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The Seven Years War ended in 1763. At that time, how much gold and silver existed inside Britain?

This would include the British Treasury as well as any personal gold/silver of the nobility and middle classes.

I'm only interested in the total amount of silver and gold, so it doesn't really matter to me who officially owns it. I only assume that the British Treasury is more well-documented than personal wealth down to the middle class

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    Which of those musings is your actual question: the first or the second? Commented May 5, 2016 at 2:43
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    Discussion of downvotes and closevotes is a waste of time. Too many people have launched personal attacks in response to explanations of downvotes. Votes are private and personal; an individual may choose to share their justification, but it is rude to demand the information.
    – MCW
    Commented May 5, 2016 at 16:37
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    @DrZ214 - I fully understand. Unfortunately people before you have been abusive with that question. Like so many areas in life, we have to deal with the baggage left behind by bad actors. Write the question as best you can, revise based on the input you get, but don't ask for explanations of downvotes, because trolls do that.
    – MCW
    Commented May 5, 2016 at 18:50
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    @KorvinStarmast hogwash! I started using StackExchange in History and Aviation approximately a year ago, and when I started, I told myself I would ALWAYS (always always) give a reason for my votes, up or down or closure).... I have been personally abused for doing so, multiple times. Now, I do, only if I am relatively assured that the user will not. StackExchange was built with implicit anonymity built into its voting mechanisms, therefore anonymity is to be protected... period. Don't like it? Strive to get the mechanics changed, but don't complain here.
    – CGCampbell
    Commented May 10, 2016 at 17:06
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    So, as one who has himself stated that he votes anonymously and why, you have now called me (and others) that twice now. Please stop. Your attempt to offset the rudeness by stating it wasn't meant to be offensive is proved wrong by "For an alternate point of view, only Anonymous Cowards downvote without providing feedback on..."
    – CGCampbell
    Commented May 10, 2016 at 17:44

1 Answer 1

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http://info.goldavenue.com/info_site/in_arts/in_mill/18thcentury.htm

Mocatta appointed as official broker in gold and silver to the Bank of England, a role the firm held exclusively for over a hundred years. The Bank's own Bullion Warehouse (later the Bullion Office) opened in 1732. Almost all gold coming into the country was lodged and weighted there. London was now the premier gold market...

So the BoE probably took in, and spent, nearly all the precious metal in England. There was about 100k oz in 1763.

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    Thanks. 235,000 troy ounces would be about 7.3 metric tons of gold. Is there any info, though, about the average purity of that gold? Usually it's alloyed with copper or silver, somewhere around 90% pure gold IIRC, but I don't know what the standard was for the 18th century.
    – DrZ214
    Commented May 7, 2016 at 5:31
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    According to the page that Mustang linked to the BoE stock of gold was "under 100,000 ounces" in 1763. The 235k oz amount was for 1797. Commented May 7, 2016 at 9:50
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    @KillingTime You're right. It's a good site about gold, tho. Too bad I cannot find one about silver.
    – DrZ214
    Commented May 7, 2016 at 17:43
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    @DrZ214 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea_(coin)
    – D J Sims
    Commented May 7, 2016 at 18:29
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    22 carats or 91.67% gold
    – D J Sims
    Commented May 7, 2016 at 18:29

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