Mementoes of the Daily Gold Price Fixing: 1970s telephone, Gold Price Fix union flag and card announcing the price of gold (in sterling, dollars and euros) agreed at the morning and afternoon fixings for the 4 May 2004.
The London Gold Market
The term 'London Gold Market' refers to the five companies who came together to oversee the operation of the gold market in London: N M Rothschild & Sons, Mocatta & Goldsmid, Pixley & Abell, Samuel Montagu & Co. and Sharps Wilkins. In 1919, the London Gold Market set up the first Gold Price fixing at the offices of N M Rothschild & Sons at New Court. The Market's five members remained essentially unchanged for most of its history.
The ritual of the ‘Gold Fixing’
The daily Gold Fixing emerged as a means of restoring systematic valuation to the gold market after the uncertainties of the wartime years. In ‘The Gold Fix Room’ at New Court, each representative had a miniature union flag on their desk. While the price negotiations were in progress, the representative raised the flag to indicate unreadiness to settle. Only when all the flags were lowered on the table and the balance was achieved could the Chairman declare a ‘Fix’. The London Gold Market closed in September 1939 and resumed in 1954.
In April 2004, N M Rothschild & Sons Limited announced its withdrawal from commodities trading, including gold; in consequence of this decision the firm withdrew from the London Gold Fixing. The same year, the digital age finally caught up with the ritual of the Gold Fixing and it now takes place in the virtual environment.
