The nation with the most gold reserves is, unsurprisingly, the USA. Their total is by far the largest of all the nations on our list, holding 4,000 tonnes more than second-place Germany, but this total is subject to concerns and criticism.
The first problem is accuracy. Documents pertaining to the authenticity of gold bullion held in both New York and at Fort Knox has either gone missing or been destroyed. Rules introduced in 1974 were supposed to mean a one-time check of all America’s bullion, but gold has been found to have been accessed and potentially tampered with since that inspection.
The second is the consideration of foreign gold holdings. The US, like Britain, France and Switzerland, has often been a safe haven for gold bullion reserves in times of civil or national conflict. There are those who believe that America’s reserve total also includes Germany’s national gold reserves (amongst others) which, until repatriation in 2013, were held in New York.
The final part is purity. With much of the US gold reserves from older acquisitions, some experts believe the United States holdings are not fine quality bullion and that, were they melted down and remade into 24-carat bars, the total holding would come down dramatically.
Excellent point. Another question I’d like answered (if it would be possible to get the data) is how much gold is owned by citizens too? I want not just the government to have a stable gold backing, I want a significant number of citizens to have financial backing too. That reduces the likelihood of internal chaos (aside from the shallow attention seekers on the left doing “protests” that they don’t even know what they’re protesting for).