asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will list the sales of gold from the Government reserves since 1980, showing in respect of each sale the date, the quantity, the price in United States dollars and the proceeds in sterling. [HL1512]
Three hundred and ninety-five tonnes of gold were sold from the reserves between July 1999 and March 2002. The proceeds were in dollars, and details can be found on page 27 of Review of the Sale of Part of the UK Gold Reserves published by the Treasury in October 2002 (www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/ media//9EFEF/GoldReserves.PDF). The proceeds were invested in euro, dollar and yen assets and therefore sterling sums are not recorded.Small reductions in official gold holdings also occur due to the sale of gold coins from the Royal Mint. Details of such sales are available over the past 10 years only, mainly in sterling terms, as follows:
| Value date | Sales from reserves (fine ounces) | Price (£per ounce) | Proceeds to exchange equalisation account (£) |
| 14/12/1995 | -2,355.138 | 253.230 | 596,391.60 |
| 14/03/1996 | -1,608.494 | 260.270 | 418,642.73 |
| 25/09/1996 | -3,622.861 | 245.220 | 888,397.97 |
| 20/03/1997 | -3,640.934 | 218.420 | 795,252.80 |
| 18/08/1997 | -1,612.273 | 207.010 | 333.756.63 |
| 09/02/1998 | -3,218.181 | 180.200 | 579.916.22 |
| 22/02/2000 | -12,974.141 | 193.119 | 2,505,553.14 |
| 14/03/2000 | -6,550.241 | 184.523 | 1,208,670.12 |
| 12/04/2000 | -5,030.819 | 177.939 | 895,178.90 |
| 12/05/2000 | -2,241.650 | 182.068 | 408,132.73 |
| 13/12/2000 | -1,986.798 | 187.789 | 373,098.81 |
| 12/01/2001 | -6,298.156 | 178.777 | 1,125,965.44 |
| 12/04/2001 | -29,988.565 | 178.025 | 5,338,714.28 |
| 12/07/2001 | -3,656.692 | 189.034 | 691,239.12 |
| 12/10/2001 | -3,847.160 | 196.975 | 757,794.34 |
| 12/12/2001 | -4,657.450 | 190.887 | 889,046.66 |
| 14/01/2002 | -5,777.246 | 198.575 | 1,147,216.62 |
| 23/01/2002 | -5,414.750 | *$8287.9555 | *$81,559,207.04 |
| 13/03/2002 | -3,855.318 | 205.385 | 791,824.49 |
| 12/04/2002 | -2,208.024 | 207.165 | 457,425.29 |
| 14/05/2002 | -8,507.928 | 212.193 | 1,805,322.77 |
| Value date | Sales from reserve (fine ounces) | Price (£ per ounce) | proceeds to exchage equalisation account (£) |
| 12/09/2002 | -3.286.408 | 204.872 | 673,292.98 |
| 13/11/2002 | -1,954.819 | 201.772 | 394,427.74 |
| 13/11/2002 | -235.446 | 231.5167 | 54,509.68 |
| 14/03/2003 | -6,667.977 | 216.367 | 1,442,730.18 |
| 14/04/2003 | -4,594.449 | 207.864 | 955,020.55 |
| 22/05/2003 | -8,129.664 | 224.078 | 1,821,678.85 |
| 17/03/2004 | -8,756.063 | 221.487 | 1,939,354.13 |
| 30/04/2004 | -12,590.340 | 221.995 | 2,794,992.53 |
| 23/06/2004 | -452.765 | 214.972 | 97,331.80 |
| 21/10/2004 | -5,790.783 | 231.379 | 1,339,865.58 |
| 22/12/2004 | -2,223.218 | 227.121 | 504,939.50 |
| 27/01/2005 | -2,956.936 | 226.811 | 670,665.61 |
| 16/02/2005 | -9,947.261 | 224.238 | 2.230,553.91 |
| Total | **186,638.948 | ||
| * Note this sale was in US dollars. | |||
| ** Around 6 tonnes | |||