8. Indents in the Floor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Vault Indicate Where Gold Bricks Were Dropped

Image courtesy the New York Fed

The size of a gold brick is rather deceiving. Though no bigger than a water bottle, each brick weighs roughly 27 pounds due to the high density of gold. That’s why the handlers at the vault wear toe covers made from magnesium: it’s an incredibly light, but strong metal, which has also been used to construct rocket ships.

Behind the gates of the gold vault, you can spot exactly wear gold bricks were accidentally dropped by looking for cracks and indents in the floor. Another fun fact we learned during the tour is that no gold bar is exactly the same, or 100% pure. That’s because gold is soft and quite malleable, so the bars are formed by mixing gold with small amounts other metals (copper, silver or platinum), and then stamped with information about their production. For example, a set of numbers can identify the exact melt (the molten gold from which a bar is made) and purity of the brick, and a seal also identifies were the gold was cast. Given this variability, gold deposits are carefully weighed, and not considered interchangeable, which means account holders receive the exact bars they initially deposited when withdrawing.