The gold is stored at Fort Knox and other vaults around the country I would assume. It is a tangible asset that acts as a hedge to maintain the wealth of a nation. Can be abstracted into real terms relatively easily to find out some economic principle. Canada for example does not have much gold reserve although Canada possesses large reserves underground which has attracted the attention and interest of China who is expanding her gold reserves. It is important to note that gold itself
can never be burned or destroyed. So, people buy/sell gold. It's tradable and of speculative monetary interest to individuals/banks/states. Can also act as a currency in certain countries like SA.
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