Where is Germany's Gold?

Last July I wrote about this same subject. You may recall an interview with William Kaye who said:

Regarding that gold, which could have had the symbol of the Bundesbank on it when it arrived in Hong Kong, a leading refiner, one of the biggest in the world that deals with the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), certified that, ‘Yes, we’ve got gold available that we can deliver.  We’ve melted it down, we’ve tested it.  It may have had the Bundesbank symbol on it when it arrived, but now it’s melted down .9999 (fine) gold.’ 

That’s how it works in practice.  So the Fed gold, that Americans think is theirs, is gone.  The gold that the Germans have been told they will get back in 7 years, they’ll never get back because it doesn’t exist anymore (at the Fed).  I own it.  The People’s Bank of China owns it.  The Reserve Bank of India owns it.  The central bank of Russia owns it.  But the people of Germany (and America) don’t own it.”

Eric King:  “So they (the refiner) have admitted then that the Bundesbank gold, they get those bars in and they just melt them down?”

Kaye:  “What they’ve done is confirmed that everything I’ve told you is correct.  They get gold (bars) from all over the place, including major central banks, including the symbol of the central bank on them, and they melt them down.”

Eric King:  “But they’ve confirmed the Western central bank gold is where it comes from in many cases?”

Kaye:  “Reading between the lines, and you don’t have to read too much between the lines, it’s all a farce.  The gold is gone.  It’s been hypothecated and rehypothecated.  It’s gone.  Not only do the Fed and the U.S. Treasury not own 8,000+ tons, they probably own nothing.”

 Today Zerohedhedge reports from DieWelt that of the small 37 tons of gold repatriated to Germany only 5 tons of gold were from the New York Fed, the rest came from Paris.

 
As Welt states, "Konnten die Amerikaner nicht mehr liefern, weil sie die bei der Federal Reserve of New York eingelagerten gut 1500 Tonnen längst verscherbelt haben?" Or, in English, did the US sell Germany's gold? Maybe. The official explanation was as follows: "The Bundesbank explained [the low amount of US gold] by saying that the transports from Paris are simpler and therefore were able to start quickly." Additionally, the Bundesbank had the "support" of the BIS "which has organized more gold shifts already for other central banks and has appropriate experience - only after months of preparation and safety could transports start with truck and plane." That would be the same BIS that in 2011 lent out a record 632 tons of gold...

Going back to the main explanation, we wonder: how exactly is a gold transport "simpler" because it originates in Paris and not in New York? Or does the NY Fed gold travel by car along the bottom of the Atlantic, and is French gold transported by a Vespa scooter out of the country?

Supposedly, there was another reason: "The bullion stored in Paris already has the elongated shape with beveled edges of the "London Good Delivery" standard. The bars in the basement of the Fed on the other hand have a previously common form. They will need to be remelted [to LGD standard]. And the capacity of smelters are just limited."
So... New York Fed-held gold is not London Good Delivery, and there is a bottleneck in remelting capacity? You don't say...

Furthermore, Welt goes on to "debunk" various "conspiracy websites" that the reason why the gold is being melted is not to cover up some shortage (and to scrap serial numbers), but that the gold is exactly the same gold as before. Finally, to silences all skeptics, the Bundesbank says that "there is no reason for complaint - the weight and purity of the gold bars were consistent with the books match." In conclusion, Welt reports that in 2014 "larger transport volumes" can be expected from New York: between 30 and 50 tons.

Here we would be remiss to not point out that the reason why the German people and the Bundesbank have every reason to be skeptical is that as Zero Hedge reported exclusively in November 2012, before the Buba's shocking repatriation announcement and was the reason for the escalation in lack of faith between central banks, it was the Fed and the Bank of England who in 1968 knowingly sent Germany "bad delivery" gold.  Which is why we have a feeling that the pace of gold transportation will certainly not accelerate until such time as the German people much more vocally demand an immediate transit of all their gold held at the New York Fed: after all, it's there right - surely the Bundesbank can be trusted to melt the gold (if any exists of course) into London Good Delivery or whatever format it wants.

Unless of course, the gold isn't there...