United States Bullion Depository
The United States Bullion Depository, often known as Fort Knox, is a fortified vault building located next to the United States Army post of Fort Knox, Kentucky. It is operated by the United States Department of the Treasury. The vault is used to store a large portion of the United States' gold reserves as well as other precious items belonging to or in custody of the federal government. It currently holds of gold bullion, a little over half the total gold presently held by the federal government. The United States Mint Police protects the depository.
The Treasury built the depository in 1936 on land transferred to it from the military. Its purpose was to house gold then stored in New York City and Philadelphia, in keeping with a strategy to move gold reserves away from coastal cities to areas less vulnerable to foreign military attack. The first set of gold shipments to the depository occurred during the first half of 1937. A second set was completed in 1941. These shipments, overseen by the United States Post Office Department, totaled roughly, almost two-thirds of the total gold reserves of the United States.
During World War II the signed original Constitution of the United States, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address and drafts of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address were stored in its vault for protection, as was a Gutenberg Bible and an exemplified copy of Magna Carta. After the war, the depository held the Crown of St. Stephen as well as stockpiles of opium and morphine. Today it is known to hold ten 1933 Double Eagle gold coins, a 1974-D aluminum cent, and twelve gold Sacagawea dollar coins that flew on the Space Shuttle Columbia, specifically STS-93 in 1999.
The depository is a secure facility. Between its fenced perimeter and granite-lined concrete structure lie rings of razor wire. The grounds are monitored by high-resolution night vision video cameras and microphones. The subterranean vault is made of steel plates, I-beams and cylinders encased in concrete. Its torch-and-drill resistant door is thick and weighs. The vault door is set on a 100-hour time lock, and can only be opened by members of the depository staff who must dial separate combinations. Visitors are not allowed inside. It is so secure that the phrase "as safe as Fort Knox" has become a cliché for safety and security.
History
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 for its status as a "well-known landmark that is referred to frequently in factual and fictitious contexts" and its "exceptional significance" in the "nation's economic history". The site is located on what is now the intersection of Bullion Boulevard and Gold Vault Road.Planning and completion
In June 1935, the U.S. Treasury announced its intention to quickly build a gold depository on the grounds of Fort Knox, Kentucky. Its purpose was to store gold then kept in the New York City Assay Office and the Philadelphia Mint. This intent was in keeping with a policy previously announced to move gold reserves away from coastal cities to areas less vulnerable to foreign military invasion. This policy had already led to the shipment of nearly of gold from the San Francisco Mint to the Denver Mint. The initial plans were to be completed by August and called for a building costing no more than $450,000.Cited were several military advantages of the location. An army attacking from the Eastern Seaboard would have to fight through the Appalachian Mountains, which were considered a reasonable impediment to military forces of the time. It was also isolated from railways and highways which would further hinder an attacking power. Even air travel to the location across the mountains was considered dangerous for a pilot unfamiliar with the territory. Finally, the Army's only completely mechanized cavalry unit was stationed at the adjacent Fort and could readily be deployed to defend the depository.
The Treasury began construction of the United States Bullion Depository in 1936 on land transferred to it from the military. The Gold Vault was completed in December of that year for $560,000.
Early gold shipments
The first wave of gold shipments was made semi-weekly between January 11 and June 17, 1937, and overseen by the United States Post Office Department. The gold was transported from the New York Assay Office and the Philadelphia Mint onto trains using postal trucks and municipal police escorts. In the armored train cars, postal workers were accompanied by soldiers, secret service agents, and mint guards. Decoy trains were employed. The gold was transferred from trains onto Army trucks under the protection of soldiers armed with armor-piercing bullets and machine guns. The trucks were escorted by combat cars of the 1st U.S. Cavalry Regiment to the depository. The Post Office Department billed the Treasury Department for transporting the weight of the crates and gold using the fourth-class postage rate with added insurance fees.A total of were moved to Fort Knox in this wave. This shipment represented of total U.S. gold reserves, which were at that time. It took over five months and required 39 trains consisting of 215 cars.
On March 1, 1941, United States Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr. announced the completion of another shipment totaling of gold from the New York Assay office to the depository. The total amount at the vault after completion of the shipment was. This amount represented of total U.S. gold reserves, which were at that time. This wave of shipments began in July of the previous year and was also overseen by the Post Office. It took seven months and required 45 trains consisting of 337 cars.
Accumulation of reserves
The building and early operation of the depository occurred at the same time total gold reserves in the United States experienced unprecedented growth. These reserves, which were at the end of 1933, jumped to by the end of 1939.Factors driving this growth included the gold price revaluation in 1934 spurring a rise in global gold production, political uncertainties in Europe causing a capital flight to the United States, and re-armament programs in Europe which increased U.S. net merchandise exports.
By far, most of the increase,, were the result of gold imports from abroad. This consisted of out of foreign mines, out of foreign central bank reserves, with the balance from other sources. Only came from gold acquired in January 1934 under the gold-buying program of Executive Order 6102, and from domestic production and return of scrap gold and coin after January.
By the end of 1940, total Treasury reserves stored at all locations rose to. This accounted for around 80 percent of the entire world's gold reserves. Total U.S. gold reserves stored at all locations peaked in October 1941 at and ended the year at.
Historic documents
expressed concern with the safety of the library's precious artifacts as soon as he took office in 1939. As the Battle of Britain was fought during the summer and fall of 1940, MacLeish asked the U.S. Geological Survey about locating underground storage for "valuable paintings and books" and "within reasonable distance of Washington." In December 1940, he directed his staff to create a detailed catalog of the Library of Congress's most "irreplaceable" assets, and the space required to store them. Primary attention was given to those items "considered most important for the history of democracy."When it became clear that Congress would not fund the building of a separate facility, Macleish sought other options. On April 30, 1941, he requested of the Treasury Secretary some thousands of cubic feet at Fort Knox for the most notable items in the library. The secretary replied, offering the librarian ten cubic feet. In July, when the inventory was complete, and it had been determined that some 40,000 cubic feet would be required for the storage of all unique and irreplaceable materials of the library, the original ten cubic feet offer was raised to 60.3 cubic feet.
MacLeish prioritized items to be sent to Fort Knox. These items were: the Constitution of the United States ; the Declaration of Independence ; Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address ; Lincoln's Gettysburg Address ; a Gutenberg Bible ; the Articles of Confederation ; and Lincoln Cathedral's exemplified copy of Magna Carta, which had been on loan to the United States for the 1939 New York World's Fair. The items were packed in four crates and then shipped by train to the depository on December 26, 1941.
While the vault was invulnerable to bombing attack, it was not climate controlled, and so the documents were vulnerable to changes in temperature and humidity, as well as insects. Special precautions were then taken. The items were locked in bronze containers that had been heated for six hours to drive off any moisture. The containers were then embedded in mineral wool and placed in wooden cases hermetically sealed with lead. An air conditioning unit and calcium chloride dryers were installed in the vault. Frequent inspections were made. In May 1942, repairs were made to the Declaration. In April 1943, the Declaration and the Constitution were removed from and then taken back to the depository so they could be displayed at the opening of the Jefferson Memorial. On October 1, 1944, all items were returned to the Library of Congress. The copy of Magna Carta was returned to England after the war in January 1946.
Other artifacts
After World War II, the depository held the Crown of St. Stephen, as well as other Hungarian crown jewels including a gold scepter and orb and a gold‐encrusted mantle. They were given to U.S. military authorities by members of the Royal Hungarian Crown Guard who feared that they would otherwise fall into Soviet hands. The items were kept in Germany under U.S. custody for several years before being transferred to Fort Knox. They were returned to Hungary in 1978.In 1955, the Defense Logistics Agency began storing opium and morphine at the depository and the West Point Mint. This was done to ensure the nation had adequate supplies in case of war or supply disruptions from the limited number of poppy exporters. The stockpile grew to, enough to meet the legal painkiller needs of the entire United States for one year if supplies were cut off. As the Cold War ended, and more nations began exporting concentrated poppy straw, concerns about supply disruptions abated. But the agency could not legally sell its opium or morphine stock without congressional approval. So, in 1993, it converted its remaining opium reserves into morphine sulfate. This was done to extend the life of the stock since morphine has a longer shelf-life than opium. Morphine is no longer stored at the depository.