Tom Luxsox Coins

Nazi Coins

We know that the Nazis are some of the most evil villains in history, but did you know that they were greedy too? During the atrocities the Nazis performed, they siphoned off assets of their victims, stockpiling it into depositories to fund their terrible regime. A lot of assets were in the form of gold, which the Nazis would trade for currency in non-Nazi banks.

The specifics are not known as to which institutions participated in these financial activities with the Nazis, but there has been much speculation in the form of investigations, trials, and even in books and movies. Remember Goldfinger? That bar of gold was supposed to be Nazi gold.

Gold is and has been universally known as an "apocalypse" investment. That means that if all the world's systems of currency were to fail, gold would still be a valid thing to trade. You could get a lot more for your grandma's old gold earrings than for a one hundred dollar bill. Of course, you might get even more for a can of soup with a pull tab - depending on how bad things really got.

Either way, the Nazis couldn't exactly buy guns and planes with bars of gold, so they took the gold they'd stolen from their victims and converted it. When that wasn't enough, they started taking gold from other countries. From the country of Belgium the Nazis "expropriated" $223m of gold, and from the Netherlands they took $193m. That's gold taken from the actual country's government, and the number does not include what they took from the citizens or companies in other countries.

As for what happened to the gold, it is a subject of great debate. Much of the gold taken from individuals and companies of Germany and other countries was split up among fleeing Nazis at the end of the war. There are many stories of found Nazi gold in the form of gold coins and gold bullion - many very true and not featuring a tuxedo-wearing secret agent. The whereabouts of the reserves of gold, however, the great stockpiles the Nazis amassed when they "expropriated" (or "stole") gold from other countries are not known.

The fact that the whereabouts are unknown is not because of a lack in effort. Reportedly, a lot of Nazi gold ended up in the hands of the Ustase, who were a collection of Croations who were in league with the Nazis but eliminated in 1945. For some reason or the other, the Vatican sheltered some Ustase refugees, and it was believed that their Nazi gold was held at the Vatican. In 2008 the surviving victims and families of the victims of the Ustase filed a class-action lawsuit against the Vatican, claiming that they were entitled to those riches via the return of said gold to Yugoslavia.

Although the Vatican did not deny that a large shipment of gold arrived to Rome in 1946, they argued that they were merely a third party - that the plaintiff's real allegations were against the Ustase, who were disbanded and no longer existed. Ultimately the Vatican was absolved under sovereign immunity and the case was dismissed.

As for the rest of the Nazi gold, there are rumors that Meyer Lansky - accountant to Mafia boss Lucky Luciano - used his ties with the Swiss National Bank (a known repository of Nazi Gold) to get over $300 million dollars away from the Nazis. Those who espouse this theory believe that Luciano and Lansky used this money to secure the financial stability of the global Mafia.

Whatever the case, because of the greed and power-hungry behavior of the Nazis, many people were stripped of their riches (and their lives) to fund an immoral and ugly Reich. Those riches remain, to this day, mostly lost, as a testament to the lives lost that we can never reclaim.

The best online resource to sell coins or sell palladium can be found at http://www.refinity.com

Nazi Hunters $11.99 Nazi Hunters

Nazi Titanic $8.99 Nazi Titanic

Nazi Collaborators $11.99 Nazi Collaborators

Coins $22.98 Coins is a magazine for coin collectors. Each issue has a full-color exploration of coin history, pricing guides for coin and paper money, and industry news. Special features of this magazine subscription include helpful guides for the beginner and serious collectors, coin bargains, inspiring letters from collectors, market analysis, and tips from the pros.

Coins And Crosses $9.99 Coins And Crosses

Nazi Downed $24.99 Nazi Downed - Photographic Print

Nazi Supporter $24.99 Nazi Supporter - Photographic Print

Nazi Girl $24.99 Nazi Girl - Photographic Print

Nazi Yachtsmen $24.99 Nazi Yachtsmen - Photographic Print

The Coins $18.8 Toby Franks as a young boy confronts his fear of the unknown and while doing this discovers a magical treasure that only he can unlock its secrets. He now possesses the power to choose his own destiny, but does it come with a price? Author: The Jajliardo Family/ The Jajliardo Family, Jajliardo Family Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 72 Publication Date: 2004/08/01 Language: English Dimensions: 7.92 x 5.00 x 0.21 inches

Stack of Coins $24.99 Stack of Coins - Photographic Print

Medals and Coins $49.99 Medals and Coins - Giclee Print

Coins of Mexico $24.99 Coins of Mexico - Premium Poster

Nazi Hunters: The Real Story (DVD) $30.85 NAZI HUNTERS

Nazi Plunder: Great Treasure Stories of World War II $15.54 World War II was the most devastating conflict in human history, but the tragedy did not end on the battlefields. During the war, Germany--and, later, the Allies--plundered Europe's historic treasures. Between 1939 and 1945, German armed forces roamed from Dunkirk to Stalingrad, looting gold, silver, currency, paintings and other works of art, coins, religious artifacts, and millions of books and other documents. The value of these items, many of which were irreplaceable, is estimated in the billions of dollars. The artwork alone, looted under Hitler's direction, exceeded the combined collections of the Metropolitan Museum, the British Museum, and the Louvre. As the war wound to its conclusion in 1945, occupying forces continued the looting. The story of these celebrated works of art and other vanished treasures--and the mystery of where they went--is a remarkable tale of greed, fraud, deceit, and treachery. Kenneth Alford's "Nazi Plunder" is the latest word on this fascinating subject.

Chinese coins $19.99 Astock Chinese coins - Photographic Print

The Nazi War Machine $17.99 The Nazi War Machine

Nazi and Gestapo Megaset $23.99 Nazi and Gestapo Megaset

Nazi: Birth of the Hitler Youth $10.99 Nazi: Birth of the Hitler Youth

Nazi's - UFO Conspiracy $5.99 Nazi's - UFO Conspiracy

Search For Nazi Gold $9.99 Search For Nazi Gold

Nazi's - Dark Fellowships $5.99 Nazi's - Dark Fellowships

Nazi's - The Occult Conspiracy $5.99 Nazi's - The Occult Conspiracy

Military History Collection - The Nazi's $71.99 Military History Collection - The Nazi's

Surf Nazi's Must Die $10.99 Surf Nazi's Must Die

Nazi Zombie Death Tales $13.99 Nazi Zombie Death Tales

Inside the Nazi War Machine $14.99 Inside the Nazi War Machine

Nazi Secrets Revealed - $34.99 Nazi Secrets Revealed -

Coins and Bills $24.99 H. Armstrong Roberts Coins and Bills - Photographic Print

Hands With Coins $24.99 George Marks Hands With Coins - Photographic Print

Three Coins $29.99 Lisa Ridgers Three Coins - Art Print