Counting the cutlery

The Netherlands’ central bank said it had moved more than 78 tonnes of gold from New York to London, citing “increasing geopolitical unrest”. Bullion stored in Britain would be more readily available in a crisis than that stored across the Atlantic, the bank explained. France has removed all its bullion from New York’s Federal Reserve over the past couple of years.

Source: The Economist (3 September 2026)

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val70 · 56-60

The National Bank of Belgium holds approximately 227 tonnes of gold reserves, but these assets are kept entirely abroad in secure foreign institutions rather than on domestic soil:

- The Bank of England in London (which holds the majority)
- The Bank of Canada in Ottawa
- The Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland

Like the Dutch during the early days of World War Two our gold had quite an adventure to be kept out of the hands of the invading Germans.

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val70 · 56-60

@SunshineGirl The story of what happened to the Belgian gold in Africa shows anyone how rotten the Vichy regime really was. Nowadays it's the Belgian government trying to keep Russian assets safe because of economic agreements. They are the sole guarantors for the froozen bank accounts afterall.

SunshineGirl · 41-45, F

@val70 That's a good parallel. European politicians were competing with each other to drain Russia's bank accounts but contract law does not cease to operate during war.

val70 · 56-60

@SunshineGirl Like in movie Gold Run it is said: "It's like someone claimed before: war is too serious to be left alone to the military".

ninalanyon · 70-79, T

Is the bullion that governments hold enough to back the currency at the current valuation of the metal?

If not why do they hold on to it?

At the moment gold is about 124 400 EUR/kg so that 78 tonne is worth 9.783 x 10^9 EUR. Netherlands GDP is 1.25 x 10^9 EUR so the gold is worth just under eight years of GDP.

The total household wealth of the country is 4 190 x 10^9 EUR which is about 430 times the current value of the gold.

Presumably the total wealth of the country is far higher.

Sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_private_wealth#Total_household_wealth_by_country

- https://www.worldometers.info/gdp/netherlands-gdp/

- https://goldpricez.com/us/kg

If I've made a mistake in the arithmetic please let me know

SunshineGirl · 41-45, F

@ninalanyon That is an interesting point. I think governments hold on to gold for a variety of historical and cultural reasons, none of which make that much sense in the modern global economy. Gordon Brown sold off more than 300 tonnes in the 2000s and was roundly criticised as the value has been increasing ever since. But €1 available for spending now is worth more than €1 in 25 years time if spent wisely. Perhaps the Dutch will sell to pay down debt or invest in public services (as Brown did).

A general sell off by governments would depress prices which would annoy Nigel Farage who seens to spend more time promoting gold bullion than representing his constituents 🙂

anythingoes477 · M

The WSJ says.........."Fear of a complete collapse of government under the corruption of trump".

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GerOttman · 70-79, M

@anythingoes477 im sure they do, and you fall asleep every night clutching your pearls and thinking about them.

ElwoodBlues · M

@GerOttman You're wondering where hate finds a home??

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GerOttman · 70-79, M

makes sense to me. why would you keep those assets in another country? were they worried about the Russians invading during the cold war years?

SunshineGirl · 41-45, F

@GerOttman Possibly. But I think the main intention was to keep it physically close to a bullion marketplace.

GerOttman · 70-79, M

@SunshineGirl close to the market far from the Russians, mmmm maybe. if its too much trouble they can bring it to my house, I'll keep an eye on it!

onewithshoes · 26-30, F

Why not store it in their own country?

SunshineGirl · 41-45, F

@onewithshoes The London bullion vaults are the second largest in the world and located physically close to the market in which they will be traded should the Dutch choose to sell.

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