In 2017, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin led a rare visit by outsiders to peek at the gold reserves inside the Fort Knox vault.
Over the years, there have been few audits to test the gold, or inventories to count it. There's no way for outsiders to say with absolute certainty if there's really bullion - or if it's all bull. "Just in case we need it," is the explanation a former Federal Reserve Board chairman reportedly gave.Ĭonspiracy theorists have insisted that the government secretly sold off the gold and that the gold bars are actually tungsten bricks painted to look like the precious metal. currency - but the dollar was taken off the gold standard in 1971. Much of the gold in the vault is in the form of 27-pound bars, while a percentage is in gold coins.Īt one time, the point of having all of that gold was to provide backing for U.S. Based on the current market value of gold, the reserves at Fort Knox are worth a far more impressive $273.7 billion, roughly speaking. However, that's based on a fixed price that officials set in 1973. The government says the bullion has a "book value" of $6.22 billion. It holds tons of gold - literallyįort Knox currently houses 147.3 million ounces of gold. Here are 10 things we know - and maybe don't know. Because few people have ever gotten inside, the gold depository is a subject of fascination and speculation. The Fort Knox gold vault is one of the most secure and secret places in America. You may be aware of Fort Knox from the James Bond movie Goldfinger, or from the old cartoon where Bugs Bunny tricks Yosemite Sam into digging up some of the gold bars and getting arrested.īut what do you really know about the U.S.
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