And a mere 5 tonnes of that came from the US, the rest from Paris. The US Fed holds 45% of the total 3,396 tonnes German gold.

Now Austria, perhaps unnerved by Germany’s experience with their bullion and mindful of Brown’s Bottom, is sending a team of auditors to check on gold held by the Bank of England.

According to Goldreporter.de only 17% of Austria’s 280 tonnes of gold reserves are held inside the European nation with the Bank of England holding the bulk or some 150 tonnes worth more than $6.2 billion.

Under public pressure the Austrian accountability office is sending a delegation verify bullion held in London vaults:

“I acknowledge the request. Any grocery store is obliged to do inventory once a year. It is the only way of getting rid of these unreasonable allegations”, Ewald Nowotny, Governor of the National Bank of Austria tells Trend.

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Image of unicorn statue in Eisenstadt, Austria by Richard Aufreiter