Whether or not the gold reserves at Fort Knox are still there is an age-old question that has been keeping conspiracy theorists busy for many decades. But those calling for ‘a visit’ or ‘an audit’ to check on the true existence of what is or isn’t there are missing one of the most important points in secure, vaulted gold holdings.
An audit alone is not enough. Paper records have been checked against paper records many times, as recently as 2023.
What you need instead is a full inspection and tally-count, checking that all the bars listed are present, secure, and in sound condition. An audit of this size takes the independent experts many, many days to complete. It’s not cheap. But as a belt-and-braces process to confirm that the metal is where it should be, in full, it is vital.
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When was the last time the US Treasury checked the Fort Knox gold holdings?
Few institutions who hold bullion bother (especially those who claim to keep metal in their own store-room, rather than using independent specialists for custody to reduce the obvious risk of fraud). Hardly any gold-backed ETFs go to the trouble of having each and every bar checked either. Instead, they do only a ‘sample’ count and inspection. Which is what the US Treasury got for its Fort Knox holdings last time they were checked too, back in 1974.
That sampling, of course, was because the USA’s apparent gold holdings were (and are) massive, the biggest in the world, well over twice the size of (current, official) number two Germany. So a full count and inspection would take a very, very long time. But the time and money invested in a thorough process like this might be worth doing, depending on what the end goal for the USA’s official gold holdings is meant to be.
Readiness for sale is one option; gold is after all at record high prices, and a little profit-taking now would contrast dramatically with Western Europe’s heavy central-bank gold selling at rock-bottom prices 25 years ago. Conversely, Trump has expressed respect for the ‘strong man’ image of Russia’s Vladimir Putin – an image regularly linked to the stability and certainty of Moscow’s gold reserves. The geopolitical backdrop to China and India’s current gold buying would also speak against US sales any time soon.
“More likely, and without needing to sell any gold, the US Treasury may revalue its bullion reserves, and ask the Federal Reserve to give it the money realized by that accounting trick,” said Adrian Ash, a gold bullion specialist at BullionVault. “Because while gold is currently trading at new record highs close to $2950 per Troy ounce, the USA’s official holdings are still booked at $42.22 per ounce, the price set back in 1973 when Washington abandoned any pretence of ever returning to backing the Dollar with bullion.”
Revaluing America’s national gold stock would potentially price it at $758 billion. But that’s the real lesson from the current hoo-ha around the US Treasury official gold reserves.
The biggest hoard of gold in the world, valued at the highest gold prices in history, isn’t enough to cover FOUR months of the US government’s budget deficit. Little wonder gold prices keep going higher as foreign creditors and private wealth seek an alternative store of value to American debt.
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