For the first time in more than two years, the Federal Reserve reports a decrease in its gold holdings stored on behalf of third parties in New York.
Gold withdrawn from New York
For the first time in more than two years, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports a decrease in its gold holdings stored on behalf of customers. As the Fed indicated in its latest monthly report, gold reserves reported as „Earmarked Gold“ totaled $7,789 million as of September 24, 2021. This gold is traditionally reported at a book value of $42.22 per ounce. This is equivalent to the 1973 gold price.
3.7 tons of gold less
Accordingly, the inventory now comprises the equivalent of 184,486,025 ounces. This corresponds to 5,738.15 tons. A month earlier, there were $7,794 million in reported gold reserves, equivalent to 184,604,452 ounces or 5,741.84 tons. Accordingly, 3.69 tons of gold mathematically migrated this month.
Background
One can only speculate about the circumstances of the departure. However, one may assume that foreign central bank withdrew the corresponding amount of gold from the custody in New York. Apart from the seemingly comparatively small amount, this is mainly of a symbolic nature.
According to our research, this is the first official withdrawal of gold from Fed vaults since March 2019. The coming months will show whether this is a one-time event, or whether multiple tranches may be withdrawn by owners.
Withdrawn by Bundesbank
At the time, the Fed’s Vault officially still held 266 million ounces of gold, or about 8,273 tons. Since then, numerous countries have brought home gold that was previously stored at the Fed. According to its own information, the Bundesbank has transferred a total of 300 tons from New York to Frankfurt since 2012 (Goldreporter reported).
The U.S. gold reserves
According to official data, only foreign gold is stored in Manhattan. The US gold reserves are located at Fort Knox (state of Kentucky) and at the West Point military base (state of New York).
