No gold has ever been stolen from the Bank in over 320 years of history. However, there is a story that suggests that the Bank had a lucky escape in Victorian times…
In 1836, the Directors of the Bank received anonymous letters in which the writer claimed to have access to their gold, and offered to meet them in the gold vault at an hour of their choosing.
The Directors were finally persuaded to gather one night in the vault. At the agreed hour a noise was heard from beneath the floor and a man popped up through some of the floor boards.
The man was a sewerman who, during repair work, had discovered an old drain which ran immediately under the gold vault.
After the initial shock, a stock take revealed that he hadn’t taken any gold. For his honesty, the Bank rewarded him with a gift of £800 – which would be worth approximately £80,000 in today’s money (see our inflation calculator).
RustyRigs on March 11st, 2019 at 06:45 UTC »
My banks ATM once gave me an extra $20 from the drive through after hours. I came back after work the next day to inform them of the error and instead of a pat on the back they intensely questioned me about how much the ATM actually dispensed to me. The whole time they treated me like some kind of grifter that was trying to get over on them. That's exactly how you dissuade honesty.
dresdenhollowsmercy on March 11st, 2019 at 06:03 UTC »
Kudos to the Bank of England for naming their FAQ section the "Knowledge Bank".
timelydefense on March 11st, 2019 at 03:55 UTC »
Good for him, I don't think I could resist just taking the gold and vanishing.