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PRESS
RELEASE
London
6 January
1998
GOLD, GOLD, GOLD!
Glittering display at Bank of England Museum:
World’s largest collection of gold bars to come to London
LONDON: 6 January 1998 - One of the largest exhibitions of gold and its
uses to be seen in Britain will arrive in London next month and will be
displayed at the Bank of England Museum until May. It will include the
largest collection of gold bars from around the world in addition to samples
of modern high caratage gold jewellery and examples of gold’s uses
in industrial applications.
This will be the first time that the International Gold Bars collection
has been brought to London. It is owned by N M Rothschild & Sons and
its display at the Bank of England Museum is being sponsored by the World
Gold Council and NM Rothschild, as part of an exhibition to mark the role
and importance of London and the Bank of England to the international
gold market.
Gold has for centuries been a glittering sign of wealth and it has been
the means of preserving that wealth, especially during times of economic
adversity and political uncertainty or in periods of war and natural disasters.
In many parts of the world gold is still held in high esteem as a continuing
store of value and has as relevant a role today as it did a thousand years
ago.
The International Gold Bars collection is the largest and the most comprehensive
in the world, and consists of more than 500 gold bars in a wide variety
of shapes and sizes which tell the story of gold and its role over the
centuries. This unique collection, which is worth over a million dollars,
will be the central feature of a special exhibition illustrating the continuing
relevance of gold in the modern world.
A gold bar is defined as any gold item, regardless of shape, which records
the name of the manufacturer, the precise weight and the precise purity.
It is usually sold at a low premium above the gold market price.
The exhibition traces the evolution of the technology of gold bars manufacturing
from the small ‘tezabi’ bars of Pakistan, which have been manufactured
in the same way for thousands of years, to the world’s first ‘hologram’
bars pioneered by bar makers in Switzerland. Others like the Vietnamese
‘gold leaf’ bars helped the boat people to carry some of their
wealth with them as they fled the ravages of war in more recent times.
Visitors will see the remarkable diversity of the gold bars made by more
than 90 different companies in 28 countries. They range from the 400 oz
(12.5 kg) London Good Delivery bar to the smallest minted bars weighing
just 0.3 of a gramme, with others in tolas, taels, ounces, grammes and
bahts.
Visitors to the exhibition, which is open between February 20 and May
14, will also have the opportunity of taking away samples of gold-bearing
ore from the world’s deepest gold mine (3.7 kms), the Western Deep
Levels mine in South Africa.
- Ends -
Notes to editors
The exhibition at the Bank of England Museum in Bartholomew Lane, EC2,
(adjoining the Bank of England in Threadneedle Street) will run from February
20 to May 14, 1998. Admission is free and opening hours are from 10.0
am to 5.0 pm, Monday to Friday, except on Public and Bank holidays when
it is closed.
The World Gold Council is an international organisation formed and funded
by leading gold mining companies from around the world to increase the
demand for gold.
The owner and custodian of the International Gold Bars Exhibition is
N M Rothschild & Sons Limited, which was established in London in
1804 and since 1919 its representative has chaired the daily London Gold
Fixings. The Gold Bars collection is administered by N M Rothschild &
Sons (Australia) Limited and the curator of the collection is Grendon
International Research Pty. Ltd., of Australia, who are the world’s
leading authority on gold bars and publish the standard industry reference
book, ‘The Industry Catalogue of Gold Bars Worldwide’.
The International Gold Bars exhibition in the City of London is also
being supported by the London Bullion Market Association and more than
100 gold industry entities worldwide, which include Brinks (high security
gold transport), Johnson Matthey (gold refiners) and Anglogold (leading
gold miners).
Pictures of various types of bars are available from Bankside Consultants.
Contacts and related links:
John Keyworth, Curator, Bank of England Museum
Tel. + 44 (0) 171 601 4387
museum@bankofengland.co.uk
Deborah Fowler, Bank of England
Tel. + 44 (0) 171 601 4411
Keith Irons, Bankside Consultants
London
Tel. + 44 (0) 171 220 7477
E-mail: keith.bankside@dial.pipex.com
Nigel Desebrock, Grendon International Pty. Limited
Australia
+61 8 9319 2171
The Bank of England
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/mus_arch.htm
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