Gold reserves of the United Kingdom - wikipedia Gold reserves of the United Kingdom 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 metric tonnes of gold bars. As of 2017 the value of the gold is estimated to be worth £ 9.6 billion ( $12.5 billion ). Contents 1 History 1.1 World War 2 1.2 Brown 's Bottom 2 Gold Reserves 3 See also 4 References History World war 2 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, 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 order of the 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 Main article : Sale of UK gold reserves, 1999 -- 2002 In May 1999 future prime minister Gordon Brown then Chancellor of the Exchequer announced plans to sell off 415 tonnes of gold in order to diversify the country 's reserves owing to the volatile value of gold. The first series of sales amounting to 125 tonnes took place in the year 2000 across five auctions with each selling 25 tonnes. 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 billion from the gold sold. Gold Reserves Reserves from 1950 - 2015 UK Gold Reserves by year 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 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 313.22 1959 2234 2003 313.87 1958 2495 2002 355.25 1957 1382 487.5 1956 1576 2000 588.27 1955 1788 1999 715 1954 2255 1998 715 1953 2011 573 1952 1317 573 1951 1930 1995 573 1950 2543 574 1945 1772.94 574 1940 12390.22 579 1935 1464.56 1991 588 1930 1080 589 1925 1045.53 591 1920 863.75 591 1915 584.6 591 1913 248.09 1986 591 1910 223.37 1985 592 1905 199.21 1984 592 1900 198.47 591 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 77.63 654 1855 74 654 1850 104.72 1973 653 1845 82 See also Whole of Government Accounts Exchange Equalisation Account References Jump up ^ `` The countries with the largest gold reserves ''. The Telegraph. 13 July 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2017. Jump up ^ `` What is 12.5 million in GBP ( British pounds ) ? ''. Currency Converter. Retrieved 19 May 2017. ^ Jump up to : Green, Timothy ( November 1999 ). `` Central Bank Gold Reserves An historical perspective since 1845 '' ( PDF ). World Gold Council. Retrieved 19 May 2017. Jump up ^ Coyle, Diane ( 7 May 1999 ). `` Britain stuns markets with plan to sell gold reserves ''. The Independent. Retrieved 19 May 2017. Jump up ^ `` Business : The Economy Treasury offloads gold reserves ''. BBC. 7 May 1999. Retrieved 19 May 2017. Jump up ^ `` Chancellor 's ' £ 2 billion gold bungle ' ''. politics.co.uk. 15 April 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2017. Jump up ^ Watt, Holly ( 24 March 2010 ). `` Explain why you sold Britain 's gold, Gordon Brown told ''. The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 May 2017. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gold_reserves_of_the_United_Kingdom&oldid=808026978 '' Categories : Gold standard HM Treasury Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from August 2017 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 31 October 2017, at 12 : 50. About Wikipedia

Question: how much gold does the uk government hold
Answer: 310.29 metric tonnes