Fort Knox Gold Audit Lacking for Over 70 Years

The value of transparency in government finance has been called into question by the lack of an independent audit of Fort Knox's gold reserves. With a market value exceeding $600 billion, the 4,580 tonnes reportedly stored at Fort Knox are one of the world's most valuable assets. The U.S. Treasury Secretary claims that U.S. gold reserves are present and accounted for, but the basis for this claim is a review of vault compartment seals conducted by Treasury staff members.

No vault compartments were opened, no bars were individually counted, no serial numbers were cross-referenced against historical inventory records, and no independent third party was involved in the audit. In contrast, private depositories operating in the United States, including those serving retail precious metals investors, routinely meet global standards for auditing gold reserves, which include physical bar counts and purity confirmation.

The Treasury carries an asset worth more than $600 billion on its books at less than 1% of that figure due to a pricing discrepancy between the statutory book price and market value. This anomaly obscures both the strategic importance and governance gap created by inadequate verification procedures.