The price of gold has soared to a new high – meaning the cost of Gordon Brown’s decision to sell the nation’s holdings on the cheap 25 years ago has ballooned to almost £40billion.
On another record-breaking day on commodity markets, bullion rose above $4,400 an ounce for the first time to as high as $4,421, taking gains for the year to 67 per cent.
That puts gold on course for its best year since 1979.
Silver also soared to an all-time high of $69.50 an ounce – taking its gains so far in 2025 to an unprecedented 138 per cent.
The value of precious metals has soared as investors look for somewhere safe to park their cash amid geopolitical tensions and global economic uncertainty.
Joshua Mahoney, chief market analyst at Scope Markets, said: ‘Gold and silver prices have pushed into fresh record highs as traders once again pile into the precious metal space.’
The rally raises fresh questions over Brown’s decision as Chancellor to sell 395 tonnes of gold for a paltry $3.5billion between 1999 and 2002.
That gold would be worth $56billion today.
The difference in sterling is a whopping £39billion – highlighting the cost of his decision after two of the biggest tax-raising Budgets on record under current Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Tory business spokesman Andrew Griffith said: ‘Labour selling off the country’s gold ranks as one of the worst economic decisions of all time.’
Gold has soared this year, pushing through $3,000 and $4,000 an ounce for the first time, amid demand for so-called ‘safe haven’ assets and sustained buying by central banks.
Investors have sought to shield themselves from uncertainty ranging from Donald Trump’s tariffs and his attacks on the independence of the US Federal Reserve to conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East and mounting tensions between China and the West.
Gold and silver have been given fresh impetus in recent days as investors ramp up bets on interest rate cuts in the US and fret about the intensifying US blockade on Venezuelan oil.
Brent crude rose more than 2 per cent towards $62 a barrel as the US Coast Guard pursued a third oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela while copper climbed to a record high close to $12,000 a tonne.
Kate Marshall, an investment analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said ‘a mix of political tension, shifting central bank policy, and concerns about the long-term health of the global economy’ has pushed gold ‘firmly back into the limelight’ this year.
She said demand for the precious metal among central banks and continued geopolitical uncertainty ‘should prop up the gold price’ again next year.
But she added: ‘We don’t expect the returns of this year, or last, to follow in 2026.’
The gold price has soared as investors seek so-called ‘safe haven’ assets
Brown announced plans to sell almost half of Britain’s gold reserves in May 1999 to reduce the country’s reliance on bullion.
He later insisted it was a ‘perfectly reasonable’ decision as he looked to diversify Britain’s investments – ploughing much of the money raised into government bonds.
But his critics claim it was one of the worst financial decisions in British political history and cost the nation billions.
Brown sold at an average price of $275 an ounce.
The price of gold has risen 16-fold since then.
DIY INVESTING PLATFORMS
Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.