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Federal Reserve Bank of New York - Gold Vault Tour

New York, New York, United States

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York offers daily tours of their gold vault. Tours need to be arranged in advance (through their website), and last approximately one hour. The tour of the gold vault is quite neat - there is more gold there than I've seen cumulatively during the rest of my life. The vault is located underground on Manhattan bedrock, and includes a demonstration of closing the giant vault door.

Visitors and their belongings go through an x-ray machine before the tour, and any bags you have are locked up (just off the lobby) for the duration of the tour. The tour starts off with a short tour of their coin collection before proceeding to the gold vault. Afterwards, guests are free to walk around the museum area and look at some informational displays/propaganda about the fed and money. The museum area is open to the public, even without a tour.

Cost

The tour is free, but requires reservations made weeks (sometimes months) in advance.

Getting There

Take the 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, J, M, or Z train to Wall St., Broad St., or Fulton St., and then walk to Liberty Street. The entrance to the federal reserve bank is on the north side of Liberty Street. There is a guard there who will check that our name is on a list (and verify photo ID) before you can enter the building. If you are from outside the U.S., they prefer federally issued ID (such as a passport).