Kolchak's Gold

• When the empire fell, the entire tsarist gold reserve, some 645 million rubles, passed to the White admiral Alexander Kolchak.
• Roughly 235 million rubles' worth went unaccounted for in the Civil War retreat across Siberia.
• The favourite legend: a gold train slid off the Circum-Baikal line into the deepest lake on earth.
• Mini-submarines have found rail wreckage on the Baikal floor, but no bullion.

• Most was spent or deposited abroad as loan collateral (this part is documented).
• A portion was genuinely lost or hidden during the chaotic retreat.
• A train really did go into Lake Baikal and the gold is still down there.

• Admiral Kolchak seized the Imperial Russian gold reserve in the Civil War, and roughly 235 million rubles went unaccounted for in the 1920 retreat across Siberia.
• The favorite lead is Lake Baikal, where a gold train is said to have slid off the Circum-Baikal line; mini-subs have found rail wreckage but no bullion.
• Much was likely spent abroad or seized, so the documentary trail runs through the Czechoslovak Legion's records and the trans-Siberian retreat.

No documentary or visual exhibits have been located yet. The trail below and the open leads are where this dossier grows next — every exhibit that enters here carries a source.

• Admiral Kolchak seized the Imperial Russian gold reserve in the Civil War, and roughly 235 million rubles went unaccounted for in the 1920 retreat across Siberia.
• The favorite lead is Lake Baikal, where a gold train is said to have slid off the Circum-Baikal line; mini-subs have found rail wreckage but no bullion.
• Much was likely spent abroad or seized, so the documentary trail runs through the Czechoslovak Legion's records and the trans-Siberian retreat.
• Search Library of Congress + DPLA (IIIF) for period cartography of the site.
• Run Chronicling America for dated newspaper mentions.
• Query NARA for archival records tied to the site.

Have a source, a map, or a clipping? Add a lead and it enters the record with its citation.

• Read the full account on Wikipedia
• Search the web for leads
• The latest news
• More pictures (Wikimedia Commons)
• See the spot on the map and satellite

• Kolchak's Gold · archive record · tertiary · encyclopedia

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