New York Fed's gold vault: How much does it hold?
The vault holds about 497,000 gold bars
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s vault holds gold for central banks, governments and official organizations.
The vault, which is located 80 feet below street level, held about 497,000 gold bars that had a combined weight of 6,190 tons as of 2019, according to the New York Fed, which doesn't own any of the metal there itself.
Capacity topped out in 1973, at more than 12,000 tons, after former President Richard Nixon untethered the U.S. dollar from gold.
Whenever gold is deposited or a section of the vault is opened, three members of the New York Fed, two staffers and one auditor, must be present to ensure safekeeping.
Gold within the vault is protected by an intricate security system that features 24-hour surveillance including an armed police force, security cameras and motion detectors and a 90-ton steel cylinder defending the only entry, among other things, the New York Fed said.
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The Fed prices gold within the vault at a fixed $42.2222 per troy ounce for bookkeeping purposes. The precious metal is currently trading at around $1,900 an ounce on the COMEX exchange, owned by CME Group.