Germany brings back 300 tons of gold from NY

Germany brings back 300 tons of gold it had been keeping in an underground vault in New York since the Cold War 

• The gold was earned by West Germany from trade surpluses in the 50s and 60s
• It was never moved out of the US due to fear of invasion by the Soviet Union
• The Bundesbank also repatriated 105 tons of gold from Paris last year

Germany has completed an effort to bring home 300 metric tons of gold stashed in the United States, part of a plan to repatriate gold bars kept abroad during the Cold War.

The German central bank said it brought 111 tons of gold back from the Federal Reserve in New York last year, concluding in September - the last of 300 tons slated for return.

The gold was earned by West Germany from trade surpluses in the 1950s and 1960s, but was never moved out of the United States due to fear of invasion by the Soviet Union.  

In 2013 Germany launched the transfer to Frankfurt of 300 tons of gold from New York and 374 tons from Paris. 

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Germany has completed an effort to bring home 300 metric tons of gold, which it had stashed in the United States

The bank also repatriated 105 tons of gold from Paris last year, but still has another 91 tons to return from the French capital, and said it plans to bring them back in 2017.

Once the transfers are completed, Frankfurt will hold half of Germany's 3,378 tons of reserve gold, with the rest in New York and London.  

'The transfers were carried out without any disruptions or irregularities,' said Carl-Ludwig Thiele, board member of the central bank, called Bundesbank. 

Thiele said there would not be any further transfers and Donald Trump's presidency didn't change the situation.

'We have a trusting relationship with the Fed,' he said.

As of December 31 last year, there were 1,236 tons of German gold in New York - 36.6 percent of the total. 

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Germany's central bank, called Bundesbank (pictured) has not released any details as to how it transported the gold home

The Bank of England in London held 432 tons, or 12.8 percent.

During the Cold War, West Germany kept most of its gold abroad for fear it could fall into the hands of the Soviet Union if the country were invaded. 

It also made sense for Germany have the precious metal close to foreign currency markets in London, Paris and New York.