The Gold-Silver Ratio Remains Relevant Today and Other Silver News

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The Gold-Silver Ratio Remains Relevant Today and Other Silver News

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) Despite some analysts claiming it’s a relic of the past, a recent study found the gold-silver ratio remains a relevant technical indicator and is still useful for forecasting the silver market’s trajectory.

The study was featured in the latest edition of the Silver Institute’s Silver News report, along with reports covering recent advances in silver technology and the silver market.

The gold-silver ratio tells you how many ounces of silver it takes to buy one ounce of gold given the current spot prices of both metals. In other words, it tells you the price of gold in ounces of silver.

According to the study, the gold-silver ratio tends to revert to a mean of around 60-1.

In other words, when the gold-silver ratio rises well above its historical average, it signals that silver is underpriced relative to gold and there is a strong possibility that silver will go on a bull run to close that gap. Conversely, when the ratio drops significantly below 60-1, it will revert to the mean with a silver selloff or gold price surge.

The gold-silver ratio currently sits at around 67-1.

According to the Silver Institute, “The tendency for the gold-silver ratio cyclically to rise above and fall below its long-run equilibrium has not changed. Therefore, even if in future the outcomes will be skewed higher by the structural change supported by heavy official sector gold demand, dips well below equilibrium will also occur.”

Based on the data, when the gold-silver ratio rises roughly 20 percent above its mean, it will eventually move back, often very quickly overshooting the average in the process.

For instance, the gold-silver ratio fell to 30-1 in 2011 after rising to over 80-1 during the money creation of the Great Recession in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

Then in 2020, the gold-silver ratio set a record of 123-1 as COVID hysteria gripped the world and then plunged to around 60-1 as central banks around the world cranked up the money-creation machine to cope with governments shutting down economies.

According to the Silver Institute, the ratio of above-ground gold to silver bullion stocks acts in tandem with the ratio of gold-silver investment demand.

“The report noted that recently the higher gold price has been powered by official-sector net sales or purchases that have pushed the gold-silver ratio above the long-run 60-1 ratio. Nonetheless, the ratio is still expected to revert to the mean of about 60 to 1.”

The Silver Institute also reported some interesting technological developments in the world of silver.

  • Silver has replaced silver in a process used to separate ethylene from propane. The old process carried the risk of an explosion. Researchers at Hanyang University in South Korea found that they can replace silver ions with metallic silver nanoparticles. This form of silver is more stable and less likely to react with chemicals such as acetylene, lowering the risk of explosion.
  • Doctors have discovered that nanosilver can help to measure the correct medication dosages for individual patients. Nanosilver is often used in biological sensors because it can naturally boost the weak reflected light-wave signals coming from drug molecules. These signals have unique signatures that tell laser-powered readers how much and what kind of drug is present. Along with determining a drug’s best dosages and possible side effects, this approach has additional benefits. It replaces slow lab work because this light-based method is not only fast but can be done at a patient’s bedside.
  • Applying Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) to children’s teeth has been shown to prevent cavities; however, it can leave dark stains. New research suggests that ‘nanosilver fluoride’ (NSF) might be just as effective without staining. According to a report in the journal BMC Oral Health, “Incorporating silver nanoparticles, NSF, retains the advantageous preventive; this method often leaves dark stains on youngsters’ teeth.“
  • Can you smell silver? No. Pure silver and sterling have no odor. However, if you sniff a silver object, the smell indicates whether it is pure. “If you smell metal, like copper, which has a distinct odor, then the item in question is not pure silver. Zinc, brass, and steel have their own particular smells. Even if an item has a thin layer of silver coating, the underlying metal will usually still give off a metallic scent, suggesting that it is not pure silver.”
  • Engineers from the College of Design and Engineering at the National University of Singapore have developed technology that could lead to more flexible and durable wearable sensors. The soft, stretchable substrate repairs itself, firmly grips metal conductors, and can be remolded or broken down after use. In tests, silver films for electrodes that pick up heart and muscle signals adhered three times more strongly to their substrate than other substances used to conduct electricity.
  • The sun may contain 55 percent more silver than astronomers previously believed. Of course, scientists cannot collect samples from the sun to measure the amount of silver it contains, but they can estimate the sun’s composition by studying the light waves it emits. Every element has a unique wavelength, but the researchers came up short on silver when it came to reconciling the higher amount they saw in stuff that fell from space. According to Swedish researchers using a supercomputer, the sun’s rays – unbeknownst to astronomers – distorted the specific light waves that told them how much silver was present.

Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for Money Metals with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.

If Rats Can Eat Your Money, It’s Probably Not Good Money

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If Rats Can Eat Your Money, It’s Probably Not Good Money

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) This is the perfect story that contrasts the value of real money – gold and silver – with the paper stuff your government tries to pass off as money.

A Dutch homeowner digging in his backyard found more than 40 pounds of 1,000-year-old silver. Meanwhile, piles of cash stashed in fields and stuffed into walls a couple of decades ago got moldy and chewed up by rats.

Viking Silver

The silver horde discovered in Denmark consisted of around 700 objects from the Viking era, including bars, coins, and jewelry. The items are in remarkably good condition, considering they’ve been buried for around 1,000 years.

Photo courtesy of North Jutland Museums
Photo courtesy of North Jutland Museums

According to Live Science, all the silver bars, along with some of the bracelets and silver fragments, can be sorted into specific weight groups. This indicates that the collection represented an “important storage of wealth,” not just a random assortment of silver objects.

“The treasure so clearly shows how silver functioned as wealth and a means of payment in the Viking Age. It’s like finding a safe from the Viking Age,” North Jutland Museums cultural heritage manager Torben Sarauw said.

It’s notable that 1,000 years later, that wealth still exists and is worth every bit as much as it was back in its day.

In fact, based on the purity of comparable Viking-era Danish silver (around 94 percent), the 18.5-kilogram hoard contains roughly 559 troy ounces of pure silver. At the current spot price, the melt value is over $37,000.

So, here’s a question for you to ponder over a cup of coffee. What would happen to $37,000 in U.S. paper currency buried in the ground for 1,000 years? Would it still be worth $37,000?

We kind of know the answer to that question because people have tried it.

Turns out paper buried in the ground or stuffed in walls doesn’t hold up very well.

Billion-Dollar Rat Food

In the late 1980s and early ‘90s, Pablo Escobar was one of the richest men in the world. Forbes featured him on its list of international billionaires for seven straight years from 1987 to 1993.

Escobar made his billions the old-fashioned way.

Selling drugs.

In his day, Escobar’s Medellín cartel supplied around 80 percent of the world’s cocaine.

Roberto Escobar served as Pablo’s accountant. In his autobiography, he said the cartel brought in so much cash that it couldn’t launder the money fast enough. Cartel members resorted to stashing currency inside dilapidated warehouses, farm fields, and inside the walls of their homes.

Roberto said the cartel simply wrote off $2.1 billion per month in lost or destroyed cash.

“Pablo was earning so much that each year we would write off 10 percent of the money because the rats would eat it in storage or it would be damaged by water or lost.”

I’m just going to note here that rats don’t eat silver or gold.

Pablo’s nephew Nicholas Escobar confirmed the story, saying he found $18 million in cash stuffed inside the walls of an apartment once used by the cartel. Of course, many of the bank notes were damaged and unusable.

“The smell was astonishing. A smell 100 times worse than something that had died,” Nicholas said.

I’ll also note that silver and gold don’t stink when they’re left inside a wall.

Rats weren’t the only rodents eating away Pablo’s fortune. Politicians in Washington, D.C., were stealing his wealth through relentless currency debasement.

For the sake of argument, let’s say Pablo sealed $37,000 in cash in a wall back in 1990. If somebody stumbled upon that little horde today, it would only buy about $14,117 worth of stuff.

In other words, the purchasing power of that money plunged by nearly 62 percent in less than 40 years.

That is assuming the animal rats didn’t get to it first.

One of Aristotle’s four characteristics of good money is durability. In other words, money must stand the test of time. It can’t break down, rot, or corrode easily.

And it probably shouldn’t be edible by rats.

Paper fiat dollars fail this test miserably.

Viking silver, on the other hand…

Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for Money Metals with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.

ICE Agent Charged with False Statements in Metro Surge Shooting

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ICE Agent Charged with False Statements in Metro Surge Shooting

(Elyse S. Apel, The Center Square) Federal prosecutors are charging an ICE agent with making false statements in connection with a shooting during Operation Metro Surge, according to an anonymous AP source.

ICE agent Christian Castro is also facing state charges for the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in north Minneapolis.

Those charges include four felony counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime. Prosecutors allege Castro fired through the front door of a duplex while standing outside and not under physical threat.

According to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, the bullet struck Sosa-Celis in the leg before lodging in the wall of a child’s bedroom.

At the time of the announcement of those charges in May, federal immigration officials called Minnesota’s prosecution of Castro a “political stunt.”

An ICE spokesperson exclusively told The Center Square that the state’s actions were unlawful and defended the conduct of federal agents involved in the operation.

“These actions by Minnesota sanctuary politicians are unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt,” an ICE spokesperson said.

Yet, the spokesperson also said the U.S. Attorney’s Office was already “actively” investigating statements made under oath connected to the case.

“Lying under oath is a serious federal offense,” they said. “Upon conclusion of the investigation, the officers may face disciplinary action, including termination of employment, as well as potential criminal prosecution.”

Just last week, Castro was suspended without pay after being released from a Texas prison, where he had been held since May on a warrant for the Minnesota charges.

He was released after reaching Texas’ 90-day limit for extradition cases, which expired after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, refused sign an extradition warrant to send Castro to Minnesota.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Democrat, sued Abbott last week to compel him to sign the extradition warrant for Castro.

“You guys are such bad lawyers,” Abbot posted on social media in response to Ellison. “Minn. is the literal definition of a sanctuary state because you refuse to assist in enforcing immigration laws.”

A federal district court denied Minnesota’s request for emergency relief to force Abbott to sign the warrant and keep Castro in custody until he did so.

Ellison vowed to continue his efforts.

“This is not politics – this is not a game. There are traumatized victims in Minnesota awaiting accountability and justice. But Greg Abbott is playing the political game of turning Texas into a sanctuary state for accused felons and violent criminals,” Ellison said. “I will never stop pursuing Castro wherever he may be to make him face justice in Minnesota.”

It is unknown if Castro is yet in federal custody.

Report Finds Holes and Delays in How Secret Service Updates its Protection Policy

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Report Finds Holes and Delays in How Secret Service Updates its Protection Policy

(Headline USA) The U.S. Secret Service dealt with several drone-related incidents without adjusting its protection policies or documenting why it didn’t, according to a government report released Thursday. That information may have helped illustrate the emerging threat of civilian drone use before one was used in the 2024 assassination attempt on then-candidate Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The report from the Government Accountability Office found delays and holes in how the Secret Service updates its policies regarding threats, and arrives after a few turbulent years for the agency charged with the president’s protection.

The would-be assassin in Butler positioned himself on a roof left unsecured, nicking the president’s ear with a bullet. Months later, a man with a rifle got surprisingly close to 

Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course. And in April, an armed man got beyond security barriers at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, where the president sat.

The report found that between 2015 and 2025 the Secret Service dealt with 83 security incidents and that they updated their protection policies in response to 25 of them. 

Among the incidents was a drone that made contact with President Barack Obama’s motorcade in 2015 and another flown about 200 feet (60 meters) over a rally for then-presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

Failing to document why the Secret Service decided not to change their policy is the concern, said Nathan Tranquilli, acting director of the Government Accountability Office, adding that the drone incidents were a “compelling example” of that.

“Some of the missing information has been relevant to subsequent attacks,” the report read. It cited the Butler incident, where the culprit flew a drone for 11 minutes over the crowd, which helped him position himself to get clear shot at Trump.

The Secret Service also failed to update eight of 22 protection policies within a required time frame of four years. A memorandum of understanding between the Secret Service and the Diplomatic Security Service, which designates each agencies’ responsibilities for the president’s overseas security, hasn’t been updated since 1991, even though an annual review and update is required. As a consequence, the memorandum doesn’t address newer threats, such as drones.

“When you look at the Secret Service and you look at their mission, really it’s a zero fail mission, and they’ve got a ton of challenges,” said Tranquilli. “When decisions were being made about where to put time and energy, some of these things fell to the side, and, as a result, there were some delays.”

The report recommended three fixes, including that the Secret Service revise its policy to require that, when a security incident doesn’t warrant a policy update, that the rationale is documented.

A spokesperson for the Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the report stated that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service, agreed with all recommendations and plans to implement changes.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press.

Minneapolis Apartment Shooter was Investigated for Handgun in June

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Minneapolis Apartment Shooter was Investigated for Handgun in June

(Headline USA) The man who carried out a deadly shooting in a Minneapolis apartment building had been investigated in June after displaying a handgun, but wasn’t charged, the county prosecutor said Thursday.

Carlton Johnson was killed by police who raced to the building after the first reports of gunfire, said Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the state investigate agency.

Court documents say Johnson was facing eviction and had threatened a fellow resident with a gun in the months leading up to the shooting, which left two people dead, along with Johnson, and five others injured.

But the shooting began just outside the building’s entrance during an arranged custody handoff, when Johnson shot and wounded a woman believed to be the mother of his child, Evans said. The child was not injured.

He then shot two building employees before taking an elevator to the 9th floor where he killed two building residents and then was killed in an exchange of fire with police. 

Evans said it was unclear if Johnson was targeting the residents or had simply encountered them in the hallway.

The five wounded included two Minneapolis police officers hit by gunfire and another officer who suffered injuries elsewhere during the operation, police said. The three officers were hospitalized but expected to make full recoveries. One officer was shot in the leg and another was shot twice in the abdomen, officials said.

“This is once again a situation where domestic violence is central to a really terrible situation,” Drew told reporters.

Earlier, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said Johnson had “displayed the weapon but it did not leave his waistband” in a June 25th encounter. Minneapolis Police, who responded to the call that day, said he had a legal permit to carry the weapon, she said in a statement.

Moriarty said the office decided not to file the charges because there was “insufficient evidence to prove a charge beyond a reasonable doubt.”

On Thursday, investigators were scouring the scene of the downtown Minneapolis shooting.

Dozens of law enforcement officers were at the apartment building where the shooting occurred Wednesday evening, along with a mobile crime scene unit from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the state investigative agency.

Minneapolis council member Elizabeth Shaffer represents the neighborhood where the shooting happened. She said 16 displaced residents had sheltered in a nearby church overnight and that the Red Cross had been providing support. Shaffer said her staff hadn’t received any previous constituent complaints related to safety or building management.

“That is surprising when you read the news reports, you know, of what was happening in the building, but there was, we have heard nothing,” she said.

Resident Julius Bailey was sitting with a friend just outside the building entrance when he heard gunshots and saw a man he recognized as another resident holding a pistol. Bailey said he heard a woman screaming and immediately started running, counting eight shots as he headed for safety.

Bailey said the man with the gun was well known in the building for being belligerent and showing off his weapon. Bailey, who moved into the building in June, said he went out of his way to avoid the man.

“I could tell he was trouble,” he said.

Chris Miller, who also lives in the apartment building, said he heard a rapid succession of gunshots and quickly ran outside for safety. He said he believed he knew who carried out the shooting and that he encountered someone in the hallway with a handgun earlier this week and reported that person to management.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press. 

Judge Ends Lindsay Clancy Trial for the Day as Jury Deadlocked Over 1 Juror

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Judge Ends Lindsay Clancy Trial for the Day as Jury Deadlocked Over 1 Juror

(Headline USA)  The deadlocked jury in the Lindsay Clancy trial went home without a verdict Thursday in a dramatic sixth day of deliberations. Her defense lawyer told the judge that the panel’s foreperson said in a note that a single juror won’t follow the court’s instructions about reasonable doubt and was holding up a verdict.

The jury will return Friday to see if they can reach a decision on whether the Massachusetts mother is criminally responsible for killing her three children.

Before sending the jury home on Thursday, the judge refused the defense’s request to remove one of the jurors following heated discussions among the parties.

Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse, doesn’t deny strangling her children in the basement of their home in 2023 before trying to take her own life. Her attorney argues that postpartum psychosis led to her actions, while prosecutors say she knew what she was doing when she killed Cora, Dawson and Callan Clancy, ages 5, 3 and 8 months.

Clancy’s livestreamed trial has generated intense interest, with reporters and spectators packing the courtroom. The case has also sparked deep public divisions over her culpability and the issues around maternal mental health after childbirth.

Judge William Sullivan, after receiving the jury’s note, brought in each juror individually and questioned them in private. The judge then reread his instructions on reasonable doubt before sending them back to continue deliberating on a verdict.

That prompted an angry objection from Clancy’s lawyer, Kevin Reddington, who demanded that one juror be removed. Sullivan declined. This was the first time the jury indicated possible tension or acrimony in the deliberation room.

Throughout the trial, Clancy has received letters of support “from all over the world,” defense attorney Kevin Reddington said Thursday. “It’s just amazing. She reads them all.”

Sullivan explained to the courtroom on Wednesday that jurors were again at an impasse — a sign there’s a growing chance of a hung jury and the trial ending without a resolution.

Sullivan told the jurors not to abandon their own convictions just to reach a verdict, but urged them to seriously consider opposing views and reassess their positions if appropriate.

No one knows, he said, that another jury would be “more intelligent, more impartial or more competent to decide it than you are.”

If the jury ultimately can’t agree on a verdict, the judge could declare a mistrial. Prosecutors would then have to decide whether to put Clancy on trial again, drop the charges or try to negotiate a plea deal with her lawyer.

If the jury decides Clancy was criminally responsible for her actions, it could convict her of either murder or manslaughter. If she is acquitted, a judge could still order her confined to a mental health facility if an evaluation determines that she poses a danger to the public.

Jurors have heard testimony from relatives and doctors about how Clancy’s mental health declined in the months before the killings and how her treatment included several medications and a short stay in a psychiatric hospital.

Medical experts hired by the prosecution and the defense reached sharply different conclusions about her psychiatric state when she killed the children.

Patrick Clancy has said in interviews that he forgives his now ex-wife, whom he views as ill rather than evil.

Clancy strangled the children with exercise bands in their home’s basement, then jumped from a second-floor window. She remains paralyzed from the waist down. Her lawyers say she heard a voice telling her to kill the children so she could end her own life.

The prosecution argues she deliberately sent her then-husband on errands to get him out of the house, and prosecutors have questioned the seriousness of her suicide attempt.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press.

Maria Bartiromo Out at Fox News After More than a Decade; No Reason Specified

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Maria Bartiromo Out at Fox News After More than a Decade; No Reason Specified

(Headline USA) Fox News Media has parted ways with politically influential financial journalist Maria Bartiromo after more than a decade, the company announced Thursday hours after Fox Business Network aired the final episode of the show that bears her name. The company did not specify the reasons for her separation.

“We thank Maria for her work over the last 12½ years,” a Fox statement read, “and wish her all the best on her next chapter.”

There was no immediate reaction from Bartiromo. Her X account still showed a banner photo Thursday afternoon encouraging people to “grab yourself a cup of coffee, and join us every morning for Mornings With Maria.”

Other high-profile, on-air personalities that have left Fox News Media in recent years include Tucker Carlson and Bill O’Reilly. Former Fox personality Pete Hegseth left the network in 2024 after being nominated as President Donald Trump’s secretary of defense.

Bartiromo hosted “Mornings with Maria” on Fox Business Network, the last episode of which aired Thursday morning, as well as “Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street.”

The first show will be renamed “Mornings with Fox Business” and will feature rotating anchors, the company said in its statement. The second will be renamed “FBN’s Wall Street” and will also use rotating anchors. Additionally, Bartiromo’s weekly Fox News show “Sunday Morning Futures” will be hosted by Jason Chaffetz for the time being.

Bartiromo has frequently earned praise from Trump, who has granted her multiple interviews over the years. He has called her a “great reporter.” Vice President JD Vance, talking with reporters Thursday afternoon, was asked about her departure but said he had not talked to her and didn’t know the back story.

“I love Maria. I think she’s an amazing person, an amazing talent,” Vance said. “Whatever she does, she’s gonna do great, and I wish her all the best. She’s a very, very dear friend.”

In 2025, a lawsuit against Fox News by voting technology company Smartmatic alleged that Bartiromo spread false rumors about claims of election fraud on the air — a notion she had vehemently rejected.

Bartiromo had said before an earlier lawsuit involving Fox and Dominion Voting Systems that it’s “absurd” to think that she personally lobbied former Attorney General William Barr to aggressively investigate Trump’s charges of voter fraud during the 2020 election. Instead, she said she was doing a journalist’s job in asking follow-up questions. That case was settled in 2023.

Before Fox, Bartiromo worked for CNBC for 20 years as a financial journalist. Previously to that, she worked for CNN. At CNBC, she pioneered daily live reporting from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and won an Emmy Award for a documentary about Google.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press. 

Teenager Arrested and 5 Others Sought in Deadly July 4 Fire in Washington

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Teenager Arrested and 5 Others Sought in Deadly July 4 Fire in Washington

(Headline USA) An 18-year-old in Washington state has been arrested for the investigation of manslaughter and arson in connection with a deadly July 4 fire, a county sheriff said Thursday.

The teen from Kent was among a group of people setting off illegal fireworks from the back of a truck when one landed in roadside brush, igniting the fast-moving blaze, Douglas County Sheriff Tyler Caille said. He said authorities were also seeking arrest warrants for five others.

The Chelan Hills Fire burned roughly 15.6 square miles (40.4 square kilometers), destroyed more than 100 structures and left one person dead, he said.

The victim was identified earlier this week as Robert Lister, a 69-year-old Orondo resident, whose vehicle had slid off the road and was consumed by the flames.

Caille urged the others accused of launching illegal fireworks to turn themselves in, or “we will come find you.” He said all are over 18 and are “complicit with the same crimes.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press. 

UPDATE: Three Dead, Including Shooter, in Minneapolis Mass Shooting

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UPDATE: Three Dead, Including Shooter, in Minneapolis Mass Shooting

(Elyse S. Apel, The Center Square) Three people are dead and six others are injured after a mass shooting in downtown Minneapolis on late Wednesday afternoon.

Three police officers sustained injuries and are expected to make full recoveries.

“Grateful to law enforcement actively working to ensure the safety of our neighbors in Downtown Minneapolis this afternoon,” Gov. Tim Walz said Wednesday. “We’re relieved to hear from MPD officials that the officers involved in today’s shooting are expected to make a full recovery. We’re keeping all of the victims in our prayers as more information about this tragic shooting unfolds.”

Among the dead is the shooter, Carlton Neal Johnson II.

According to court records, Johnson had a history of assault and making violent threats and was facing eviction from the apartment building where the shooting took place.

The investigation is ongoing.

“While we still have limited information, it is clear that this was a terrible and shocking attack with numerous victims,” said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty in a statement. “Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones of the deceased, the law enforcement officers who were shot, and all the other victims who are currently receiving medical care.”

Moriarty added that her office is coordinating with the Minneapolis Police Department and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension on the investigation.

Central Banks Piled in More Gold in July

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Central Banks Piled in More Gold in July

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) Central banks continued to accumulate gold in July, adding a net 23 tonnes to the collective reserves.

Year to date, central banks have accumulated an additional 130 tonnes of gold, about 30 tonnes less than through the same period last year. The primary difference between 2025 and 2026 is that there has been more selling this year.

The Gold Buyers

The People’s Bank of China was the biggest buyer in July, increasing its official reserves by 20 tonnes. It was the 22nd straight month of reported gold buying, raising official Chinese reserves to 2,366 tonnes. That makes up about 8 percent of the country’s total reserves.

So far this year, the PBoC has increased its officially reported gold holdings by 60 tonnes.

Notice the emphasis on “official.”

China is among the central banks that are likely to hold significantly more gold than they publicly disclose. As Jan Nieuwenhuijs has reported, the People’s Bank of China is secretly buying large amounts of gold off the books. According to data parsed by the renowned Money Metals researcher, the Chinese central bank is currently sitting on more than 5,000 tonnes of monetary gold located in Beijing – more than TWICE what has been publicly admitted.

The mainstream is finally taking notice. Last month, Goldman Sachs picked up on China’s undisclosed purchases, and analysts at BMO Capital estimated that Chinese gold reserves could surpass the U.S.’s within five years.

Poland ranks as the top gold buyer so far this year, after adding another 8 tonnes to its holdings in July. So far in 2026, the National Bank of Poland has increased its gold reserves by 90 tonnes. It now holds 640 tonnes of the yellow metal, making up roughly 28 percent of its total reserves.

Poland led central bank gold buying in 2025, adding 102 tonnes of gold to its holdings.

Late last year, the National Bank of Poland issued a statement saying it plans to purchase up to 150 more tonnes of gold, raising its holdings to a maximum of 700 tonnes.

NBP Governor Adam Glapiński said the increase in gold reserves would elevate Poland to an “elite” status.

“This will place Poland among the elite 10 countries with the largest gold reserves in the world.”

The Polish central bank already holds more gold than the European Central Bank. To put the country’s gold reserves in context, the NBP only held 14 tonnes of gold in 1996.

The Czech Republic has been one of the most consistent gold buyers over the last few years. The trend continued in July with yet another 2-tonne purchase.

The Czechs have adopted a slow, steady approach, buying gold for 41 straight months. The country added 20 tonnes to its holdings last year and now holds 84 tonnes of gold. Czech officials say they plan to increase gold reserves to 100 tonnes by 2028.

Other central bank gold buyers last month were:

  • Kazakhstan – 1 tonne
  • Malaysia – 1 tonne
  • Bolivia – 1 tonne 

The Gold Sellers

Russia continued to tap into its gold reserves as it copes with the impacts of economic sanctions and a wartime economy. The Central Bank of Russia reported another 6-tonne decline in its gold reserves in July.

Year-to-date, Russia has sold 50 tonnes of gold, decreasing its official reserves to 2,277 tonnes.

Turkey’s gold holdings dipped by another tonne in July. The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey has divested itself of 85 tonnes of gold so far this year as it copes with a weak currency and the pressure of rising oil prices.

Turkey sold a large amount of gold earlier this year to backstop the lira.

Uzbekistan flipped to selling in July, modestly reducing its reserves by 1 tonne after adding 9 tonnes of the yellow metal in both May and June.

The Uzbek central bank has increased its reserves by a net 40 tonnes year-to-date.

It is not unusual for central banks that buy from domestic sources, such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, to pivot back and forth between buying and selling.

According to the World Gold Council, Central Bank of Uzbekistan Governor Timur Ishmetov recently said that while “gold has turned out to be the best investment so far”, the central bank is looking at potential sales of gold at “favorable prices” as part of its overall reserve management plan.

Uzbekistan holds roughly 87 percent of its reserves in gold.

Jordan was also a gold seller in July, decreasing its reserves by 1 tonne.

The Big Picture

Looking at the trends, central bank gold buying moderated in 2025 but remained far above the recent historical average. Official net full-year buying came in at 863.3 tonnes. That was down 21 percent year-on-year, charting the lowest level since 2021.

However, although central bank gold purchases declined last year, they remained well above the 2010-2021 annual average of 473 tonnes.

Last year was the fourth-largest expansion of central bank gold reserves on record. The all-time high was set in 2022 (1,136 tonnes). It was the highest level of net purchases on record, dating back to 1950, including since the suspension of dollar convertibility into gold in 1971.

The surging gold price was likely a factor in the slowing central bank gold accumulation. As the World Gold Council put it, the higher price prompted “a more cautious approach.”

“This highlights that central banks are not insensitive to price dynamics, even as their long-term strategic interest in gold remains firmly intact.”

In the latest World Gold Council survey, central bankers overwhelmingly said they expect global gold reserves to continue to grow over the next 12 months. They seem to be putting their money where their mouths are. With prices moderating, it appears that several central banks are taking advantage of the recent correction to accumulate gold more quickly.

Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for Money Metals with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.

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