How
Much Gold Exists, and Where Is It?
by Paul Tustain
Editor, www.galmarley.com
March 15, 2004
A
question: If all the gold ever produced in the world was
formed into a single block, how long would its edge be?
- The
length of a tennis court [22 metres]?
- The
length of a football pitch [100 metres]?
- The
length of a golf shot [200 metres]?
In
fact, at 19 metres it's quite a bit shorter than a tennis court,
and that includes all the privately held coins, bars and jewelry
in the world - some 75% of the total. The world's monetary gold
reserve is a block of only one quarter that volume, and America's
reserve is only one quarter of that. Fort Knox hides only a modest
hole in the ground.
There's
not much gold left elsewhere in the ground, either. Approximately
50,000 tonnes (about a third of what is already out) remains un-mined
and will cost in excess of $300 an ounce to extract. Meanwhile,
after steadily more detailed worldwide surveys, the mining industry
consensus is that large mineral deposit discoveries are now a thing
of the past.
In
fact gold is - as it always has been - extremely scarce.
Here
is a table of gold amounts and values. Take a deep breath before
the last few lines.
| Kilograms |
Value
@ $390/Oz |
Litres |
How
Much |
| 0.008 |
$100 |
0.00041 |
A
British sovereign coin |
| 0.031 |
$390 |
0.00161 |
US
Eagle / Canadian Maple coin |
| 0.100 |
$1.254 |
0.00518 |
|
| 0.500 |
$6,269 |
0.02591 |
|
| 1 |
$12,539 |
0.0518 |
1
kilo - a golf ball sized sphere |
| 2 |
$25,077 |
0.1036 |
|
| 3 |
$37,616 |
0.1554 |
|
| 4 |
$50,154 |
0.2073 |
|
| 5 |
$62,693 |
0.2591 |
|
| 6 |
$75,231 |
0.311 |
A
can of 'Coke' |
| 7 |
$87,770 |
0.363 |
|
| 8 |
$100,309 |
0.415 |
|
| 9 |
$112,847 |
0.466 |
|
| 10 |
$125,386 |
0.518 |
|
| 12 |
$156,000 |
0.645 |
A
standard 400 oz bullion bar |
| 20 |
$250,772 |
1.04 |
A
litre bottle of water |
| 50 |
$626,929 |
2.59 |
|
| 100 |
$1,253,858 |
5 |
A
good sized deposit box |
| 1,000 |
$12,538,580 |
52 |
|
| 10,000 |
$125,385,802 |
518 |
Half
a cubic metre - fits in a corner of a small bank vault. |
| 100,000 |
$1,253,858,025 |
5,181 |
|
| 1,000,000 |
$12,538,580,000 |
51,813 |
A
small living room - and more than twice Britain's gold
reserve. |
| 8,139,000 |
$102,051,504,000 |
421,710 |
The
US gold reserve fits into a town house. |
| 30,000,000 |
$376,163,190,000 |
1,554,404 |
The
world's total financial reserve of gold (central banks
+ significant global financial institutions like International
Monetary Fund and Bank for International Settlements). |
| 100,000,000 |
$1,253,858,024,000 |
5,181,347 |
The
approximate total of all privately held jewelry bullion
and coin. |
| 140,000,000 |
$1,755,401,234,000 |
7,253,886 |
All
the gold in the world - A block with edges 3 metres short
of a standard sized tennis court. |
| |
$7,000,000,000,000 |
|
The
approximate value of US sovereign debt (which excludes
future welfare obligations, none of which have been reserved
in the public accounts [see below - generational debt]). |
| |
$25,000,000,000,000 |
|
The
approximate value of the world's nominal sovereign debt. |
| |
$44,000,000,000,000 |
|
The
approximate value of the US generational debt - the cost
of providing to the current working population what it
believes itself entitled to in future welfare. i.e.
the extent to which the US government has failed to reserve
assets to pay for implied promises. |
Of
the US sovereign debt some 40% is owed to foreigners; a lot to
the Japanese. They've been holding on to US Treasury bonds which
they bought with the dollars they took in payment for all those
Toyotas.
But
now they are unhappy at losing their savings to the falling dollar.
Their finance minister has just decided to convert some of their dollars
to gold.
The
table graphically illustrates how little he can successfully convert.
Enjoy learning about the history
of gold's role in money and international trade and make your own
comparison to the world around you. Articles in the series include:
© Copyright 2004
Paul Tustain
Contact
Info
 Paul
Tustain
Editor
www.galmarley.com a
completely free gold research site. If
you need to understand the facts, figures and arguments about gold, then you
might find it useful.
Email
|
