A gold reserve is the gold held by a central bank or nation intended as a store of value and as a guarantee to redeem promises to pay depositors, note holders, or trading peers, or to secure a currency.
In 2004, central banks and investment funds held 19% of all above-ground gold as bank reserve assets. It has been estimated that all the gold mined by the end of 2009 totalled 165,000 tonnes. At a price of USD 1,900 per troy ounce, reached in September 2011, the total value of all the gold ever mined would exceed USD 10.1 trillion at that valuation.
The United States has the largest official gold reserves (8,133 tonnes at the end of 2010, or 77% of their official reserves), followed by Germany (3,396 tonnes) and the IMF (2,814 tonnes). One tonne is equal to 32,150.7 troy ounces.
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