27 Oct Interesting Vaults #3
The United States Bullion Depository, often known as Fort Knox, is a fortified vault building located within the United States Army post of Fort Knox, Kentucky.
It is used to store a large portion of United States official gold reserves and occasionally other precious items belonging or entrusted to the federal government. The exact contents of the United States Bullion Depository are unknown as there has not been an approved full audit since the early 1930s. It is estimated to hold roughly 4.62 percent of all the gold ever refined throughout human history.
In 1933, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 6102, which outlawed the private ownership of gold coins, gold bullion, and gold certificates by American citizens, forcing them to sell these to the Federal Reserve. As a result, the value of the gold held by the Federal Reserve increased from $4 billion to $12 billion between 1933 and 1937. This left the federal government with a large gold reserve and no place to store it. In 1936, the U.S. Treasury Department began construction of the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky, on land transferred from the military. The Gold Vault was completed in December 1936 for US $560,000. The site is located on what is now Bullion Boulevard at the intersection of Gold Vault Road.
Gold holdings peaked during World War II at 20,205 metric tons. Today, Fort Knox holdings are thought to be around 4,176 metric tons. At the May 4, 2015 rate of $1,188.50 an ounce it is worth about $337 billion.
The Depository was the vault targeted by fictional villain, Auric Goldfinger in the 1964 James Bond film of the same name. His dastardly plan to irradiate the United States gold reserves to increase the value of his own considerable holdings was foiled by James Bond who memorably defused the nuclear bomb he was handcuffed to with the countdown clock reading 007.