An Interesting Coincidence

The current global stockpile of gold (both already-mined and gold deposits that have been discovered and are readily minable with current technology) is estimated at 240,000 tonnes. That converts to 7.75 billion ounces.

There are currently about 7.75 billion people on the planet.

So theoretically, if we were to divide up that gold stockpile fairly, so everybody got an equal share, everybody would get precisely 1 ounce of gold. Or near enough to not make much of a difference.

Which in turn means, if you own more than 1 ounce of gold, you're above average.

This ratio has, of course, not always been true. The human population has been growing on a fairly smooth exponential curve since the end of the Dark Ages. The rate of mining new gold is somewhat less smooth, full of boom-bust peaks and troughs as new gold deposits get discovered and then mined out.

In 1950, for example, everybody could have had just over 1 ounce of gold each. In 1910, it would have been more like 0.86 ounces, and in 1492, about 0.9 ounces.