A gold reserve is the gold held by a central bank or nation intended as a store of value and as a guarantee to redeem promises to pay depositors, note holders (e.g., paper money), or trading peers, or to secure a currency.
At the end of 2004, central banks and investment funds held 19% of all above-ground gold as bank reserve assets.
It has been estimated that all the gold mined by the end of 2009 totaled 165,000 tonnes. At a price of US$1900 per troy ounce, reached in September 2011, one tonne of gold has a value of approximately US$61.1 million. The total value of all gold ever mined would exceed US$10.1 trillion at that valuation.
Read more about Gold Reserve: IMF Gold Holdings, Gold Reserves and Their Relevance in War Times (Example From WW II), Officially Reported Gold Holdings, Privately Held Gold, World Gold Holdings
Famous quotes containing the words gold and/or reserve:
“That is coupled to foul thraldom.
But if he had assayed it,
Then all perquer he should it wit;
And should think freedom more to prize
Than all the gold in world that is.”
—John Barbour (1316?–1395)
“One should never make one’s debut with a scandal. One should reserve that to give an interest to one’s old age.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)