# What square kilometer of Earth (tapering all the way to the core and extending to the edge of the atmosphere) would be the most valuable? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 21, 2022, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-square-kilometer-of-earth-tapering-all-the-way-to-the-core-and-extending-to-the-edge-of-the-atmosphere-would-be-the-most-valuable/971999 "2022-09-21T17:49:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-square-kilometer-of-earth-tapering-all-the-way-to-the-core-and-extending-to-the-edge-of-the-atmosphere-would-be-the-most-valuable/971999/41 "2022-09-23T18:52:14Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > is there certain depth where it’s all the same no matter what slice you take? Hard to say. I doubt is the Earth is so homogeneous in that any sq km is the same as any other, since, while the mantle and core are mostly liquids, they are very viscous liquids, so they don’t mix all that well. The problem from the standpoint of answering the OP is that we don’t have the detailed info about what’s down there. So for all intents and purposes, we may as well assume that they are all about the same. Going the other way, land owners do not own the rights to the air above their land. No one can, for example, forbid airlines from flying over their property. Or charge them for doing so. So there’s no value to anything above the tops of any buildings. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-square-kilometer-of-earth-tapering-all-the-way-to-the-core-and-extending-to-the-edge-of-the-atmosphere-would-be-the-most-valuable/971999/42 "2022-09-23T19:01:01Z")
Atmosphere is atmosphere, so I don’t believe one square km of atmosphere is really worth more than any other one square km of atmosphere. Below one mile, I’d say that is also all pretty much the same. Practically speaking, we’re talking about one square km of the earth’s surface and a small distance beneath it. In that case, I would say Fort Knox because it contains @ six billion dollars worth of gold. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-square-kilometer-of-earth-tapering-all-the-way-to-the-core-and-extending-to-the-edge-of-the-atmosphere-would-be-the-most-valuable/971999/43 "2022-09-23T19:19:53Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > In that case, I would say Fort Knox because it contains @ six billion dollars worth of gold. As others have pointed out, the Federal Reserve in New York has more, then adding in wallstreet real estate, its going to be hard to beat. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-square-kilometer-of-earth-tapering-all-the-way-to-the-core-and-extending-to-the-edge-of-the-atmosphere-would-be-the-most-valuable/971999/44 "2022-09-23T19:21:56Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > others have pointed out, the Federal Reserve in New York has more, then adding in wallstreet real estate, its going to be hard to beat. What?! Why would a bank have more than 6 billion dollars on hand? I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-square-kilometer-of-earth-tapering-all-the-way-to-the-core-and-extending-to-the-edge-of-the-atmosphere-would-be-the-most-valuable/971999/45 "2022-09-23T19:30:11Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > What?! Why would a bank have more than 6 billion dollars on hand? I don’t get it. A lot (probably most) of the gold at the NY Fed is not owned by the Fed. It’s owned by other countries. The Fed just serves as a caretaker. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-square-kilometer-of-earth-tapering-all-the-way-to-the-core-and-extending-to-the-edge-of-the-atmosphere-would-be-the-most-valuable/971999/46 "2022-09-23T19:34:14Z")
Try $240-260 billion. > **[Fun Fact: 25% Of The World's Gold Is In A Vaults Under Wall Street — The...](http://www.dylanhoffman.com/blog/2018/7/11/fun-fact-25-of-the-worlds-gold-is-in-a-vaults-under-wall-street)** > > Eighty feet below the streets of lower Manhattan, a Federal Reserve vault protected by armed guards contains about 6,200 tons of gold. Or doesn’t. The Fed tells visitors its basement vault holds the world’s biggest official gold stash and values it... ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-square-kilometer-of-earth-tapering-all-the-way-to-the-core-and-extending-to-the-edge-of-the-atmosphere-would-be-the-most-valuable/971999/47 "2022-09-23T19:36:49Z")
Given that there are many ways of defining value, a purely factual answer is going to be difficult. Let’s move this to IMHO (from FQ). ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-square-kilometer-of-earth-tapering-all-the-way-to-the-core-and-extending-to-the-edge-of-the-atmosphere-would-be-the-most-valuable/971999/48 "2022-09-23T19:39:11Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > It’s owned by other countries. The Fed just serves as a caretaker. Doesn’t that give us a lot of leverage over them? I mean, if they don’t play nice, we could just keep it. I’d like to just play in there for a while. Stack the gold bars in such a way that they make a throne, or take a nap on a bed of gold! ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-square-kilometer-of-earth-tapering-all-the-way-to-the-core-and-extending-to-the-edge-of-the-atmosphere-would-be-the-most-valuable/971999/49 "2022-09-23T19:41:33Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Doesn’t that give us a lot of leverage over them? I mean, if they don’t play nice, we could just keep it. The Fed is its own entity. It isn’t strictly “us” or the “U.S.” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-square-kilometer-of-earth-tapering-all-the-way-to-the-core-and-extending-to-the-edge-of-the-atmosphere-would-be-the-most-valuable/971999/50 "2022-09-23T19:44:57Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > > [@dtilque](#): > > > > It’s owned by other countries. The Fed just serves as a caretaker. > > Doesn’t that give us a lot of leverage over them? I mean, if they don’t play nice, we could just keep it. I’d like to just play in there for a while. Stack the gold bars in such a way that they make a throne, or take a nap on a bed of gold! Why doesn’t your bank just keep your money if you’re not nice to the teller? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-square-kilometer-of-earth-tapering-all-the-way-to-the-core-and-extending-to-the-edge-of-the-atmosphere-would-be-the-most-valuable/971999/51 "2022-09-23T20:00:28Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > The Fed is its own entity. It isn’t strictly “us” or the “U.S.” The Fed is a for-profit corporation owned 100% by the US Government. Which is why the President has the power to appoint members of its board of directors. But that’s pretty much the limit of the control the government has. > [@Jasmine](#): > > I’d like to just play in there for a while. Stack the gold bars in such a way that they make a throne, or take a nap on a bed of gold! Are you a dragon? Smaug may find a bed of gold confortable, but you won’t. Anyway, each country’s gold is kept in its own subvault. Occasionally, one country pays another with some of their gold and the Fed moves the appropriate amount from one subvault to another. I believe every once in a while, countries will send auditors over to make sure their gold is still there. The Fed is actually doing all these countries a service. If they kept the gold themselves, they’d have to build a big vault for it and pay for all the security. I’m sure it’s cheaper to have a single vault than dozens of individual vaults. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-square-kilometer-of-earth-tapering-all-the-way-to-the-core-and-extending-to-the-edge-of-the-atmosphere-would-be-the-most-valuable/971999/52 "2022-09-23T20:26:49Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > […] or take a nap on a bed of gold! Try this [![](https://www.animaatjes.nl/plaatjes/d/dagobert-duck/animaatjes-dagobert-duck-51753.jpg) ](https://www.animaatjes.nl/plaatjes/d/dagobert-duck/animaatjes-dagobert-duck-51753.jpg) and you might get this [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/r17XvBPM6hc/maxresdefault.jpg) ](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/r17XvBPM6hc/maxresdefault.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-square-kilometer-of-earth-tapering-all-the-way-to-the-core-and-extending-to-the-edge-of-the-atmosphere-would-be-the-most-valuable/971999.md?page=2)