If we needed any more proof of the lack of trust in banks, investors are so keen to put their money into the physical asset of gold bullion that Harrods in London is now selling gold.

The notion of ‘off the shelf’ however is misleading. The Knightsbridge store has not built a heavy duty pic’n'mix display for the full stock, supplied by Swiss-based gold refiner, Produits Artistiques Metaux Precieux (PAMP).

True you can buy the precious metal in a wide range of forms from British gold sovereigns and American gold eagles to gold bars at weights from 1g to 12.5kg, but apart from a sample display behind heavily reinforced glass, the stock is in Harrods bank, ready to be transported anywhere in the world.

The market price for a 12.5kg bar of gold – not necessarily what Harrods is charging – is around £285k.

This development throws into sharp relief the indefensible fiscal irresponsibility of Gordon Brown who, from his first term as Chancellor and up to 2002, sold off  half of the UK’s gold reserves when the price was at a 20 year low. He raised £2.2billlion for gold that today would raise £8billion. But hey, that’s prudence.

And here’s a curiosity for the weekend: all of the gold ever mined (150,000 tons) would fit into a tennis court sized cube.

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