At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia possessed the largest gold reserves in the world. During the years of the revolution, Kolchak managed to appropriate more than 500 tons of gold bars belonging to the state.
Most of the Russian gold was mined in special mines. But often in the Ural Mountains they began to find loose gold and nuggets. In addition, there were people called "bumpers" who dug up old graves in search of gold. Due to this "easy" method of mining the precious metal, a "golden boom" began in Russia, leading to the conservation of gold mines, since the precious metal was found "right on the surface."
In the 19th century, more than half of all world gold was mined on the territory of Russia. And, of course, the country, on the eve of the First World War, had a huge reserve of precious metal - about 1311 tons !!! At the beginning of the war, gold bars belonging to the state were urgently transported from Moscow and St. Petersburg to the outback of Russia - to Kazan and other cities. But purchases of weapons and uniforms abroad were paid for in gold, and it quickly “melted” in the bins of Kazan.
Military spending greatly undermined the treasury of tsarist Russia: 75 million rubles were sent to Great Britain as security for the purchase of weapons, about 600 million were transported to Canada, which is under the patronage of the same England. Despite this, at the time of the seizure of banks by the Bolsheviks in central Russia, there was a gold reserve equal to more than 1 billion rubles. The Bolsheviks tried to take gold out of Kazan, but their plans were disrupted by the White Guards and, supporting them, the revolted Czechs.
In 1918, Kolchak received the title of the Supreme Ruler of Russia. Therefore, the remaining gold, in the amount of about 500-600 tons, in Kazan began to be called "Kolchak's gold".
The admiral was quite careful about the money he received as a ruler, and used it only when absolutely necessary. During his entire reign, Kolchak spent only 70 million rubles for the needs of the front, and another 130 million were sent to the largest Asian and European banks. From the interrogation protocols of Admiral Kolchak it is known how much gold was transferred to the British, Czechs and Japanese.
By the decision of the commander, the rest of the gold was transported first to Samara, where the Constituent Assembly of the Anti-Bolshevik Committee was located, and then further to Siberia: Ufa, then to Omsk. In Omsk, the government was under the leadership of Kolchak, gold became his financial support.
But the Supreme Ruler made a colossal mistake: he ordered to send gold in trains along the Trans-Siberian railway further to the East of Russia. The gold was exported in several trains.
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At that time, this important railway artery was controlled by the detachments of the Czechs, who refused to obey Admiral Kolchak. When one of the trains, with an incredibly large amount of gold, approached the Nizhneudinsk station, he was detained. Representatives of the Entente forced Kolchak to renounce power and handed him over to the Socialist-Revolutionaries. The gold ended up in the hands of the White Czechs. The Social Revolutionaries betrayed Kolchak, handing him over to the Bolsheviks, who hastened to shoot the admiral.
The Czechs, having received a huge trump card in their hands - the gold of the Russian Empire, offered the Soviets a deal: they would hand over 400 tons of gold into the hands of the Bolsheviks in exchange for help to return home.
At the same time, the question remained - where did the rest from 100 to 200 tons of gold disappear?
It is possible that some of the gold fell into the hands of the Siberian partisans. In addition, gangs of robbers hunted in the taiga and on the railway, into whose hands the gold of the Russian Empire could also fall. So, for example, it is known for sure that a part of "Kolchak's gold" fell into the hands of Ataman Semenov, who robbed a train carrying valuables from Omsk. Semyonov spent all this gold on arming his troops and on bribing the Mongols, whom the chieftain tried to win over to his side.
In addition, confirmation was received by the version that, despite the settlement with the Bolsheviks, the Czechs appropriated a large number of gold bars. This is evidenced by the fact that immediately after the White Czechs returned home, Legiabank was organized, the shareholders of which were former legionnaires who stole a large part of Russia's gold reserves. In addition, the version of the theft of gold by Czech legionnaires was confirmed by the former Deputy Minister of Finance of the Kolchak government.
An interesting fact: after the end of the Civil War, Czechoslovakia allocated huge sums of money to the fund to support the White emigrants, which, most likely, were part of the stolen Russian treasures. Historians are sure: if it were not for Russian gold, exported by legionaries from the territory of Russia during the Civil War, the Czech Republic would never have taken place.
But there are other assumptions: perhaps the gold was safely hidden by order of Kolchak. One of the most likely places is considered to be the gateway of the Ob-Yenisei Canal, next to which the burial place of five hundred White Guards was found.
The second place where they were looking for "Kolchak's gold" was the Sikhote-Alin mountains, in any of the numerous caves of which it was possible to hide gold bars.
Despite rumors that some gold was found on the mountain passes of the Sikhote-Alin, most researchers believe that the Irtysh waters became the burial place for the treasures. They confirm their versions by the fact that the Czechs hastened to throw the cars with gold into the river so that the Bolsheviks, who were pushing the White Czechs at the front, would not get it.
The Tsar's gold has been sought for more than a hundred years, but it has not yet been found. Searches reached Baikal. The researchers suggested that the trains carrying ingots could have ended up on the Circum-Baikal Railway, which runs directly along the coast of the lake. The train could be knocked off the road by a huge boulder that fell from the cliff, and the precious metal sank to the bottom along with the cars.
In 2013, the Russian archaeologist A. Tivanenko reported that he had discovered Kolchak's gold at the bottom of Lake Baikal, where he went down in a bathyscaphe. According to the researchers, at a depth of 1 km from the surface of the lake, they saw metal parts similar to the elements of carriages, as well as some shiny bars nearby. But it was not possible to get them from the bottom.
The search for "Kolchak's gold", and in fact, the gold of the Russian Empire, continues to this day.
An interesting version was suggested by the historian O. Budnitsky. He believes that the gold "did not go to waste" - it settled in numerous banks in America, Britain and France as payment for the supply of weapons and ammunition to the White Guards. And the most important thing: despite the fact that all the sums under the contracts for the supply were fully paid to foreign suppliers in advance, the goods did not arrive in Russia.
Despite a large number of versions, gold has not yet been discovered, or those who know the truth believe that it is too early for the world to know this secret …