The Dutch central bank shifted the location of 78 metric tons of gold, worth $11 billion at today's prices, from vaults benefotath the streets of Manhattan to London, saying it would improve the ability to trade the metal in a pinch.

The high-security operation took several months to pull off. Some of the gold was sold in the U.S. and repurchased in the U.K. Other bars were flown to Europe, likely in the storage hold of planes. The result: Almost a third of the Dutch gold reserve is in London and a still chunky 19% in New York, flipping their earlier positions.

"In view of increasing geopolitical unrest, DNB is strengthening its crisis preparedness," the central bank said in a statement referring to its Dutch acronym. The central bank also moved some gold from vaults in Canada.

"We expect that we will never need to use them, but we do need to strengthen our resilience and preparedness," said DNB President Olaf Sleijpen.

The bank didn't specify what it meant by geopolitical unrest. The move follows 18 months in which relations between the U.S. and Europe have frayed over tariffs, President Trump's threats to seize Greenland and his equivocation over America's military backing.

Gold's place as the backbone of global finance ended with the demise of the Bretton Woods monetary system in the 1970s. But central banks kept hold of some gold as part of reserves they could sell to defend their currencies if they came under strain.

After a long decline, central banks started adding to their gold holdings again around the time of the 2008 financial crisis, according to a 2023 paper by the International Monetary Fund. Since then, proliferating sanctions have encouraged many central banks-notably Russia's-to stock up on gold in case the U.S. cut them off from its banking system.

Many central banks, including the Dutch, spread their gold eggs in different baskets around the world to keep them safe. New York and London are the two main centers for gold trading.

The Fed keeps gold 50 feet below sea level on Manhattan Island bedrock strong enough to support the weight of hundreds of thousands of bars. Security is so tight, three people need to be present even to change a lightbulb.

London, though, remains the global hub for trading physical gold. The Dutch central bank said bars at the Bank of England need to conform to international market standards and are therefore "regarded as the world's most easily tradable gold." Those in New York and Ottawa, it said, wouldn't be as easy to trade "in a crisis situation."

Bank of England vaults also host a lively market in lending and borrowing gold. Central banks can earn a return by lending bullion to other players in exchange for interest. The hodgepodge of shapes and sizes in the Fed's vaults limits this market in New York.

The operation involved both financial and logistical expertise.

The Dutch central bank first sold 59 tons in New York and bought the same amount in London, minimizing the amount that had to fly across the Atlantic. It transferred a further 27 tons from North America, but not directly to the U.K. Instead, the central bank directed the gold to its own vaults in Zeist, in Utrecht province. Meanwhile, it moved gold from Zeist to London.

The reason? The bars that traveled from the Netherlands to the U.K. met the Bank of England's standards, so the central bank didn't have to melt the North American bars down and recast them.

The Dutch central bank didn't reveal how it shuttled the gold around. But bullion typically flies commercial in the cargo hold, or sometimes on chartered flights. On the ground, specialized security firms drive it in fortified vans. Commercial banks including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and HSBC are often involved in gold trades by central banks.

The French central bank said earlier this year it had sold 129 tons of gold in New York and bought the same amount in Europe. The French central bank said this capped two decades of work upgrading the quality of its gold, and that it booked 11 billion euros, equivalent to around $12.8 billion, in capital gains on the trade.

Leaving gold abroad can prove risky. Venezuela fought a yearslong legal campaign to force the Bank of England to release billions of dollars of reserves held in London, which the U.K. blocked on the grounds it didn't recognize Nicolás Maduro's government.

Gold has migrated at other times of geopolitical turbulence. The New York Fed says it attracted much of the world's bullion during and after World War II, when central banks wanted their reserves far from the reach of the Nazis.

Perhaps the most daring move was ordered by Britain's then Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Code-named "Operation Fish," it saw Britain move its entire gold reserve to Canada.

The first shipment set sail on HMS Emerald days after the surrender of France. It arrived in Halifax a week later having dodged U-boat wolf packs hunting in the Atlantic, according to the Bank of Canada Museum, which says a total of $160 billion of gold was moved as measured in 2017 dollars.