Hoarding

The purchase of physical gold, either coins or bars, by private individuals, which is held, often hidden at home, as a safeguard against invasion, or political or economic upheaval.

Such hoarding was particularly prevalent in France until the 1980s, especially of Napoleon coins and kilobars; stocks there were estimated to exceed 6,000 tonnes (193 million oz). Coin hoarding was also common in Belgium, Greece (mainly Sovereigns), Italy and the former West Germany. But greater security and economic prosperity brought a sharp decline in European Hoarding during the 1980s and steady dishoarding in France in the 1990s.

Hoarding became focused more on Brazil in the early 1980s, the Middle East (especially Saudi Arabia and Yemen), South East Asia and Japan. Racial minorities in many Asian countries, such as Indonesia, hoard gold as a tangible and universally acceptable medium of exchange.

Private bar hoarding in the 1990s usually accounted for between 200 and 300 tonnes (6.4 to 9.6 million oz) of gold annually but sudden price rises can lead to considerable profit-taking or dishoarding as investors nowadays see a chance to sell gold for other investments. See also Souk.