Welcome to the World's Largest Gold Vault
Just a Few Blocks From
the Bustle of Wall Street Sits $200 Billion in Gold
Reporter's Notebook By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ
ABC NEWS Business Unit
Sept. 19, 2008
NEW YORK -- Gold. It's one of the oldest and
most prized possessions we have. Egyptian pharaohs were buried
with it, the Romans traded it and gold is even mentioned as
a gift in the Bible.
As
stocks plummet and many realize they don't understand how
their money is invested, some on Wall Street are turning to
gold as a haven.
Who can blame them? Gold is something you can see, hold and
fully understand. In the last two days, the price of gold
shot up $110 to $892.70 an ounce.
Just a few blocks away from all the turmoil and panic of
the stock market sits the world's largest stockpile of gold.
Deep under the streets of Manhattan sits more gold than "James
Bond" villain Goldfinger could ever imagine.
And I recently got a private tour inside the little-known
vault.
Nearly $200 billion worth of gold rests on bedrock five stories
underground, 30 feet below the city's subway system, inside
the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's vault.
That's more than can be found in Fort Knox.
Very little of it belongs to the U.S. government.
There are roughly 540,000 gold bars belonging to 48 foreign
central banks and 12 international organizations such as The
International Monetary Fund or The Bank for International
Settlement. The United States has about 5 percent of its gold
stored there.
Fed officials were very tight-lipped about who owns what
gold. Accounts are just identified by number, not name.
The Fed stores the gold for free but depositors pay $1.75
for each bar that is moved.
This vault contains about 25 percent of the world's gold
reserves. That's more gold that the entire annual economy
of the United Arab Emirates -- home to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The majority of gold came to the Fed after World War II as
countries sought a safe place to keep their wealth. New York's
rise as one of the world's financial capitals also makes it
convenient for countries that want to sell.
An
Urban Fortress
From the distance, the Fed's New York building looks half
like any other office tower in the financial district and
half like a medieval fortress. Windows on the bottom three
floors are covered by large, imposing iron bars. Up high is
a circular tower. You almost expect to see a knight standing
sentry.
Instead, armed guards from the Fed's security force circle
the surrounding blocks with large, imposing automatic weapons.
Once inside the building -- there was a thorough security
check -- I was told that taking pictures is strictly prohibited.
A sign in the lobby warns: "All cameras must be checked.
If pictures are taken, the film will be confiscated."
The Fed even forced me to leave a reporter's notebook and
briefcase outside the vault. What was I going to do, sneak
off with a bar or two? Maybe draw a map and then come back
late at night and rob the place?
But forget all the guns, cameras and thick walls. The real
security is the vault.
The gold vault -- about half the size of a football field
-- was built and lowered into New York's bedrock in 1921 before
the building was completed in 1924. Solid rock surrounds it
on all sides.
There is only one way in or out -- through a narrow, 10-foot
passageway cut into a 90-ton steel cylinder that sits within
a giant steel-and-concrete frame. The cylinder can actually
be lowered three-eighths of an inch to create an airtight
and watertight seal. Large bolts then get inserted into the
cylinder, locking it into place. Timers prevent it from being
opened again until the next business day.
Sounds like the most modern and sophisticated system, right?
Not really. This low-tech system actually dates back to the
vault's creation and works through power and computer outages.
The Federal Reserve's armed guards even have their own firing
range on site to practice.
Nobody has ever tried to rob the vault, although the third
"Die Hard" movie was based around a massive robbery
of it.
Besides all the security, robbing the place would be a logistical
nightmare.
Each bar weighs 28 pounds, but because of the density of
the bars, they feel closer to 45 pounds. Workers must wear
special metal covers over their shoes in case a bar falls
on their feet. In one corner of the vault, the concrete floor
is dented where some gold bars were once dropped.
When some workers passed by me, moving a couple million dollars'
worth of bars, I made sure to stand back. I like my toes.
Not everything at the vault is super secret. In fact, 180
tourists a day are led through the vault on free guided tours.
You have to listen to a speech about monetary policy but then
you get to see the gold. But book far in advance, the tours
are almost always at capacity.
And unfortunately, you don't get to take a little bit of
gold home with you.