Federal Reserve Bank of New York

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Bank of the USA, though it is by far the largest and most influential. As part of the federal reserve system it holds great responsibility in implementing monetary policy, regulating financial institutions and maintaining the nation’s payment systems.

Found at 33 Liberty Street, the Federal Reserve occupies the full block between Liberty, Willian and Nassau streets and Maiden Lane. It is a forbidding presence: monumentally large and built like a fortress in the neo-Renaissance style, echoing for example Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio. Stretching fourteen floors up and reaching a further five underground, it is a structure that inspires a sense of the strength and stability of the institution within.

Golddigger

With a tour you can explore the inside of the Federal Reserve and ogle at the high-security vault, the stuff of every other heist movie, where more than 10,000 tons of gold reserves are held — only 80ft underground.

It is reputedly the largest gold repository in the world, though this cannot be confirmed since Swiss banks do not report their gold stocks. Surprisingly, 98% of the gold held there is actually owned by the central banks of foreign nations. The federal reserve acts as guardian of the precious metal.

In fact most gold bars are not 100% pure gold. If they were, the bars would be too malleable to preserve their distinctive trapezoidal shape. Each bar therefore contains a small amount of at least one one other metal, such as copper, silver or platinum, lending it a distinctive hue. Platinum gives it a whitish shade, whereas copper is often found in redder bars — though you might not get close enough to tell.