Gold reserves of the United Kingdom explained

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

World War II

See 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.

Brown's Bottom

See 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.^[2] The first series of sales amounting to 125 tonnes took place in the year 2000 across five auctions with each selling 25 tonnes.^[3] 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.^[4]

Gold reserves

UK Gold Reserves by year^[5] ^[6]
Year	Tonnes	+/- Change	Year	Tonnes	+/- Change
Jan 2017	310.29		1972	656
2016	310.29		1971	690
2015	310.29		1970	1198
2014	310.25		1969	1308
2013	310.25		1968	1309
2012	310.25		1967	1146
2011	310.25		1966	1725
2010	310.25		1965	2012
2009	310.25		1964	1899
2008	310.26		1963	2208
2007	310.25		1962	2294
2006	310.8		1961	2014
2005	312.25		1960	2489
2004	313.22		1959	2234
2003	313.87		1958	2495
2002	355.25		1957	1382
2001	487.5		1956	1576
2000	588.27		1955	1788
1999	715		1954	2255
1998	715		1953	2011
1997	573		1952	1317
1996	573		1951	1930
1995	573		1950	2543
1994	574		1945	1772.94
1993	574		1940	1390.22
1992	579		1935	1464.56
1991	588		1930	1080
1990	589		1925	1045.53
1989	591		1920	863.75
1988	591		1915	584.6
1987	591		1913	248.09
1986	591		1910	223.37
1985	592		1905	199.21
1984	592		1900	198.47
1983	591		1895	304.67
1982	591		1890	166.25
1981	592		1885	141.35
1980	586		1880	170.6
1979	568		1875	153.8
1978	710		1870	161.11
1977	691		1865	93
1976	654		1860	77.63
1975	654		1855	74
1974	654		1850	104.72
1973	653		1845	82

Notes and References

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