What is the point of all the gold at Fort Knox?

They used to back up the US currency with gold but that method was done away with when Richard M Nixon was in office.

So what do they do with the gold and what backs up our currency now?

http://www.fms.treas.gov/gold/current.html The gold is in several locations most of it in deep storage.

For what though?

as far as i know they hold it under high security as government property.. nothing tangible currently backs up US currency. .

Who knows if it’s even there anymore?

@Dutchess_III Nothing at all backs the currency now.

Our currency is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. There has been no connection between gold and the US dollar since October 1976. There are no currencies backed by gold anywhere.

There are occasional foreign payments that are demanded to be paid in gold, so every once in a while the Treasury pays in gold. But it’s pretty rare and not very practical for anyone.

Where did they get the gold?

@Dutchess_III During the Great Depression the US dollar was backed up by gold. So, in order to boost the dollar’s strength FDR set a limit on how much gold a person could own. All excess had to be turned into the United States Department of the Treasury. At this point gold is nothing more than emergency collateral.

Oh. Thanks @Mr_Paradox. I did not know that.

Most people don’t.

And to think… thousands of years ago when salt was difficult to obtain, it was a highly valued trade item to the point of being considered a form of currency by certain peoples. Who knows? Maybe Fort Knox is really filled with salt.

I watched a program last night that said it was filled with UFO’s. That is all.