Bring it home. US can't be trusted anymore. Bring it home.
Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US
11–20 of 329 posts
Re: Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or a deep sea diving movie
Honest question: does this necessarily require the physical transport of gold?
Not necessarily. It’s fair to wager that the gold they speak of is gold securities and not literal gold bars because if they try to collect gold bars they’re going to be sad.
Re: Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US
#13Question, how do you test if a bar of gold is really 100% gold without deforming it?
Measure its volume by dunking it in a jug of water and compare its weight with its expected weight (depending on the density of gold).
There is a famous tale of Archimedes doing exactly this when posed with the problem of determining if a certain crown is made of pure gold.
Re: Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US
#14https://archive.is/20250623093918/https://www.ft.com/content... I have doubts the current US administration would let them without some sort of retaliation (e.g. more tariffs)
The US might literally just not give it to them. Germany has been trying to ask for their gold back for a while IIRC and they generally get an explanation that paraphrases to it being a very complex operation to pull off and they should come back next year.
The US has enough leverage over Germany that the Nord Stream incident is still an unsolved mystery where everyone just moved on. Probably the Russians did it. That's a lot of leverage.
Re: Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US
#15Question, how do you test if a bar of gold is really 100% gold without deforming it?
This was famously answered by Archimedes in his Eureka moment: https://www.longlongtimeago.com/once-upon-a-time/great-disco...
Re: Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US
#16Question, how do you test if a bar of gold is really 100% gold without deforming it?
Measure its volume by dunking it in a jug of water and compare its weight with its expected weight (depending on the density of gold). There is a famous tale of Archimedes doing exactly this when posed with the problem of determining if a certain crown is made of pure gold.
Presuming you can create an alloy with the same density as gold, I imagined you could also test it's conductivity. I think performing both tests would be enough.
Re: Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US
#17https://archive.is/20250623093918/https://www.ft.com/content... I have doubts the current US administration would let them without some sort of retaliation (e.g. more tariffs)
If your friend goes to an ATM for $20 and their bank fines them with a large percentage fee on their income; are you likely to also choose this bank?
You assume you are trying to run the bank profitable. But maybe you are just a very good friend, of another bank, that wants to see your bank bankrupt?
Re: Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US
#18Question, how do you test if a bar of gold is really 100% gold without deforming it?
Density, conductivity, x-ray. Density alone won't rule out bars that are spiked with tungsten.
Re: Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US
#19Question, how do you test if a bar of gold is really 100% gold without deforming it?
My first guess would be that your gold bar isn't 100% gold, because alloying with a little copper or silver will give you more durable and practical ingot. Ifyou look at a typical gold bar they'll usually have embossed their purity. Even "pure”, 24-carat gold is probably "fineness" 998 or 999, which translates to 99.8% or 99.9% by mass.
Re: Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245B of gold home from US
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Measure its volume by dunking it in a jug of water and compare its weight with its expected weight (depending on the density of gold). There is a famous tale of Archimedes doing exactly this when posed with the problem of determining if a certain crown is made of pure gold.
Presuming you can create an alloy with the same density as gold, I imagined you could also test it's conductivity. I think performing both tests would be enough.
No need for an alloy tungsten will do.