QUEUING UP TO BUY TONS OF GOLD

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 18, 20 July 1935, Page 25

QUEUING UP TO BUY TONS OF GOLD

One of the strangest and most dramatic aspects of the French financial crisis was the scene at the Bank of France recently, when long,lines of lorries, and even taxi-cabs, stood before the doors, waiting to carry away the ingots, of gold purchased by people 'who feared for the future of the franc. Most of the purchases have, of course, been made by banks and financiers, as the smallest amount sold is one 281b ingot, at a cost of £2666, which has to be paid for in French banknotes over the counter before the gold delivery slip is issued, says a "Daily Mail" correspondent. In most cases the orders ran into several hundreds of thousands of pounds. I Watched the line of people waiting in a queue at the bank. There were about forty men and three women —all clerks, messengers, or other persons employed by bullion firms, banks, and financial establishments. They were laughing and talking and were apparently not a bit awed at the responsibility of their task. When they came out of the bank into the 1 courtyard with their delivery orders they" hurried Off to join their friends already waiting to receive their bullion. ' , . • It was strange to notice that, beyond the regular Bank of; France guards furnished by the. Garde- Republicaine and a handful of police, no Special precautions are being taken to protect the 'tons of precious metal which have been taken* away from the great vaults day after day. ' ■', During twelve days about 300 tons of gold "Were removed iii this quiet, unobtrusive fashion, and not a single bar has been stolen. Three hundred tons' of gold seems an enormous amount, but it is really a small percentage of the bank's total

gold reserve, which, at the last return, amounted'to more than £1,000,000,000 and which would weigh 4300 tons. Not More than half of this gold, however, is kept in the vaults, which are 80ft deep under the piece of waste ground which-stretches south of the bank, going towards the RUe de Rivoli. The gold bars are kept there in great cupboards ticketed like so many books. When the 18ft thick doors of these vaults are opened, not only have timelocks and special keys to be employed, but the whole door has to move round in a great cylindrical mass of armoured concrete, and is then actually Opened by means of a small electric engine which runs along lines. The gold is brought to the surface by q special armoured lift with great burglar-proof Steel gates. Meanwhile, some small banks have been doing a roaring trade by Selling gold, at a high premium, in small ingots, which usually find their way to the jewellery trade. In this way the small purchaser who has only' a few hundred pounds has been turning his Bank of France notes into gold. I was told that in some cases purchasers were losing as much as 30 per cent, on the transaction. One woman, for instance, Sold her French Rentes when they touched the lowest point—they have risen since— and then bought a small bar of gold for £200, paying well over the world price for it. The bank clerk told her that she could do nothing with it—she could not buy food or. payfor anything-with it, and that sooner or later she would have to bring it back and exchange it again for notes. But she merely set her ; teeth, wrapped up the small ingot in her handkerchief, and stowed it away in her handbag. , . ; '