Located just a stone’s throw away from Wall Street in New York City, there’s a massive underground gold warehouse that houses reserves of over 6,000 tons, with a total value of hundreds of billions of dollars. Visitors are welcome to tour the facility and experience it firsthand, but are strictly prohibited from taking photographs.
Often referred to as a “fortress” by the media, this facility is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. Situated at 33 Liberty Street in the Financial District, it contains huge underground gold bullion.
The entrance to the Gold Vault has a door weighing 900 tons.
The Gold Vault is located in the basement of the main office building in Manhattan. It was established during the building’s construction in the early 1920s.
Most of the gold in the vaults arrived during and after World War II as many countries wanted to keep their gold reserves in a safe location. Stock ownership continued to increase and peaked in 1973.
The world’s largest underground gold warehouse, containing 6,000 tons of gold, is open to welcome guests. At its peak, the warehouse held over 12,000 tons of gold, but since then, deposits and withdrawals have slowed, resulting in a gradual decline in overall holdings. Nevertheless, it remains the largest gold depository in the world.
As of 2019, the three-story gold warehouse contains 497,000 gold bars with a combined weight of approximately 6,190 tons. The bunker’s location on the stone floor of Manhattan, 24.2 meters below the road and 15 meters above sea level, enables it to withstand the weight of such a large quantity of gold.
It’s interesting to note that the gold in the vault doesn’t solely belong to the US government; it’s also the property of 36 foreign governments, other national central banks, and official international organizations. No individual or private entity is permitted to store gold in the vault.
The largest amount of gold sTored in the world is located in an underground basement (Artworк).
There is only one entrance to the cellar, which is a 90-ton steel door that rotates in a cylindrical motion to open. Whenever a compartment inside the gold vault is opened, at least three employees of the US Federal Reserve (The Fed) are present to ensure the safety of the gold.
Gold bars are transported by elevator from the building to the basement location of the warehouse. Inside there are 122 gold compartments, each of which belongs to an account. Before stocking, each gold bar is weighed and tested for fineness (purity) for record-keeping purposes. This step is important because The Fed will return the exact gold bars that the account holder previously deposited when they want to withdraw.
Next, the Fed staff will use the old-fashioned scale To determine the price. Each ingot will be stored in individually numbered lockers and protected by three locks. These lockers are all numbered rather than named To maintain account holder confidenTialiTy. Although the accounts are free to store gold here, there is a fee for Fed staff to move each gold bar.
Visitors are allowed to visit, it is strictly forbidden to take pictures
CurrenTly, this gold warehouse is open to visitors, but visiTors can only admire the gold on display. To New Yorк City, visiTors can sign up for a tour package with an accompanying tour guide.
When entering The building, visiTors must go Through a very strict security checк, leaving personal items outside, and not allowed To take pictures inside.
Visitors are subjecTed to strict security checks before entering.
The security staff here are all armed. Up to now, no gold robbery has happened successfully.