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Gold reserves of the United Kingdom

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The gold reserve of the United Kingdom is the amount of gold kept by Bank of England as a store of value of part of the United Kingdom's wealth. Leftover from the Gold Standard which the country abandoned in 1931, it is the 17th largest central bank reserve in the world with 310.29 tonnes of gold bars.[1]

History

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World War II

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Main article: Operation Fish

Prior to Britain's declaration of war in September 1939 vast amounts of gold were being shipped across the Atlantic to the United States via Montreal, Quebec, Canada to pay for weapons. After France was invaded by Nazi Germany, fear of Britain also suffering the same fate led to most of the country's gold being relocated under a secret operation known as Operation Fish. In May 1940, under the order of the UK Government; 280 tonnes of the nation's gold was transported from the Bank of England in London up to Martins' Bank in Liverpool ready to be shipped to Canada.

By the end of the war in 1945, Britain was estimated to have reserves in excess of 1772.94 tonnes, however, with incomplete records; the figure may have been higher.[2]

Brown's Bottom

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Main article: Sale of UK gold reserves, 1999–2002

In May 1999, then-Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown announced plans to sell off 415 tonnes of gold in order to diversify the country's reserves owing to the volatile value of gold.[3] The first series of sales amounting to 125 tonnes took place in the year 2000 across five auctions with each selling 25 tonnes.[4] By the end of 2002, UK gold reserves dropped to 355.25 tonnes while at the same time the value of gold increased dramatically leading to an estimated loss of £2,000,000,000 from the gold sold.[5]

Gold reserves

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CHart showing UK gold reserves from 1950-2015
Reserves from 1950 to 2015
UK Gold Reserves by year[2][6]
Year Tonnes +/- Change Year Tonnes +/- Change
Jan 2017 310.29 Steady 1972 656 Decrease
2016 310.29 Steady 1971 690 Decrease
2015 310.29 Increase 1970 1198 Decrease
2014 310.25 Steady 1969 1308 Decrease
2013 310.25 Steady 1968 1309 Increase
2012 310.25 Steady 1967 1146 Decrease
2011 310.25 Steady 1966 1725 Decrease
2010 310.25 Steady 1965 2012 Decrease
2009 310.25 Decrease 1964 1899 Decrease
2008 310.26 Increase 1963 2208 Decrease
2007 310.25 Increase 1962 2294 Increase
2006 310.8 Decrease 1961 2014 Decrease
2005 312.25 Decrease 1960 2489 Increase
2004 313.22 Decrease 1959 2234 Decrease
2003 313.87 Decrease 1958 2495 Increase
2002 355.25 Decrease 1957 1382 Decrease
2001 487.5 Decrease 1956 1576 Decrease
2000 588.27 Decrease 1955 1788 Decrease
1999 715 Steady 1954 2255 Increase
1998 715 Increase 1953 2011 Increase
1997 573 Steady 1952 1317 Decrease
1996 573 Steady 1951 1930 Decrease
1995 573 Decrease 1950 2543 Increase
1994 574 Steady 1945 1772.94 Increase
1993 574 Decrease 1940 1390.22 Decrease
1992 579 Decrease 1935 1464.56 Increase
1991 588 Decrease 1930 1080 Increase
1990 589 Decrease 1925 1045.53 Increase
1989 591 Steady 1920 863.75 Increase
1988 591 Steady 1915 584.6 Increase
1987 591 Steady 1913 248.09 Increase
1986 591 Decrease 1910 223.37 Increase
1985 592 Steady 1905 199.21 Decrease
1984 592 Increase 1900 198.47 Decrease
1983 591 Steady 1895 304.67 Increase
1982 591 Decrease 1890 166.25 Increase
1981 592 Increase 1885 141.35 Decrease
1980 586 Decrease 1880 170.6 Increase
1979 568 Decrease 1875 153.8 Decrease
1978 710 Increase 1870 161.11 Increase
1977 691 Increase 1865 93 Increase
1976 654 Steady 1860 77.63 Increase
1975 654 Steady 1855 74 Decrease
1974 654 Increase 1850 104.72 Increase
1973 653 Decrease 1845 82 Steady

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The countries with the largest gold reserves". The Telegraph. 13 July 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  2. ^ a b Green, Timothy (November 1999). "Central Bank Gold Reserves An historical perspective since 1845" (PDF). World Gold Council. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  3. ^ Coyle, Diane (7 May 1999). "Britain stuns markets with plan to sell gold reserves". The Independent. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  4. ^ "Business: The Economy Treasury offloads gold reserves". BBC. 7 May 1999. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  5. ^ "Chancellor's '£2 billion gold bungle'". politics.co.uk. 15 April 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  6. ^ Watt, Holly (24 March 2010). "Explain why you sold Britain's gold, Gordon Brown told". The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
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