Is There Any Gold in Ft. Knox?

[Crackerjack]

Brad Meltzer's Decoded on TV. Rerun from October.

Repeat, 10/05/2011, Investigative, History, Mystery
To determine its economical impact, best-selling author Brad Meltzer and his team of investigators question whether the United States' gold reserves in Kentucky's Fort Knox are actually there since the depository hasn't been audited since 1974.

I'd say... no.

Personally, I find Meltzer about a third less wacky than Alex Jones.

 

[Mr. H.]

Kinda like "Mythbusters meets the Da Vinci Code".

 

[whitehall]

"All the gold in California is in a bank in the middle of Beverly Hills in somebody else's name" ...Larry Gatlin.

 

[Flopper]

I did some training at Ft. Knox, and we drove by the Depository from time to time. I just always got the feeling that there wasn't really anything of value there. Why would you publicize the place where you've got a whole bunch of gold?

I suspect Congress found a way to spend it all somehow.

You can sell gold but you can't spend it because it is not currency.

The United States Bullion Depository Fort Knox, Kentucky

Amount of present gold holdings: 147.3 million ounces.
The only gold removed has been very small quantities used to test the purity of gold during regularly scheduled audits. Except for these samples, no gold has been transferred to or from the Depository for many years.
The gold is held as an asset of the United States at book value of $42.22 per ounce.
The Depository opened in 1937; the first gold was moved to the depository in January that year.
Highest gold holdings this century: 649.6 million ounces (December 31, 1941).
Size of a standard gold bar: 7 inches x 3 and 5/8 inches x 1 and 3/4 inches.
Weight of a standard gold bar: approximately 400 ounces or 27.5 pounds.
Construction of the depository:
Building materials used included 16,000 cubic feet of granite, 4,200 cubic yards of concrete, 750 tons of reinforcing steel, and 670 tons of structural steel.
The cost of construction was $560,000 and the building was completed in December 1936.
In the past, the Depository has stored the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, the Articles of Confederation, Lincoln's Gettysburg address, three volumes of the Gutenberg Bible, and Lincoln's second inaugural address.
In addition to gold bullion, the Mint has stored valuable items for other government agencies. The Magna Carta was once stored there. The crown, sword, scepter, orb, and cape of St. Stephen, King of Hungary also were stored at the Depository, before being returned to the government of Hungary in 1978.
The Depository is a classified facility. No visitors are permitted, and no exceptions are made.

The United States Mint · About The Mint

The gold in Fort Knox is worth about 250 billion dollars at current rates, assuming I haven't missed a zero. The total US money supply, currency and all deposits is about 10 trillion dollars. So if our gold was used to back our money supply, the price would have to be pegged at about $2.50/oz, a far cry from the current price.

 

[Baruch Menachem]

No point to it. Since the dollar is based on credit, the gold serves no purpose.

 

[daws101]

Kinda like "Mythbusters meets the Da Vinci Code".

the difference is the myth busters can backup their stories with proof.

 

[daws101]

Well if all the gold is in Ft Knox, what in the hell do they keep at Ft. Dix ?

viarga, condoms dildos, porn, why do you think they named it that ?

 

[Flopper]

Why don't we just sell some gold? We have a larger supply of gold than any country. It's sure not going us any good.

I would appreciate you not posting under my name, whoever you are.

 

[MeBelle]

"All the gold in California is in a bank in the middle of Beverly Hills in somebody else's name" ...Larry Gatlin.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nGgvFt2OVQ&feature=related]The Gatlin Brothers - All The Gold In California - YouTube[/ame]

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

Why don't we just sell some gold? We have a larger supply of gold than any country. It's sure not going us any good.

Yeah all teabaggers would love that. The U.S. has so much gold it could collapse the gold market if it wanted.

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

No point to it. Since the dollar is based on credit, the gold serves no purpose.

If its an asset of the fed it partially forms the monetary base.

 

[strollingbones]

that is a long time to go without an outside audit......i prefer them outside auditors....when that much money is involved

 

[editec]

Here's what the US Mint tells us

Amount of present gold holdings: 147.3 million ounces.
The only gold removed has been very small quantities used to test the purity of gold during regularly scheduled audits. Except for these samples, no gold has been transferred to or from the Depository for many years.
The gold is held as an asset of the United States at book value of $42.22 per ounce.
The Depository opened in 1937; the first gold was moved to the depository in January that year.
Highest gold holdings this century: 649.6 million ounces (December 31, 1941).
Size of a standard gold bar: 7 inches x 3 and 5/8 inches x 1 and 3/4 inches.
Weight of a standard gold bar: approximately 400 ounces or 27.5 pounds.
Construction of the depository:

How would any of us know if that is true or not?


Also we are informed by that the Fort Knox

...gold depository is second in the United States to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's underground vault in Manhattan, which holds 7,000 metric tons (7716 tons) of gold bullion (225.1 million oz. troy), some of it in trust for foreign nations, central banks and official international organizations.

source Wiki.

Again, how would we know for sure whether that is true or not?

Like so many other things we read or are told, we either take it as true on faith or we don't.

 

[candycorn]

Why don't we just sell some gold? We have a larger supply of gold than any country. It's sure not going us any good.

Yeah all teabaggers would love that. The U.S. has so much gold it could collapse the gold market if it wanted.

Now THAT would be hilarious!!! "But Glenn Beck said the value was going to only go up..."

 

[konradv]

Why don't we just sell some gold? We have a larger supply of gold than any country. It's sure not going us any good.

Yeah all teabaggers would love that. The U.S. has so much gold it could collapse the gold market if it wanted.

Now THAT would be hilarious!!! "But Glenn Beck said the value was going to only go up..."

What would be the downside to collapsing the gold market. It's always held up as an indicator of distrust in the economy, when up. Could collapsing it bring about a time of optimism?

 

[daws101]

Yeah all teabaggers would love that. The U.S. has so much gold it could collapse the gold market if it wanted.

Now THAT would be hilarious!!! "But Glenn Beck said the value was going to only go up..."

What would be the downside to collapsing the gold market. It's always held up as an indicator of distrust in the economy, when up. Could collapsing it bring about a time of optimism?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSq8ZBdSxNU]Spandau Ballet - Gold - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Flopper]

Here's what the US Mint tells us

Amount of present gold holdings: 147.3 million ounces.
The only gold removed has been very small quantities used to test the purity of gold during regularly scheduled audits. Except for these samples, no gold has been transferred to or from the Depository for many years.
The gold is held as an asset of the United States at book value of $42.22 per ounce.
The Depository opened in 1937; the first gold was moved to the depository in January that year.
Highest gold holdings this century: 649.6 million ounces (December 31, 1941).
Size of a standard gold bar: 7 inches x 3 and 5/8 inches x 1 and 3/4 inches.
Weight of a standard gold bar: approximately 400 ounces or 27.5 pounds.
Construction of the depository:

How would any of us know if that is true or not?


Also we are informed by that the Fort Knox

...gold depository is second in the United States to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's underground vault in Manhattan, which holds 7,000 metric tons (7716 tons) of gold bullion (225.1 million oz. troy), some of it in trust for foreign nations, central banks and official international organizations.

source Wiki.

Again, how would we know for sure whether that is true or not?

Like so many other things we read or are told, we either take it as true on faith or we don't.

Anything an elected official says, I take with a grain of salt. Elected officials come and go every two to 4 years along with their political appointees. They set policy but most of them have no idea how government works. They depend on career employees whose jobs are protected by civil service for information and guidance. These are the people I tend to trust in government. I think the career employees in charge of protecting and tracking any movement of gold in Fort Knox and the Manhattan depository know exactly what's there. Keeping the theft of the gold from Fort Knox a secret is about as likely as keeping an alien space ship on the white house lawn a secret.

 

[Flopper]

According to the Treasury Department and Government Accountability Office the gold is audit yearly. A sampling method is used since there are 388,000 bars of gold.

The audit that Paul has asked for would require assaying each bar which would require drilling into the bars, destroying some of it's value. The estimated cost is 10 to 15 million dollars.

Ron Paul wants gold at Fort Knox audited - Jun. 24, 2011

 

[konradv]

According to the Treasury Department and Government Accountability Office the gold is audit yearly. A sampling method is used since there are 388,000 bars of gold.

The audit that Paul has asked for would require assaying each bar which would require drilling into the bars, destroying some of it's value. The estimated cost is 10 to 15 million dollars.

Ron Paul wants gold at Fort Knox audited - Jun. 24, 2011

Why bother? It's a drop in the bucket compared to the national debt, but I guess selling it all would also save us some money we spend on protection. Why do we even bother, now that it's merely a commodity and not money? Maybe getting rid of it will make the "gold bugs" come to terms with the modern economy and we can get on with it without the distraction of feeling gold still means something. It does, if you're talking commercial and industrial applications, but as money it's out-lived it's usefulness and could lead to a severe depression, if someone like Paul actually won and put us back on the gold standard.

 

[Flopper]

According to the Treasury Department and Government Accountability Office the gold is audit yearly. A sampling method is used since there are 388,000 bars of gold.

The audit that Paul has asked for would require assaying each bar which would require drilling into the bars, destroying some of it's value. The estimated cost is 10 to 15 million dollars.

Ron Paul wants gold at Fort Knox audited - Jun. 24, 2011

Why bother? It's a drop in the bucket compared to the national debt, but I guess selling it all would also save us some money we spend on protection. Why do we even bother, now that it's merely a commodity and not money? Maybe getting rid of it will make the "gold bugs" come to terms with the modern economy and we can get on with it without the distraction of feeling gold still means something. It does, if you're talking commercial and industrial applications, but as money it's out-lived it's usefulness and could lead to a severe depression, if someone like Paul actually won and put us back on the gold standard.

We could certainly sell some of the gold we hold in Fort Knox, but the value of all the gold in Fort Knox would not even cover half this years deficit.

What is believe to be the largest gold depository in the world is below the New York Federal Reserve in Manhattan. It is reported to have 7700 tons of gold, 25% of the world's gold reserves, over 2,000 tons more than Fort Knox. However, about 98% is owned by central banks in 46 countries. Each countries gold is stored in separate rooms. In the days when many nations were on the gold standard, carts of gold would be move back forth between each countries gold supplies to handle balance of payment between nations. Today, with billions of dollars and hour flowing between nations, it's hard to imagine that the nations of the world would ever go back to the gold standard.