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.[1]
It has been estimated that all the gold mined by the end of 2009 totaled
165,000 tonnes. At a price of US$1900/oz., reached in September 2011, one ton of gold has a value of approximately
US$60.8 million. The total value of all gold ever mined would exceed
US$9.2 trillion at that valuation.
However, gold at the moment is worth US$1718, so the current value would be a bit less.
IMF gold holdings
As of June 2009, the International Monetary Fund held
3,217 tons (103.4 million oz.) of gold, which had been constant for several years.(In today's value at 1742 per oz, their gold holdings would be worth
$177,951,400,000) In Fall 2009, the IMF announced that it will sell one eighth of its holdings, a maximum of
12,965,649 fine troy ounces or 403.3 tons, which would be worth
$22,313,881,929 at today's valuation. This sale was based on a new income model agreed upon in April 2008, and subsequently announced the sale of 200 tonnes to India, 10 tonnes to Sri Lanka, a further 10 Metric tonnes of Gold was also sold to Bangladesh Bank in September 2010 and 2 tonnes to the Bank of Mauritius. These gold sales were conducted in stages at prevailing market prices.
