audits at some of the major depositories. 2. There is the issue with the amount of paper gold to the actual amount of available physical gold. Everything is leveraged and people will make enormous paper bets in the commodities markets only to always roll them over when due. Many of the more fervent in bullion land preach that if even a small percent of contract holders took delivery, the system would crash and burn. They see it like a game of musical chairs and don't want to be left bullionless when the music stops. feh. I don't know if any of this is a problem or even true but what matter is that some peeps do and act accordingly. If there is a problem with you storing my stuff - I want my stuff back.

    peace,

    rono

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