ABSTRACT
At the time of its closing with the outbreak of the Second World War, the London gold market was the world’s leading gold market. Between 1939 and the reopening of the London market in March 1954, Zurich and New York filled the void. When the London market did reopen, there was a dollar shortage which prevented the Bank of England from providing free access to the market for residents in the Sterling Area. Nevertheless the London dealers countered these disadvantages by operating on small margins and low rates of commission and by the end of 1955 the London market handled more than three-quarters of the gold in the free markets. Once the pound sterling became fully convertible in 1958 business consistently increased.
