Internet Conspiracy Theories Abound About Fort Knox Gold

From time to time conspiracy theories arise on social media and internet chat boards about the gold in Fort Knox. According to official records, the United States of America has the largest gold reserves by a long shot. No other country even comes close.

Today, questions are swirling around the Internet again about our nation’s gold reserves. So we dig into some of the facts to let you decide what you think.

There is fascinating history around Fort Knox in Kentucky—one of the most secure and secret places in America. After all, according to official records, Fort Knox stores an incredible 147.3 million ounces of our nation’s gold, more than half of our total gold reserves.

The government values that gold at a so-called “book value” of gold totaling $6.22 billion. That book value number is well below actual market value—as it is based on a fixed gold price that government officials set in 1973 at $42.22 per ounce.

Today’s Market Prices of Fort Knox Gold

At today’s spot gold price, that 147.3 million ounces of gold is worth over $338 billion. Here are other locations that our country stores gold.

Top 3 U.S. Deep Storage Gold Holdings

Source: Treasury.gov

Conspiracy Theories Point Out That No One Has Seen This Gold Lately

The Theory: The gold must be missing because the government won’t let anyone into Fort Knox to check on it. Here are some of the theories behind the missing gold:

• The U.S. government moved our nation’s gold someplace else.
• The U.S. sold our gold to China.
• The gold bars in Fort Knox have been replaced with fakes filled with tungsten.
• The U.S. government secretly sold off our gold and replaced it with metal bars that are only painted gold.
• Aliens took it.

FDR Only President to Visit

It’s true that not many U.S. presidents have traveled to Fort Knox to see the gold. It was President Franklin Roosevelt who authorized the construction of the U.S. Bullion Depository in Fort Knox, and he was the only president to ever visit. Fort Knox opened in 1936. The next year, the facility received its first shipment of gold from the Philadelphia Mint and New York Assay Office. The bullion was shipped by train via the U.S. mail.

Today Fort Knox Is Closed to the Public

If you want to go into Fort Knox, you are out of luck. The last time there was an official visit was in August 2017. Then U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin paid a rare official visit to Fort Knox. He was the first Treasury Secretary to visit the U.S. Bullion Depository in 69 years.

During that visit, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell accompanied Mnuchin. The 2017 visit was the first time Fort Knox opened its vaults to outsiders since 1975. A delegation totaling 12 congressmen and about 100 reporters were given admittance to view the gold.

The 1974 Audit

After the 1974 Congressional visit, an inspection of the gold was recommended and completed by a team of auditors from the U.S. General Accounting Office and the Department of the Treasury. In February 1975, the Office of the Comptroller General released a report stating the total amount of gold documented as being in the Fort Knox vault as of June 30, 1974, was still there.

Gold Stored In Sealed Drums

The gold in Fort Knox is stored in sealed drums, with signatures and dates stating when they were sealed. The drums are stored in the vault and, according to the audit, the seals are not broken.

See official government records for yourself here.

Gold Is the Ultimate Money

When former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan was asked once why the government continues to hold its massive gold reserve: Greenspan reportedly replied: “Just in case we need it. You hold onto it because it’s the ultimate in money.” That begs a question we’ve asked before: Do you own enough gold?

So what do you think about the gold in Fort Knox? Leave a comment below.

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