History of Gold in the UK

Henry VII issued the first sovereign, a large 20-shilling coin of fine gold weighing 15.55 g. It was probably a prestige piece for the new Tudor dynasty.

27 July 1694. The Bank of England was set up as a private bank to act as the government's banker. It later became the keeper of the nation's gold.

As Master of the Mint, Isaac Newton fixed the value of the gold guinea against silver, which in practice put Britain on gold. The Royal Mint says it paved the way for the gold standard a century later.

During the war with France, the Privy Council ordered the Bank of England to stop paying gold for its notes. Its gold fell from £16 million to £2 million, and the 'Restriction Period' lasted until 1821.

The Coinage Act made gold the full-value standard coin, with silver and copper as token coins exchangeable for gold.

A new 20-shilling sovereign replaced the 21-shilling guinea in summer 1817. Benedetto Pistrucci's St George and the dragon design is still used today.

The Bank of England's Restriction Period ended in 1821, and notes could again be exchanged for gold, a link that lasted until the early 1930s apart from war years.

About £100 million in gold coin was circulating in 1914. Within days of war, the government issued 10-shilling and £1 Treasury notes, and London stopped striking sovereigns in 1917.

Britain went back to gold at the pre-war rate. The Royal Mint melted and restruck lightweight sovereigns held by the Bank of England, and new sovereigns went into reserves, not circulation.

In September 1931 a run on sterling drained the Bank of England's reserves and the UK suspended the gold standard.

The Chancellor announced the Britannia, a bullion coin with exactly one ounce of fine gold.

7 May 1999. HM Treasury announced it would sell more than half of the UK's gold. About 395 tonnes went in 17 auctions from July 1999 to March 2002, at an average of about $275 an ounce.

The Bank of England holds around 400,000 gold bars in nine underground vaults, but owns only two of them; the rest belong to HM Treasury, other central banks and firms.

A statute of Edward I set a legal standard for gold and silver and required the leopard's head mark. This is the start of hallmarking in Britain and the Goldsmiths' Company's first legal recognition.

The Company received its first royal charter, giving it authority over standards in the trade.

Goldsmiths and silversmiths had to strike their own unique mark on their work, so every piece could be traced to its maker.

A statute made the Company answerable for substandard work. The first assay office opened at Goldsmiths' Hall under a full-time assayer, and a date letter was added to hallmarks.

The International Exhibition of Modern Jewellery was held at Goldsmiths' Hall, sponsored by De Beers.

It became an offence to describe an unhallmarked item as gold, silver, platinum or palladium when selling it. Items under 1 g of gold or palladium, 7.78 g of silver or 0.5 g of platinum are exempt.

The Goldsmiths' Company held its first annual Goldsmiths' Fair, a showcase for British jewellers and silversmiths.