UNITED STATES BULLION DEPOSITORY
In Fort Knox, Kentucky there’s a large United States Army base south of Louisville. Fort Knox is most famous as the home of the United States Bullion Depository which houses half of the United States’ official gold reserves.
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- Holds 147.3 million ounces of Gold owned by the United States.
- Highest historic gold holdings: 649.6 million ounces (December 31, 1941).
- Except for very small quantities used to verify the purity of the Gold bars, no Gold has been transferred to or from the Depository for many years.
- This Gold is held as an asset of the United States at book value of $42.22 per ounce.
- Stored in standard gold bars 7 inches x 3 and 5/8 inches x 1 and 3/4 inches.
- Each Gold bar weighs 400 ounces or 27.5 pounds.
- The first Gold arrived at Fort Knox in 1937…by U.S. Mail!
View photos of the shipment on the History of the U.S. Mint
This graphic provided by the USMint.gov shows the amount of gold reserves held at Fort Knox, West Point, and Denver. Numbers are from the Bureau of Fiscal Service.
If you enjoy learning about the history of money, you’ll enjoy the U.S. Mint website.
