Archived World Gold Council Document

London
19 February
1998

LONDON: 19 February 1998 - One of the largest exhibitions of gold in its many forms to appear in London opens tomorrow at the Bank of England Museum, in the City.

This exhibition, sponsored by the World Gold Council and one of London’s leading bullion brokers, N M Rothschild and Sons, with the support of the London Bullion Market Association, shows the indestructibility of gold in its varied uses from bullion bar and gold coin to high caratage jewellery and in space technology.

Centrepiece of the exhibition, entitled Gold, Gold, Gold - past, present and future, is an International Gold Bars collection, which has been gathered from every corner of the world. This unique 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 is the first time that the International Gold Bars collection, which is worth over a million dollars, has been brought to London. It is owned by N M Rothschild & Sons, on behalf of the gold industry, and it is being displayed as part of the exhibition to mark the role and importance of London and the Bank of England to the international gold market.

The exhibition was officially opened this evening by the Governor of the Bank of England, Mr Eddie George, in front of an invited audience of senior people from the London bullion market and banking communities, and supporters of the exhibition, including Mr Leopold de Rothschild of N M Rothschild and Sons, Mr Kelvin Williams, a director of AngloGold and the World Gold Council, and Mr Elliott Hood, the chief executive of the World Gold Council.

The collection 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 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.

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.

Visitors will see the remarkable diversity of the gold bars made by more than 90 different companies in 28 countries and will also be able to ‘touch’ and test the weight of a 400 oz (12.5 kg) London Good Delivery bar.

In addition to the largest collection of gold bars from around the world, visitors will also see many fine examples of high caratage gold jewellery from the Middle East and India, including a full Indian bridal set in 22 carat gold, loaned by Damas Jewellers from Dubai, and other high quality gold personal objects, together with examples of gold’s uses in modern industrial and high technology applications, including the visor of a NASA astronaut’s helmet.

In many parts of the world gold is still held in high esteem and has as relevant a role today as it did a thousand years ago. Central banks in Europe and in many other countries still hold much of their reserves in gold and the recent turmoil in currency and equity markets, especially in the Far East, has led to a revival of interest in gold for investment and as a store of value.

Visitors to the exhibition, which is open between February 20 and May 14, will be able to take away a free sample of gold-bearing ore from the world’s deepest gold mine, Anglogold’s Western Deep Levels mine in South Africa, where mining operations are currently more than two-and-a-quarter miles (3.7 kilometres) deep below surface.

- 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 collection, on behalf of the gold industry, is N M Rothschild & Sons Limited, which was established in London in 1809 and since 1919 its representative has chaired the daily London Gold Fixings. The collection is administered by N M Rothschild & Sons (Australia) Limited and the curator of the collection is Grendon International Research Pty. Ltd., of Australia, which is the world’s leading authority on gold bars and published in January 1998 the new 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).

Other gold products are provided by:

• Jewellery - Damas Jewellers, United Arab Emirates
• Electronics - Degussa AG, Germany, and Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo KK, Japan
• Dental - Cookson Precious Metals Limited, UK
• Decorative - Alfed Dunhill Limited, UK and
• Technology - Houston Space Centre, NASA, USA

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
E-mail: grendon@global.net.au

The Bank of England
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/mus_arch.htm

Note:
For more information, including pictures and descriptions of a variety of gold bars in the exhibition click here.