Analysts raised their 2011 forecasts more than for any other precious metal the past two months, predicting a 10th annual advance, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The most widely held option on gold futures traded in New York is for $1,500 an ounce by December, or 18 percent more than the record $1,266.50 reached June 21. Holdings through bullion-backed exchange-traded products are already at more than 2,075 metric tons, within 0.1 percent of the all-time high.

One of the biggest buyers has been Soros Fund Management LLC, which oversees about $25 billion. George Soros, who made $1 billion breaking the Bank of England’s defense of the pound in 1992, described gold as “the ultimate asset bubble” at the World Economic Forum’s January meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Buying at the start of a bubble is “rational,” he said.

Soros Fund Management sold 341,250 shares of the SPDR Gold Trust, the largest ETP backed by bullion, in the second quarter, according to an Aug. 16 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. That still left a holding of 5.24 million shares, equal to almost 16 tons. Soros declined to comment on the change, through a spokesman.

The news that a mystery bank has just pawned the family jewels gave traders a jolt – nervous about the sudden transfer of almost 20pc of the world’s annual gold production and the possibility of a sell-off.

In a tiny footnote in its annual report, the bank disclosed its unusually large holding of gold, compared with nothing the year before. The disclosure was a large factor in the correction of the gold price this week, which fell below $1,200 for the first time in more than a month.

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Gold delivery for June was up $4.30 to $1,185 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold price Monday has traded as high as $1,185.90 and as low as $1,177.10. The U.S. dollar index rising 0.41% to $82.20 while the euro was falling 0.52% against the dollar. The gold spot price was rising over $6, according to Kitco’s gold index.

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Aaron Regent, president of the Canadian gold giant, said that global output has been falling by roughly 1m ounces a year since the start of the decade. Total mine supply has dropped by 10pc as ore quality erodes, implying that the roaring bull market of the last eight years may have further to run.

“There is a strong case to be made that we are already at ‘peak gold’,” he told The Daily Telegraph at the RBC’s annual gold conference in London.

“Production peaked around 2000 and it has been in decline ever since, and we forecast that decline to continue. It is increasingly difficult to find ore,” he said.

The supply crunch has helped push gold to an all-time high, reaching $1,118 an ounce at one stage yesterday. The key driver over recent days has been the move by India’s central bank to soak up half of the gold being sold by the International Monetary Fund. It is the latest sign that the rising powers of Asia and the commodity bloc are growing wary of Western paper money and debt.

China has quietly doubled holdings to 1,054 tonnes and is thought to be adding gradually on price dips, creating a market floor. Gold remains a tiny fraction of its $2.3 trillion in foreign reserves.

Gold touched $1,119.10 an ounce, an all-time high, as the U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s performance, fell as much as 0.3 percent to a 15-month low before erasing the loss. India’s central bank bought bullion last month to diversify its assets. Before today, gold jumped 6 percent this month while the currency index lost 1.8 percent.

“The interest that central banks have shown for gold has really lit a fire under the market,” said Matt Zeman, a metals trader at LaSalle Futures Group Inc. in Chicago. “People are questioning the value of not only the U.S. currency but all paper currencies. Investors are more comfortable holding gold.”

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The recent surge in the price takes the precious metal above the $1,032.80 it hit in March last year.

The dollar has been hit by reports that the Gulf nations are thinking of ditching the US currency as the world denomination for oil.

Arab states are said to be in talks with Russia, China, Japan and France to replace the dollar with a basket of currencies. Gulf officials have denied it.

The precious metal has been one of this decade’s best performing assets, rising on average by 15% per year.

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Gold reached the level in late afternoon trade on the London Bullion Market, beating the previous record high of 1,032.70 dollars an ounce struck in March, 2008.

The dollar’s future as the world’s top currency was thrown into doubt on Tuesday as a report said Arab states had launched secret moves with China and Russia to stop using the greenback for oil trading.

Arab states have launched steps with China, Russia, Japan and France to stop using the dollar for oil trades, British daily The Independent reported on Tuesday, but the report was denied by Kuwait and Qatar and reportedly by other nations.

The run-up in gold has been largely driven by weakness in the dollar, which makes dollar-priced commodities cheaper for holders of stronger currencies, boosting demand.

Gold also wins support from fears about higher inflation because the metal is widely regarded by investors as a safe store of value.