Independence Scotland will cost England gold?

On 18 September, Scots will go to the polls to vote for an independent Scotland. If the area becomes truly independent, this will also be felt in the United Kingdom. Not only because Scotland will have control over an area rich in oil, but also because the country will then be able to make a claim on a portion of the United Kingdom's total gold reserves.

The United Kingdom has a gold reserve of 310 tonnes, but there is a good chance that some of it will have to be transferred to an independent Scotland. A spokesperson for the British Ministry of Finance said this on Monday.

An eventual independent Scotland could begin negotiations on the division of assets that are currently still pooled, including the gold reserves and the oil reserves around the British Isles.

A secession from Scotland could also have consequences for the value of the British pound. On the foreign exchange market, the value of the British pound fell to the last lowest level in ten months, after an opinion poll showed that there is a slim majority in favour of an independent Scotland.

Selling gold

Between 1999 and 2002, then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown sold 400 tonnes of Britain's gold reserves. This later brought him a lot of criticism, because he sold at the absolute bottom of the Gold price.