Just coincidence? Queen is trotted through Bank of England's gold vault

2:30p ET Thursday, December 13, 2012

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

Maybe it's just a coincidence but maybe instead it's a propaganda campaign launched by the British government and the Bank of England to assuage growing international concern about the oversubscription, lending, and swapping of Western central bank reserves.

First, a few days ago, the Bank of England invited videojournalist Brady Haran and University of Nottingham chemistry Professor Martyn Poliakoff to tour its gold vault for a fascinating lecture in which the professor discussed gold's remarkable qualities. (Of course gold's most remarkable quality, politely overlooked by the professor, may be its capacity to replicate itself to infinity in the hands of a central bank -- just like ordinary money.) The Guardian's report of the tour, along with a link to the video made about it, is here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/grrlscientist/2012/dec/10/1

And then today the Bank of England welcomed Queen Elizabeth II herself for an even grander tour of its gold vault, which attracted all the major British news organizations and instantly became a sensation throughout the United Kingdom.

... Dispatch continues below ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/royalfamilyvideo/9742780/Queen...

The Evening Standard's is here:

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/dont-do-it-again-prince-philips-advice...

But perhaps most interesting is the Daily Mail's account, since it is accompanied by the most photographs and is headlined with what may have been meant as a bit of a joke but what actually is the crucial question of the hour, never officially asked: "How Much of This Is One's Own Gold?":

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2247578/How-ones-gold-Queen-insp...

How much indeed? For as recently as last year the Bank of England insisted on secrecy for its gold market activities, including leasing, which the bank said it discontinued in 2007; swapping, on which the bank did not comment; and transactions involving other central banks whose gold is vaulted or said or thought to be vaulted at the Bank of England:

http://www.gata.org/node/10778

Of course one can't expect the queen to be familiar with such obscure detail. She has spent her life not studying economics but, far more tediously, gladhanding for the British government, and when she was trotted through the gold vault today it was her job to accept the most superficial and patronizing answers from bank officials about how the disaster in the world financial system could have been allowed to happen. But they did let her see the gold -- somebody's gold anyway.

Now if only the queen could get an invitation to tour Fort Knox. Could those Australian radio pranksters be persuaded to do just one more royal impersonation in a phone call to the Treasury Department? Or would that risk Secretary Geithner's suicide?

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.

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