Ask A Scientist General Science Archive

Question:
What is the weight and value of a gold bar in Fort Knox?
 joseph ramirez

Answer:
I looked in a number of places for the answer to this question, without
success. I am not sure that there is a "standard" size for the gold bars
in Fort Knox. The Encyclopedia Americana, in the article on gold, says that
the gold bar most commonly used in international transactions weighs about
400 troy ounces, or about 27.4 "regular" (avoirdupois) pounds. The density
of gold is about 0.698 lb per cubic inch, so such a bar would have a volume
of about 39 cubic inches. A 6" x 3" x 2" brick would be close to this, so
I think the 400 troy oz. bar is the gold "brick" most of us have a mental
picture of.
 
The value of an ounce of gold varies from day to day; The closing price
on 3/17/94 was $382.65 per troy ounce, so a 400 ounce bar would be worth
(that day) a bit more than $153,000.
 rcwinther