The Federal Reserve is the system that keeps our economy running “smoothly” and that nobody understands. Fort Knox is a heavily guarded fortress that contains billions of dollars worth of gold bars. What do the two have in common? They both have, like, so much money in them.
The Federal Reserve is interesting because it’s technically not part of the government, while also being part of it. How does that work? Your guess is as good as mine. Because of this unique position, there are a lot of weird quirks and interesting facts about the Fed that you wouldn’t necessarily stumble across in a textbook.
So grab your power drill and stealth suit, and get ready to penetrate the impregnable walls of Fort Knox in search of valuable secrets. We’ll split them 60-40.
1
Independent from political influence
Although the President appoints the Chair of the Federal Reserve for a four-year term, the Chair makes policy decisions independently.
2
It’s not just in DC
The Federal Reserve is headquartered in Washington DC, but it’s also made up of 12 different regional banks that each keep an eye on their respective locations around the country.
3
San Francisco is the largest district
Each of those 12 different banks makes up a larger region, and by far the largest is San Francisco. The San Francisco district is not just limited to California, but also includes Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
4
Money has a code that refers to each branch
Each of the Federal Reserve districts has a code made up of a number and a letter. Paper money has an alphanumeric code on it that shows which Reserve bank accounts for it.
5
The Federal Reserve was created in secret
In November 1910, six men met in secret on Jekyll Island off the coast of Georgia to attempt to reform the country’s banking system. The participants of the meeting didn’t even admit that it had happened until 1930.
6
Manhattan’s gold vault
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has an underground vault 80 feet below street level that holds gold for various banks and organizations. As of 2024, there were over 507,000 gold bars housed in the vault.
7
Fort Knox is impenetrable
Fort Knox’s walls are four feet thick and lined with fireproof materials. They are so strong they could supposedly withstand a hit from an atomic bomb. The door alone weighs 22 tons.
8
Nobody goes into Fort Knox
The last time members of Congress went inside the vault at Fort Knox was in 1974. Very few people have actually been inside the vault, for security reasons.
9
Military security
Fort Knox is guarded by special Mint Police, a police force that specifically protects the US Mint. Stationed nearby are over 30,000 soldiers and military vehicles.
10
Fort Knox may contain more than gold
Though Fort Knox is most famous for holding the gold reserve, almost nobody has seen inside the vault. This has led to many theories about additional things being housed inside the vault, like anthrax powder, the Declaration of Independence, or other secret items like alien artifacts.
11
Goldfinger
Parts of the James Bond movie Goldfinger were filmed at the real Fort Knox, but many of the interior shots were done on studio sets instead.
12
There’s a lot of gold in there
Fort Knox currently houses 147.3 million ounces of gold, with a “book value” of $6.22 billion. That’s based on a fixed price set in the 70s, though, with the current market value of the gold being closer to $273.7 billion.
13
Only one US president ever set foot inside
President Franklin Roosevelt, who commissioned the construction of Fort Knox in the 1930s, was the only president to ever set foot inside the vault’s walls when he traveled there to make an inspection.
14
Fort Knox is filled with morphine
Alongside the gold bars and coins, Fort Knox’s vault contains a large amount of an interesting substance: morphine. During the Cold War, the government put a lot of opium into the vault in order to have a reliable source of pain medicine in case of disaster. Years later, in 1993, the government refined the opium into morphine, and it’s supposedly still there.
15
The Federal Reserve can order the destruction of currency
One of the responsibilities of the Federal Reserve is to assess the condition of the currency in the Federal Reserve Bank, and order its destruction if it’s not up to snuff. The average $1 bill lasts for about six years, while the average $10 bill lasts for only 4.5 years.
16
Hackers with poor spelling
In 2016, a group of hackers attempted to illegally transfer $1 billion from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. They were discovered when they misspelled the word “foundation” as “fandation” in their requests, but still made away with $81 million.
17
Die Hard with a Vengeance
The writer for the movie Die Hard with a Vengeance was investigated by the FBI because the plotline of a heist on the Federal Reserve was too plausible and could have worked in real life.
18
Largest bank vault door in the world
The largest bank vault door in the world is not at Fort Knox but rather the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. The door is 19 feet tall, weighs 100 tons, and the hinge alone weighs over 47 tons.
