Is gold at places like Ft Knox and a nation's gold reserves or whatnot actually used for anything?

Estil

What I mean is, all that gold at Ft Knox and the New York Federal Reserve (which IIRC actually has even more gold in their basement than Ft Knox!) and other nation's gold reserves...are they actually USED for anything or do they just kind of sit there as some sort of status symbol? Like, does the US and other countries actually buy/sell stuff with those gold bars?

And does the US or any other countries keep silver or platinum reserves too?

pmbug

Tradition! /Bernanke

RobM

The US Mint has stated that USG has no silver or platinum reserves stored at Ft. Knox.

jmski52

Not really a status symbol. IMF has designated gold as a Tier 1 Asset, which means that there are no counterparties to encumber its value.

It’s never been explained why the government control freaks don’t require audits of US gold holdings.

When Germany, and others - wanted to store their own gold at home it took the US years to come up with the gold. This led many people to think that the gold had all been lent out to other entities for interest and that the US was caught double-dealing with its pants down.

The fact that the Treasury resists conducting an audit only adds to the speculation about how much gold actually resides in US deep storage.

The only other Tier 1 Assets are US Treasury Bonds and they are coming under more scrutiny as the US government spending spirals further and further out of control.

Estil

@RobM said:
The US Mint has stated that USG has no silver or platinum reserves stored at Ft. Knox.

Well I didn't say it had to be at Ft Knox silly! They can have them wherever they want; I was just asking if they or any other countries have them. If there was a special place to store silver reserves I would think if anything Carson City would be the most qualified...