About 6,500 tons of gold are stored in seven vaults under the streets of London. The largest vault belongs to the Bank of England, and accounts for about 75% of the total stash. Most of this underground gold is in the form of standard bars weighing 400 troy ounces. The total value has been assessed as representing one-fifth of the world’s entire supply of gold, worth more than $248 billion USD (£172 billion).
Many different countries, corporations, and individuals have gold stored in the London vaults, including “investment funds, hedge funds, wealthy families, and trust funds that are backed by gold," says Adrian Ash of BullionVault.com.
Built on a foundation of gold:
- The Bank of England's vault is the second largest in the world. The New York Federal Reserve holds about 6,300 tons.
- The underground vault system beneath London was built in the 1930s and is still accessed using several unique keys that are each 3 feet (.9 m) long.
- The gold bars are only stacked four pallets high in the top level vaults, and six pallets high in the bottom level, due to concerns that the heavy metal will penetrate the clay bedrock.