# Is there any gold in Fort Knox?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 16, 2013, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403 "2013-08-16T09:11:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/1 "2013-08-16T09:11:45Z")
Is there any gold in Fort Knox?
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/2 "2013-08-16T09:31:13Z")
Yes.
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/3 "2013-08-16T09:49:05Z")
[http://www.usmint.gov/about\_the\_mint/fun\_facts/?action=fun\_facts13](http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/fun_facts/?action=fun_facts13)
> [@](#):
>
> The United States Bullion Depository Fort Knox, Kentucky
>
> ```
> Amount of present gold holdings: 147.3 million ounces.
>
> ```
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### Author:  [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/4 "2013-08-16T09:53:30Z")
> [@runner pat](#):
>
> Yes.
how do you know?
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### Author:  [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/5 "2013-08-16T09:55:44Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#):
>
> [http://www.usmint.gov/about\_the\_mint/fun\_facts/?action=fun\_facts13](http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/fun_facts/?action=fun_facts13)
[http://nsnbc.me/2013/04/18/federal-reserve-refuses-to-submit-to-an-audit-of-germanys-gold-held-in-u-s-vaults-2/](http://nsnbc.me/2013/04/18/federal-reserve-refuses-to-submit-to-an-audit-of-germanys-gold-held-in-u-s-vaults-2/)
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/6 "2013-08-16T09:58:37Z")
> [@bardos](#):
>
> [http://nsnbc.me/2013/04/18/federal-reserve-refuses-to-submit-to-an-audit-of-germanys-gold-held-in-u-s-vaults-2/](http://nsnbc.me/2013/04/18/federal-reserve-refuses-to-submit-to-an-audit-of-germanys-gold-held-in-u-s-vaults-2/)
That’s not Fort Knox.
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### Author:  [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/7 "2013-08-16T10:16:01Z")
I’m sure there are people who think the bullion in Fort Knox has been replaced with gold-plated tungsten. Most amusing is that these are the very same people who prattle about government incompetence. How the incompetent government was able to ship the precious metal to the Illuminati’s secret vaults in Kenya(\*) _and keep it secret_ has never been explained.
Frankly, I wish the Treasury would open its vaults and sell its gold on the open market to drive the price down. Take that, you Bachmann-Beckist dupes!! 😃
(\* - No, the secret Illuminati vaults aren’t really in Kenya. I’d tell you where they are, but I might then need to [subject you to Satanic rituals](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EZ1gyPBo1LY/UcB6cQ1C-AI/AAAAAAAADQ0/Vaola5pf1E0/s1600/noir3.jpg).)
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/8 "2013-08-16T12:24:44Z")
> [@runner pat](#):
>
> > [@bardos](#):
> >
> > [http://nsnbc.me/2013/04/18/federal-reserve-refuses-to-submit-to-an-audit-of-germanys-gold-held-in-u-s-vaults-2/](http://nsnbc.me/2013/04/18/federal-reserve-refuses-to-submit-to-an-audit-of-germanys-gold-held-in-u-s-vaults-2/)
>
> That’s not Fort Knox.
It’s also not a reputable source.
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### Author:  [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/9 "2013-08-16T12:30:39Z")
> [@bardos](#):
>
> Is there any gold in Fort Knox?
What difference does it make either way?
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### Author:  [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/10 "2013-08-16T12:44:55Z")
\*\*Is there any gold in Fort Knox? \*\*
Does a bear shit in the woods?
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### Author:  [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/11 "2013-08-16T12:49:13Z")
Need answer fast?
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### Author:  [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/12 "2013-08-16T12:55:29Z")
What the hell are guarding in there if it’s not gold?
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### Author:  [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/13 "2013-08-16T12:57:54Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#):
>
> What the hell are guarding in there if it’s not gold?
The _secret_ that there\*\* is \*\*no gold.
Duuuuuuhhhhhhh.
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### Author:  [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/14 "2013-08-16T13:02:41Z")
In that case, why not lie about not having _far more_ gold than they claim to have?
17 dollars ain’t very gangsta, y’know?
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### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/15 "2013-08-16T13:20:36Z")
The problem with providing reputable proof is… _Oooh shiny!_
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/16 "2013-08-16T13:29:16Z")
Sounds like a job for Moist von Lipwig!
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### Author:  [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/17 "2013-08-16T13:37:42Z")
Isn’t this one of the conspiracy theories going around the Freemen of the Land-type loonies? That all the gold has actually been missing for (mumble mumble) years and therefore, because (mumble mumble) the government is no longer legitimate?
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### Author:  [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/18 "2013-08-16T13:47:47Z")
Right- and you can claim all that gold if you sign you tax bill a certain way.
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### Author:  [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/19 "2013-08-16T13:49:44Z")
> [@bardos](#):
>
> how do you know?
At $1400 per ounce, the claimed amount of gold in Fort Knox is just over $200 Billion.
That’s a lot of money in absolute terms but not particularly a lot in relative terms. The budget for the Department of Defense is well over $600 Billion. And that’s just for one year.
Why would the government need to lie about what is basically a paltry sum? Sure, it’s technically possible, but what purpose is served?
If you asked, and I told you I had $10000 in a checking account, I might be lying but odds are pretty good you could accept that figure without an audit. If I claimed $1 million, that should raise eyebrows and require a bit more proof.
If you want to play the game of “how do we know for sure?”, well, we don’t. There’s no way to verify every single fact and figure without trusting somebody. If you don’t trust the government, you have to trust the person who performs the check.
I suppose you could go in yourself, but you have to trust that you are actually at Fort Knox and not at a mock Fort Conspiracy Theory the government set up? I’ve never been to Fort Knox. I only know the location because I trust Google or the map or whatever source I used.
Basically, at some point, we all have to believe that (a) humans are basically truthful about the majority of everyday facts and figure and (b) in order to function day to day we need to accept as true a vast amount of facts and figures we can’t personally verify. That’s not a 100% foolproof method but it’s close enough for government work (heh). The stuff that requires the most scrutiny is the stuff that makes the least sense when correlated with other facts and figures. If the amount in Fort Knox were $200 Trillion, sure, maybe we should be a bit more careful and sure. But $200 Billion? Why doubt it?
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-gold-in-fort-knox/666403/20 "2013-08-16T13:59:48Z")
> [@bardos](#):
>
> how do you know?
You were told it’s there by an anonymous person on the internet. Apparently that’s all the proof you need.
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