The gold taken from the National Bank

APR 08 1939

The royal family left Albania with what sources describe as a considerable quantity of gold taken from the National Bank's holdings at Tirana and Durrës, gathering having begun before the invasion. Zog had long hoarded gold and precious stones to back the Albanian currency. The removal damaged his standing abroad, where he was seen as having carried off much of the national treasury. No verified figure exists for the amount. Popular accounts cite specific sums and even specific numbers of gold bars or suitcases; the encyclopaedic sources say only 'a considerable amount'. Any exact tonnage or value should be treated as invented.