January 2026 seemed to usher in a new era for gold prices. The first month of the new year capped a remarkable two years in which the price moved from just over $2,000/oz to more than $5,400/oz.

We’ll leave the reasons behind the meteoric rise for a different article. However, we would like to explore the opportunity that the new price presents for revaluing the US gold reserves – particularly at Kentucky’s Fort Knox.

So, let’s discuss why a revaluation of the millions of ounces of gold at Fort Knox might not only be logical, but also advisable in the current economic and geopolitical landscape.

Brief Recap of Undervaluation

At present, the Bullion Depository at Fort Knox officially holds 147,341,858.382 fine troy ounces of gold. According to government records, the reserves are worth around $6.2 billion (out of a total US gold reserve worth $11.7 billion).

Wait, $6.2 billion?

That’s right. A widely publicized congressional inspection of Fort Knox occurred in 1974, and officials used a statutory rate of $42.22/oz to calculate its estimate of the hoard’s value.

Now, this estimate was woefully undervalued even at the time. According to the National Mining Association, the price for a troy ounce of gold on this very date was roughly $150.50. Had auditors used this price, the valuation of the reserves at Fort Knox alone would have exceeded $22.2 billion. (The entire reserve would’ve been worth more than $41.5 billion).

However, there has not been another large-scale public inspection since 1974, although the U.S. Treasury states its gold holdings undergo annual examinations. Given the price of gold these days, the valuation of the hoard at Fort Knox is now ludicrous, not just absurd.

Even at the time that the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, publicly discussed the idea of auditing or inspecting the reserves at Fort Knox in early 2025, the price of gold sat at around $2,300/oz. So, the estimate would have pegged the value of Fort Knox’s gold at around $431 billion.

Now, in the wake of gold’s price exceeding $5,400/oz, the valuation is even higher – and significantly so. 148.7 million ounces multiplied by the record high price (more than $5,400/oz) yields a whopping potential price tag on the stash at Fort Knox – approximately $797.8 billion.

US Credit Rating

Now, in terms of the overall federal budget, the assets of the US government, or the national debt, a revalued gold reserve would likely mean very little. The Department of the Treasury collected roughly $5.23 trillion in 2025 as tax revenue, so – at best – the gold at Fort Knox would be worth just over 15% of a single fiscal year for the US.

However, where the sudden addition of hundreds of billions in solvent assets might benefit the US government is with respect to its credit rating. In May 2025, Moody’s downgraded the US credit rating from its previous Aaa (negative) rating to an Aa1 rating.

The ratings agency cited concerns over both the national budget deficit and debt, both of which continue to grow without any plan to halt their swelling in the works. Moody’s downgrade made it the last of the three primary credit agencies to lower the outlook for the US – Fitch dropped the US in 2023, and Standard and Poor’s has taken a dimmer view of the US economy since 2011.

National credit ratings judge the risk profile associated with making investments in a country’s debt securities, like its bonds, and the interest rates and yields from those bonds make a big difference in the outlook for the economy as a whole.

Simply put, a drop in credit rating means an increase in risk and an increase in interest rates. Higher interest rates, in turn, flow downhill to consumers looking to buy homes or cars on credit.

Furthermore, higher interest rates commit the country – in this case, the US – to spend more of its budget on interest than before. At a certain point, its ability to provide other services, such as healthcare and Social Security, might be hampered due to the shift of resources for interest payments.

However, the tangible value of gold increases the perception of solvency for anyone who owns it, be it individually or institutionally. Thus, a revaluation of the Fort Knox gold might serve as breathing room for policymakers who need a bit more leeway to (hopefully) come up with a solution to the national debt’s growth.

The use of gold as a backstop for government policies and actions is nothing new, but it is, likewise, not an antiquated notion, either. Here are some recent examples of central banks that have purchased large quantities of gold.

Recent Central Bank Purchasing Examples

The biggest central bank buyer of gold in recent years has been Poland. The National Bank of Poland bought 102 tonnes of gold in 2025, according to the World Gold Council. The purchases brought Poland’s overall reserves to roughly 550 metric tons, and the country, which is right next door to Ukraine, is still looking for more to buy.

Another Ukrainian neighbor, Kazakhstan, is a major purchaser of gold in the past couple of years. In 2025, the National Bank of Kazakhstan bought 57 tonnes of gold in 2025.

Other top countries that have grabbed large quantities of gold include Brazil, Turkey, India, and, perhaps alarmingly for US interests, China. In the case of China, part of its purpose is specifically to reduce reliance on the US dollar. China’s reported gold reserves are approximately 2,306 tonnes, and the number is likely larger than that.

In every case, the central banks buying large quantities of gold have only a few goals in mind. They either want to strengthen their economy’s ability to withstand threats and setbacks to it, or they want to circle the wagons and protect against geopolitical tensions.

These two aren’t mutually exclusive, either. In general, gold means stability, and not too many countries are going to look down their noses at additional support for their economies and organizations.

The Takeaway

In short, a revaluation of the gold in Fort Knox might relax some of the concerns that internal and external observers have about the American economy and its solvency. With gold prices sky high these days, it would be an infusion of hundreds of billions in assets with a few button presses on a calculator (slightly more complicated, but not really).

Furthermore, it would end the farce that the 1974 per-ounce price has always been, including on the date it was used in the first place. However, it’s hard to know if an audit and recalculation of the gold in Fort Knox is still a priority for the people in Washington.