Inside the Bank of England
I recently watched Gold, a documentary film that explores the varied and often surprising ways in which gold and the societies it is part of have transformed over time.
It’s hosted by Idris Elba and there is a scene that involves a visitation to one of the vaults in The Bank of England. About 30% of the worlds gold is held in professional vaults all around the world, just like the one in the Bank of England
Fleming and the Bank of England #1
The B.O.E has some deep-veined ties to the world of Bond and Ian Fleming in particular.
From a brief biography of Ian Fleming found on the Mi6 HQ website,
To research “Goldfinger”, Fleming turned to a friend from his time at Reuters, Bernard Rickatson-Hatt who was now a Bank of England employee. Through his association with Bernard, Ian was introduced to the top experts at the Bank and engaged himself in research and stories of the world of gold-smuggling.
Fleming and the Bank of England #2
In another excerpt from Spears, who interviewed Nicholas Shakespeare the man who wrote The Complete Man, a biography of Ian Fleming,
[…] among those who recommended Fleming to Admiral Godfrey – the head of Naval Intelligence – was no less an individual than Montagu Norman, the governor of the Bank of England. (It also couldn’t have hurt that Fleming was a grandson of banking tycoon Robert Fleming.)
About Gold
I thought it would be prudent to share some screen grabs of the doc, along with some of the quotes from the banks Chief Cashier, Sarah John.
This is one of 9 gold vaults at the bank, about 400,000 gold bars are stored here in this vault and it’s collectively worth 250 billion pounds.
Gold has been used for a number of years, so gold coins themselves, they’re quite heavy thats why it was a problem to carry it round. So they would take gold coins to a goldsmith and they would issue them with an I.O.U. Over time I.O.U’s became an easier way to pay for goods and services rather than lugging gold coins around. Those I.O.U’s became bank notes, which we use today.
Countries have reserves and savings that they can draw on when they need to. Because gold holds it value in a time of crisis. Ands its easy to buy and sell in London, and that creates financial stability.
Goldfinger (1964)
Goldfinger
The Bank of England is also featured in the film, Goldfinger. Colonel Smithers briefs Bond. Probably better known as the Brandy scene. The source of which comes from James Bond Fandom:
“We here at the Bank of England, Mister Bond, are the official depository for gold bullion, just as Fort Knox, Kentucky is for the United States. We know, of course, the amounts we each hold, we know the amounts deposited in other banks, and we can estimate what is being held for industrial purposes. This enables the two governments to establish respectively the true value of the dollar and the pound. Consequently, we are vitally concerned with unauthorized leakages.”
The physical map of Bond locations in London is available to buy here.
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