Does British jewellery contain stolen Brink’s-Mat gold?
We look at a claim that most gold jewellery bought in the UK after 1984 will contain traces of gold from the infamous robbery.
The Brink’s-Mat robbery remains to this day one of Britain’s biggest and most audacious heists. Six armed men stole diamonds, cash and three tonnes of gold bullion from a warehouse close to London’s Heathrow Airport in November 1983. It’s now the subject of a Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ television drama, The Gold, which includes the claim that most gold jewellery bought in the UK from 1984 onwards will contain traces of that stolen gold. But how true is that? Tim Harford and team investigate, with the help of Zoe Lyons from Hatton Garden Metals and Rob Eastaway, author of Maths on the Back of an Envelope.
Presenter: Tim Harford,
Producers: Jo Casserly, Jon Bithrey
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill
Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
(woman wearing a gold ring and necklace. Credit: Getty images)
Last on
Broadcasts
- Sat 4 Mar 2023 05:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except Australasia
- Sat 4 Mar 2023 22:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Americas and the Caribbean
- Sun 5 Mar 2023 00:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Online, UK DAB/Freeview, News Internet & Europe and the Middle East only
- Sun 5 Mar 2023 14:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Australasia & News Internet only
- Sun 5 Mar 2023 22:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Mon 6 Mar 2023 00:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Australasia, South Asia & East Asia only
- Mon 6 Mar 2023 10:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service
Download this programme
Subscribe to this programme or download individual episodes.