Book value of gold held by Treasury tops 11 billion dollars
- Published: Mar 25, 2015, 8 AM
The latest book value of gold owned by the United States Treasury tops $11 billion.
The book value is not the market value. The book value represents the total number of troy ounces held in deep-storage and working-stock inventories multiplied by the statutorially established value per troy ounce of gold of $42.2222 set in 1973, not the market spot price, which currently exceeds $1,100 per troy ounce.
The working-stock inventory can fluctuate based on what is used for producing coins and the subsequent replacement of that gold removed from inventory.
According to the Treasury Department's Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Treasury-owned gold held as bullion, coins, blanks and other forms totals 261,498,926.23 troy ounces as of the latest reporting period. The book value is listed at $11,041,059,957.46.
Sixty percent of the total amount of deep-storage gold is stored at the U.S. Mint's Fort Knox Gold Bullion Depository in Kentucky. Additional deep-storage gold is held at the West Point Mint and the Denver Mint.
According to the Treasury Department, deep storage is "that portion of the U.S.Government-owned Gold Bullion Reserve which the Mint secures in sealed vaults that are examined annually by the Treasury Department's Office of the Inspector General. Deep-Storage gold comprises the vast majority of the Reserve and consists primarily of gold bars. (Formerly called 'Bullion Reserve' or 'Custodial Gold Bullion Reserve')."
Working stock, according to the Treasury Department, is "that portion of the U.S. Government-owned Gold Bullion Reserve which the Mint uses as the raw material for minting Congressionally authorized coins. Working-Stock gold comprises only about 1 percent of the Reserve and consists of bars, blanks, unsold coins, and condemned coins. (Formerly listed as individual coins and blanks or called 'PEF Gold')."
PEF refers to the U.S. Mint's Public Enterprise Fund in which revenue from the sales of United States coins is deposited to allow the bureau to operate.
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