The Lemon Fool

I remember in the very early 00's there was an article written by an HSBC gold bullion chap - apparently all the gold then ever mined would have fit (is my grammar proper?) in a double decker bus.

This nugget came to my mind as I was preparing myself for the Brexit armageddon.

Warren Buffet mentioned something about the total amount in one of his annual reports (edit : 2011)

Edit again with link;
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/why-warre ... d-cm267928
"Today the world's gold stock is about 170,000 metric tons. If all of this gold were melded together, it would form a cube of about 68 feet per side. (Picture it fitting comfortably within a baseball infield.)"

AleisterCrowley wrote:"Today the world's gold stock is about 170,000 metric tons. If all of this gold were melded together, it would form a cube of about 68 feet per side. (Picture it fitting comfortably within a baseball infield.)"

I've heard that that might be the figure for all the gold ever mined - this source has a try at doing the maths. https://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecc ... 0b04be69f1 . And anyway, as a Brit I have no concept of how big a baseball infield is. Is it smaller than Donald Trump's lift?

Actually, what bothers me these days is the amount of gold that exists in virtual form only. There are going to be some disappointed people around if the synthetic ETFs ever have to deliver the goods.

"Let's Get Physical" BJ

bungeejumper wrote:And anyway, as a Brit I have no concept of how big a baseball infield is.

Here you go. I assume Buffett is referring only to the portion of the infield that's covered by grass, i.e. the area enclosed by the three bases and home plate (the five-sided white shape between the batter's boxes), which form a square measuring 90 feet on each side. So excluding the brown area of the diagram labeled "infield (dirt)," in other words.

Can't be of any help re Trump's lift, I'm afraid.

Must be an American standard unit - cf the British ones;

Area: Football pitch, Wales
Volume(liquid): Olympic size swimming pool, St Paul's Cathedral
Volume (solid): Double decker bus
Height: Nelson's Column, Snowdon, Everest
Distance: Gnat's whisker, arm's length, the sun, Alpha Centauri,

bungeejumper wrote:There are going to be some disappointed people around if the synthetic ETFs ever have to deliver the goods.

Never mind such esoterica. Have you ever tried taking a banknote to the Chief Cashier (or any minion) and demanding they make good on the promise to the bearer?