Could — and Should — the Fed Own Gold?

Published in The New York Sun.

A world-historical financial event was the 1971 default by the United States on its international commitment to redeem dollars for gold, thereby creating a purely paper, Nixonian global monetary system. Since then, the value of the United States dollar in gold has dropped by more than 99 percent. The amount of dollars that an ounce of gold will buy has gone up by about 140 times.

During 2025, the dollar’s value in gold fell about 40 percent. Specifically, it fell from 0.38 ounces to 0.23 ounces of gold needed to buy $1,000. In 2026 so far, that has declined further to 0.20 ounces. In other words, one ounce of gold now buys about $5,000, compared to $35 until 1971. This trend has been highly profitable for the many central banks that hold gold as a classic monetary asset.

The Swiss National Bank, Switzerland’s central bank, reported a 2025 profit on its gold holdings of over 36 billion Swiss francs, or more than $46 billion. The SNB is required by law to mark all its investments, including gold, to market and report the results in its profit and loss statement and balance sheet.

Other central banks benefiting from gold as an investment and a reserve against their liabilities include, among others, the European Central Bank, the German Bundesbank, the Bank of France, the Dutch National Bank, the Bank of Italy, the Reserve Bank of India, the Bank of Japan, the People’s Bank of China, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

In comparison, how much profit has the Federal Reserve made on its gold? The answer is not one penny. The Federal Reserve owns no gold at all — not a single ounce. In the terse summary from the Federal Reserve’s official website: “The Federal Reserve does not own gold.”

This situation would have left the authors of the Federal Reserve Act surprised and dismayed. The law required that new Federal Reserve Banks hold gold backing equal to 40 percent of their outstanding dollar bills plus 30 percent of their deposit liabilities. One can imagine the founders of the Fed frowning down in disapproval from legislative Valhalla at the current lack of any gold held by their creation.

The original gold requirement was ended by the Depression-era Gold Reserve Act of 1934, when Congress took all their gold from the Federal Reserve Banks. From the Fed’s point of view, this was the opposite of “reserving” their gold. In exchange, the Fed got claims on the Treasury for paper dollars. With clever rhetoric, these were and are called “gold certificates.”

However, what they really certify is that the gold has been taken. The day after the taking, the dollar was devalued by 41 percent, increasing the dollars one ounce of gold would buy to $35 from $20.67. Since the Fed no longer owned any gold as of the day before, it realized no profit. The Fed has owned no gold since 1934.

The term “gold certificates” has led to widespread confusion. As probably intended by the political rhetoricians of the 1930s, the term has caused many people, even financial experts, to believe the Federal Reserve still owns gold because it has gold certificates. But the Fed’s own website is clear: “Gold certificates do not give the Federal Reserve any right to redeem the certificate for gold.” So much for the certificates and the 1930s.

Coming to today, could the Fed buy and hold gold if it wanted to?  Had it done so, after all, it would have greatly profited as other central banks have. The Fed itself is curiously quiet on this head. It appears that it does not wish to answer it, because the answer would be positive. 

Some commentators cite the 1934 act as preventing current gold purchases, but the relevant provisions of that act were repealed in 1974, more than 50 years ago. Public Law 93-373 of 1974 provides that beginning in 1975: “No provision of any law…may be construed to prohibit any person from purchasing, holding, selling or otherwise dealing in gold.” The term “any person” obviously includes the Federal Reserve Banks.

Moreover, the Federal Reserve Act in its current form provides that each Federal Reserve Bank has the power “to deal in gold coin and bullion at home or abroad.” Congress, which is the superior of the Federal Reserve, should require the Fed to answer clearly two questions: Could the Fed legally buy gold today? And if so, should it join other major central banks in holding gold among its assets?