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Romanoff Gold
When World War I broke out in 1914, Russia's Romanov dynasty was among the world's richest families. Yet ever since the Bolsheviks executed Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their children at Ekaterinburg, the mystery of what happened to their wealth has remained unsolved€”until now. The author has spent 30 years on the trail of the Tsar's lost fortune. His pursuit has taken him across continents, to dusty vaults in great banks€”bullion, jewels, and bank accounts have been his quarry. This book contains an account of his answers.
492 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
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296 people want to read
About the author
William Clarke
216 booksLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 5, 2019
And what a fortune it was.
Best known, perhaps, were those exquisite eggs commissioned each Easter from the Imperial Court's jeweler, Peter Carl Faberge, as a traditional gift from the Tsar to his wife (and in the case of Nicholas II, to his mother) - each a bejeweled splendor of such magnificence as to be christened with its own name. A sampling might include the Colonnade Egg, the Mosaic Egg, the Love Trophy Egg, the Duchess of Marlborough Egg, the Tercentenary Egg - this last a collector's favorite decorated on the outside with miniatures of every Romanov ruler and, within, a globe depicting the extent of the Russian Empire. Fifty-six of these treasures were made. Moscow, in present day, retains only ten.
Yet those were just the eggs. There were, also, the crown jewels: the Grand Imperial Crown (replete with 32,800 carats of diamonds), the Imperial Sceptre (atop which rests the enormous Orlov diamond) and the Imperial Orb (in which nests a 46-carat Indian diamond surmounted by a 200-carat sapphire from Ceylon). There were a bewildering multitude of extravagant tiaras, the most famous of which, in all probability, is the stunning diamond-and-pendant-pearl headpiece currently in the collection of Britain's Queen Elizabeth. There were necklaces and earrings and brooches by the score, ropes and ropes of pearls and, lest we imagine this decorative luxury restricted to the women, there were also stickpins, snuffboxes, crosses, belts, hatpins, sabre hilts and cuffs, the exceptional diamond epaulette of Paul I, and the striking diamond centerpiece of the chain of the order of St. Andrew that was customarily worn at coronation. Even this, you should know, is by no means a representative accounting of the munificence at the Tsar's disposal. Understand that there were so many jewels of such weight and substance that those few the daughters took into exile with them, and sewed into their underclothes for safety's sake, combined to form the rudimentary version of a bulletproof vest and kept them alive through the first barrage of shots by their late-night executioners. This is serious wealth.
There was gold as well, and millions of rubles; investments, trusts. There was art of great importance, and there were intricate tapestries; rugs and splendid pieces of furniture. There was a room in the Catherine Palace at Tsarskoye Selo that was paneled entirely in amber and considered by many to be the Eighth Wonder of the World. It is impossible to imagine the ostentation of the Russian Imperial Court at the height of its glory - and that was pretty much the point. It was Tsarist policy for hundreds of years to show what one was worth. How else was anyone to take you seriously? Best, they thought, to leave the world awestruck. And this they did. If one was willing to travel to Russia, one would and could and should encounter the spectacular.
Then came the revolution, the Bolsheviks, the assassination of the Tsar and his family. The aristocracy took flight; many with only what they might carry. And once they reached their destinations, the rumors began. What of the Tsar's accounts around the world? Had he a hidden cache of gold? Millions set aside in German, French, or British banks? Did he possess holdings that might be considered inheritable? Surely there had to be something left of that fabulous fortune. Surely one of the richest of civilized men would possess a lucrative estate.
William Clarke picks up the baton just about here, and I wish I could tell you he ran a good (t)race. He didn't. Rather than lay some groundwork with the factual aspects of the tsarist portfolio, he chooses instead to proceed by retelling the dramatic tale of the exile and then chasing the most persistent of the rumors down. And, as any reader of history will tell you, working backward from scuttlebutt makes for a very disorganized presentation. We jump from one person's story to another person's claim to a third person's lawsuit with slices of backstory interspersed between, and it's all a bit of a grueling labor to read. He does arrive at some conclusions, and they do seem solid, and logical (and it's likely the best anyone's ever going to do considering Russia is a country that is rarely cooperative with historians), but I do think there's probably a better book around and, if I were you, I might hunt for it.
Best known, perhaps, were those exquisite eggs commissioned each Easter from the Imperial Court's jeweler, Peter Carl Faberge, as a traditional gift from the Tsar to his wife (and in the case of Nicholas II, to his mother) - each a bejeweled splendor of such magnificence as to be christened with its own name. A sampling might include the Colonnade Egg, the Mosaic Egg, the Love Trophy Egg, the Duchess of Marlborough Egg, the Tercentenary Egg - this last a collector's favorite decorated on the outside with miniatures of every Romanov ruler and, within, a globe depicting the extent of the Russian Empire. Fifty-six of these treasures were made. Moscow, in present day, retains only ten.
Yet those were just the eggs. There were, also, the crown jewels: the Grand Imperial Crown (replete with 32,800 carats of diamonds), the Imperial Sceptre (atop which rests the enormous Orlov diamond) and the Imperial Orb (in which nests a 46-carat Indian diamond surmounted by a 200-carat sapphire from Ceylon). There were a bewildering multitude of extravagant tiaras, the most famous of which, in all probability, is the stunning diamond-and-pendant-pearl headpiece currently in the collection of Britain's Queen Elizabeth. There were necklaces and earrings and brooches by the score, ropes and ropes of pearls and, lest we imagine this decorative luxury restricted to the women, there were also stickpins, snuffboxes, crosses, belts, hatpins, sabre hilts and cuffs, the exceptional diamond epaulette of Paul I, and the striking diamond centerpiece of the chain of the order of St. Andrew that was customarily worn at coronation. Even this, you should know, is by no means a representative accounting of the munificence at the Tsar's disposal. Understand that there were so many jewels of such weight and substance that those few the daughters took into exile with them, and sewed into their underclothes for safety's sake, combined to form the rudimentary version of a bulletproof vest and kept them alive through the first barrage of shots by their late-night executioners. This is serious wealth.
There was gold as well, and millions of rubles; investments, trusts. There was art of great importance, and there were intricate tapestries; rugs and splendid pieces of furniture. There was a room in the Catherine Palace at Tsarskoye Selo that was paneled entirely in amber and considered by many to be the Eighth Wonder of the World. It is impossible to imagine the ostentation of the Russian Imperial Court at the height of its glory - and that was pretty much the point. It was Tsarist policy for hundreds of years to show what one was worth. How else was anyone to take you seriously? Best, they thought, to leave the world awestruck. And this they did. If one was willing to travel to Russia, one would and could and should encounter the spectacular.
Then came the revolution, the Bolsheviks, the assassination of the Tsar and his family. The aristocracy took flight; many with only what they might carry. And once they reached their destinations, the rumors began. What of the Tsar's accounts around the world? Had he a hidden cache of gold? Millions set aside in German, French, or British banks? Did he possess holdings that might be considered inheritable? Surely there had to be something left of that fabulous fortune. Surely one of the richest of civilized men would possess a lucrative estate.
William Clarke picks up the baton just about here, and I wish I could tell you he ran a good (t)race. He didn't. Rather than lay some groundwork with the factual aspects of the tsarist portfolio, he chooses instead to proceed by retelling the dramatic tale of the exile and then chasing the most persistent of the rumors down. And, as any reader of history will tell you, working backward from scuttlebutt makes for a very disorganized presentation. We jump from one person's story to another person's claim to a third person's lawsuit with slices of backstory interspersed between, and it's all a bit of a grueling labor to read. He does arrive at some conclusions, and they do seem solid, and logical (and it's likely the best anyone's ever going to do considering Russia is a country that is rarely cooperative with historians), but I do think there's probably a better book around and, if I were you, I might hunt for it.
March 18, 2021
After their murders in 1918, what happened to the Russian royal family’s wealth? Let me save you untold hours of tedium and summarize with four key facts:
- When Nicholas II abdicated, his state wealth became the property of the provisional government and later the Bolsheviks. Most was used for securing credit or buying munitions.
- Whatever wealth was left untouched by that change became Soviet property in the decree Lenin signed in 1918 abolishing private property.
- When WW1 broke out, Nicholas II and other aristocrats repatriated most of their investments from overseas banks. Whatever remained abroad was quickly eaten up by hyperinflation.
- Peter Bark, the last Tsarist financial minister, has long been suspected of keeping the money for himself, but at the end of his life was quite poor so this is unlikely.
There. I have just spared you 100 pages of needless historic recapping (as if anyone reading this wouldn’t already know the basic facts of the Romanov fall), and then 200 more meticulously following bank records. Mr. Clarke, haven’t you ever heard of a summary?
I thought the fact this was a published book meant it would have an interesting story to tell, so I was actually very angry to have slogged through so many bone dry stacks of facts just to be told that in effect, there is NO lost fortune at all.
- When Nicholas II abdicated, his state wealth became the property of the provisional government and later the Bolsheviks. Most was used for securing credit or buying munitions.
- Whatever wealth was left untouched by that change became Soviet property in the decree Lenin signed in 1918 abolishing private property.
- When WW1 broke out, Nicholas II and other aristocrats repatriated most of their investments from overseas banks. Whatever remained abroad was quickly eaten up by hyperinflation.
- Peter Bark, the last Tsarist financial minister, has long been suspected of keeping the money for himself, but at the end of his life was quite poor so this is unlikely.
There. I have just spared you 100 pages of needless historic recapping (as if anyone reading this wouldn’t already know the basic facts of the Romanov fall), and then 200 more meticulously following bank records. Mr. Clarke, haven’t you ever heard of a summary?
I thought the fact this was a published book meant it would have an interesting story to tell, so I was actually very angry to have slogged through so many bone dry stacks of facts just to be told that in effect, there is NO lost fortune at all.
June 11, 2025
I bought and read this book back in 1996 and found it fascinating because in a very analytical way Mr Clarke demolished all the rumours and legends of vast Tsarist wealth in the Bank of England or elsewhere. He also finally clarified and demolished the old, but incredibly persistent rumours, that after the death of the Dowager empress Marie (widow of Alexander III mother of Nicholas II) that queen Mary, wife of King George V, had either taken for no money or paid pennies for lots of the ex-empresses jewellery. In fact she had paid full price for it via the London jeweller handling the sale and had actually paid the original higher price when prices were reduced because of the glut on the market of similar items in the 1930's.
There is lots more stuff like that and I found it compelling reading. Unfortunately this is another book which over the years I retain only memories, my copy has long disappeared.
There is lots more stuff like that and I found it compelling reading. Unfortunately this is another book which over the years I retain only memories, my copy has long disappeared.
April 28, 2017
Considering the effort applied to writing this book I feel guilty about awarding just three stars, but there is good reason.
Easy to follow but the initial excitement in the book wears thin as it progresses. The first 100 pages covered the final years of Nicholas ll and his family in a basic manner.
Once the explanation of the wealth began I found it impossible to maintain a running understanding of the assets and the value, hence not a useful book. A reference book approach would be more appropriate, perhaps with a spread sheet for ready reckoning and an index with clarification notes. However the amount of research carried out to write the book is truly admirable.
The scale and range of the wealth of the Tsar is mind numbing; the revolution and its turmoil was inevitable.
Easy to follow but the initial excitement in the book wears thin as it progresses. The first 100 pages covered the final years of Nicholas ll and his family in a basic manner.
Once the explanation of the wealth began I found it impossible to maintain a running understanding of the assets and the value, hence not a useful book. A reference book approach would be more appropriate, perhaps with a spread sheet for ready reckoning and an index with clarification notes. However the amount of research carried out to write the book is truly admirable.
The scale and range of the wealth of the Tsar is mind numbing; the revolution and its turmoil was inevitable.
March 22, 2020
Nothing new, and rather dry...
May 7, 2024
[25 May 1999] An interesting and informative read.
February 20, 2010
I read the more recent edition of 2000 that has the latest DNA studies of Tsar Nicholas and his family following their murders by the Bolsheviks. A dense, well researched book that fascinated me. Not for everyone, though, because of the financial focus of the tragedy. Very well written.
November 28, 2013
Very interesting points about the wealth and assets of the last ruling family of Russia. Did find some of the financial details a bit repetitive and dull however.
Read
August 18, 2015Will never finish. Interesting but not for me. Too dry. Appreciate work author put into it
June 27, 2016
Un pic greaoie cartea, multe detalii ...
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews