Business news is breaking practically non-stop as Pres. Trump and Elon Musk tighten their grip on the economy and set in motion their vision to improve it. As they do, many investors are focusing on a related issue: Is there still gold in Fort Knox?
For quite some time now, interest has been growing in the yellow metal. The price of gold has surged more than 40% in the last 12 months, and at the end of February was up by nearly 10% year to date. And it has outperformed the major market indices, which is saying a lot because they are at or near all-time highs.
Fake Info?
Call it a sign of the times, but there’s a great deal of skepticism about whether America’s gold reserves at Ft. Knox are still there or whether some or even most of them went missing.
It seems that everybody and his brother has an opinion about this. Some say all of the gold that’s supposed to be at Fort Knox is there. Others opine that probably a lot of it is but not all. Still others say there is absolutely no gold there. Adding to the mystery is the fact that Fort Knox hasn’t been audited since 1974, so it’s been fully 50 years since Americans were reassured that the gold reserves there are safe and secure.
Trump and Musk demand answers and want Fort Knox to be audited. Musk believes the audit should be live-streamed so people can see for themselves what is or is not there. By the way, Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky and frequent critic of America’s economic policies, also wants an audit.
Given a story like this, it’s no surprise the rumor mill is working overtime. One of these is that in the last few weeks, America borrowed every ounce of gold it could from England and other countries, sensing that an audit was coming and trying desperately to fill the deficit in its vaults. Another is that most of the gold is gone, and because it was plundered over a period of five decades finding out what happened to all that bullion, when it happened, where it is now, and trying to recover it will be extremely difficult if not impossible. And still another rumor is that all of the gold that’s supposed to be in Fort Knox is there and after the audit, when the public is reassured that everything is on the up and up, it will be easier for the government to revalue gold.
All Is Well
The U.S. Mint reported that as of February 21, Fort Knox held 147.3 million ounces of gold. This will certainly reassure some people, although others will maintain a “seeing is believing” attitude. Many questions will be answered when the government completes its audit and makes the results public.
There should be about $400 billion worth of gold in the Fort, according to market commentator and CPA Lena Petrova. She bases this opinion on the U.S. Mint’s estimate of 147.3 million ounces held there and the very recent price of gold of $2,930 per ounce.
Despite the incredible market value of all this gold, the government values it at “only” $6 billion because it still calculates the value of gold at $42.22/ounce, the price it was back in Feb. 1973.
Meanwhile, “Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has reassured the public that the gold is regularly audited,” said Petrova. “However, in the opinion of various commentators, both Trump and Musk appear to be skeptical about that.”
It’s been reported that information made available to Bessent has confirmed that all of the gold is accounted for. However, this has not been confirmed by independent sources. Following an inspection in 2017, the then Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin reported that all of the gold was there. “However, no evidence supporting this claim was produced, so it is not unreasonable for so many people to be skeptical and to demand an audit,” says Petrova.
Speaking recently to the press while aboard Air Force One, Trump said, “We are going to go into Fort Knox to make sure the gold is there. If the gold isn’t there, we’re going to be very upset.”
And very understandably so. But Trump would not be the only one. Most Americans would probably feel the same way. They will ask tough questions and demand answers – and in some cases there may not be any. It’s a good bet that the markets would be riled. Investors might demand physical possession of their gold, and that could send prices soaring. This concern could easily spill over into the silver market as those investors might also demand physical possession and drive its price much higher too. It’s even possible the “contagion” could spread to other countries.
Hold The Fort
Fort Knox has become a symbol as the depository of America’s gold, but it’s actually an Army base in Kentucky equipped with all the security features we can imagine and numerous others most of us cannot.
The public is not allowed access to the Fort, and no one is allowed to photograph or take videos of the gold or anything else behind closed doors. The vault is protected by the most advanced and reliable security measures, armed guards, surveillance cameras, predator drones, and related devices. Even the vault doors are secured – they weigh 20 tons and no single person knows the combination. No wonder it’s been called the most secure building in the world. But this raises the important question: With so many incredible security features, how could even one ounce of gold be missing?
Contrary to popular legend, Fort Knox is not America’s largest depository of gold. That distinction belongs to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in lower Manhattan. The government also stores some of its gold at the Denver and West Point Mints.
The main issue here is whether or not the tremendous amount of gold stored at Fort Knox is still there. But there’s also another one. Because if the gold has been looted, confidence in the government could tumble. Hopefully, all of us will be reassured very soon. But if that gold is missing, investors will have to brace themselves because a storm may be headed for Wall Street.
Sources: AI Overview; bloomberg.com; forbes.com; wikipedia.org; yahoofinance.com; zerohedge.com; YouTube: What If All The Gold In Fort Knox Was Gone?; Lena Petrova: Trump Announces Audit of $400 Billion in Gold Held At Fort Knox
Gerald Harris is a financial and feature writer. Gerald can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
