It is so secure that the term "as safe as Fort Knox" has become a metaphor for safety and security. 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. Its torch-and-drill resistant door is 21 inches (53 cm) thick and weighs 20 short tons (18 metric tons). The subterranean vault is made of steel plates, I-beams and cylinders encased in concrete. The grounds are monitored by high-resolution night vision video cameras and microphones. Between its fenced perimeter and granite-lined concrete structure lie rings of razor wire. Today it is known to hold ten 1933 Double Eagle gold coins, a 1974-D aluminum penny, and twelve gold (22-karat) Sacagawea dollar coins that flew on the Space Shuttle Columbia, specifically STS-93 in 1999. Stephen as well as stockpiles of opium and morphine. After the war, the depository held the Crown of St. These shipments, overseen by the United States Post Office Department, totaled roughly 417 million troy ounces (12,960 metric tons), almost two-thirds of the total gold reserves of the United States.ĭuring 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. The first set of gold shipments to the depository occurred during the first half of 1937. 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 Treasury built the depository in 1936 on land transferred to it from the military. The United States Mint Police protects the depository. It currently holds roughly 147 million troy ounces (4,580 metric tons) of gold bullion, over half of the Treasury's stored gold. 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 is operated by the United States Department of the Treasury. 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.
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