Gold has been prized for centuries and millennium as both a currency and a display of wealth. Today, people of all cultures and backgrounds still adorn themselves with gold jewelry, and gold is still in use as a hard currency. Due to gold having a very high value over a very long span of time, impenetrable gold vaults has evolved and emerged.

Keeping gold secure is of paramount importance. Gold is portable wealth. He who holds the gold holds the wealth. Unlike debt instruments and named deposit accounts, physical gold has no assigned “owner”. Your gold will never default on you, like fiat currencies or debt instruments or named deposit accounts often do.

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The only true way to suffer complete financial loss while owning physical gold is to be robbed while uninsured. As a result, impenetrable gold vaults have been constructed around the world, and they have some amazing stories to tell.

Impenetrable Gold Vaults : The FRB Of Cleveland.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland is home to a particularly noteworthy, though retired, impenetrable gold vault. The bank itself was completed in 1923 and originally stood as a 13 story 203-foot high-rise. However, the building has been renovated and enlarged since then.

Deep in the basement of this high-rise lies one behemoth of a vault. The vault door is reported to be the heaviest in the world, weighing in at 91 tons. This figure converts into 182,000 pounds. The hinge that holds this door is 19 feet tall and weighs another 43 tons or 86,000 pounds. The casting that the vault door actually closes and bolts into weighs another 18 tons or 36,000 pounds.

The Vault Door At The Federal Reserve Bank Of Cleveland.

This particular branch of the Federal Reserve apparently no longer stores gold bars, at least not in such quantities that the use of this vault in deemed necessary. While the vault was in use, however, there were no reported successful heists.

Impenetrable Gold Vaults : The Mosler Safe Company.

The Mosler Safe Company was located in Hamilton, Ohio. Unfortunately, the made in the USA safes and vaults that Mosler created are no longer being produced. The company closed in 2001 after 153 years of business.

In addition to common safes, The Mosler Safe Company also created specialized bank vaults as well as secret vaults for the US government. Mosler became very popular with the US government for perhaps a particularly odd reason. Several Mosler bank vaults survived the atomic bomb blast waged on the Japanese city of Hiroshima by the US.

Lesser vaults were destroyed, but the Mosler vaults were reported to be intact and secure after the blast. Firsthand accounts come from soldiers surveying the area. Later, The Mosler Safe Company sent it’s own people to the area to inspect the vaults and verify the reports. In fact, the company advertised very proudly that their vaults survived the Hiroshima atomic bombing.

The Surviving Mosler Vaults.

The two Mosler vaults located in the Teikoku Bank in Hiroshima are said to have been only 360 meters from the hypocenter of the Hiroshima atomic bomb explosion. The two-story building in which the vaults stood was completely destroyed, except for the facade. Reports state:

“Those buildings constructed of steel and concrete in Hiroshima were best able to stand the explosion and hence protected their contents to some degree. …The explosions cracked the exteriors, tore the cement floors into pieces and the fire which followed gutted the buildings of all else. Those buildings constructed of reinforced concrete only, such as the Teikou [sic] Bank, were damaged to a larger degree. Those built of wood or brick were completely demolished.

Two Mosler bank vaults, one being located at the Teikou [sic] Bank in Hiroshima and the other located in the Geibi Bank in Kure, were in excellent condition and were in operation.”

Not only did the Americans tout the security of the Mosler vaults, so did the Japanese. Many lost all they had, including their lives. Very few personal possessions survived the atomic blast. However, all of the safety deposit boxes inside of the Teikoku Bank were intact and the contents were fine. A letter written to The Mosler Safe Company by the new bank manager (no one at the bank survived the bombing) expressed gratitude.

Excerpt From An Actual Letter:

The Teikoku Bank Limited
Kawayacho, Hiroshima Japan
May 22, 1950

Sir,
We consider it our great honour to inform you that The Teikoku Bank, the successor to the Mitsui Bank, had in 1925 when its Hiroshima branch was newly built dared to set two vault doors made by your Hamilton Factory.

As you know in 1945 the Atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima, and the whole city was destroyed and thousands of citizens lost their precious lives. And our building, the best artistic one in Hiroshima, was also destroyed. However it was our great luck to find that though the surface of the vault doors was heavily damaged, its contents were not affected at all and the cash and important documents were perfectly saved…

…Since then about five years have elapsed. The building and doors of the vault have been completely repaired and we have started our business on the first of the month. Recently many tourists have come to see our building and when we show them your vault we proudly explain to them how strong they were against the atomic explosion…

Yours very faithfully,

The Teikoku Bank Limited
T [illegible]
Manager, Hiroshima Branch

Along with cash and important documents, there was undoubtedly personal gold in those Mosler vaults. Old gold coins and family gold jewelry are often kept secure in bank vaults, and this time, it paid off. The Mosler Safe Company had proven to the world that it could build impenetrable gold vaults.

All That Remained Standing Of The Teikoku Bank Was The Facade And The Mosler Vaults.

Impenetrable Gold Vaults : Get Your Own.

If you don’t own physical gold coins and bars, you should. In today’s fiat paper and debt-based economy, there is no good reason not to own gold. In addition, if you do own physical gold, you should always have personal access to it. Bank vaults do not provide you with personal access. The vaults at your bank are only available during certain hours and then only by granted access.

If you have your physical gold in a bank vault, you have given your wealth to the banking system and you must ask permission to retrieve or visit it. Once you cede the physical holding of your gold into the system, it is no longer yours. Think carefully about where you store your precious metals. A vault door does not have to be as impenetrable as a Mosler vault or the Federal Reserve vault in Cleveland to keep you from your deposited gold holdings.

Impenetrable Gold Vaults : Buy Gold From ITM Trading.

Just as important as where you store your gold is where you buy your gold. You wouldn’t store your gold at a shady pawn shop, so think twice about purchasing gold coins from one. You wouldn’t look for a discount gold storage solution on an E-Bay auction, so be wary of buying gold coins in the same manner.

ITM Trading has been in business for more than 20 years and strives to provide excellent service and value. ITM Trading maintains an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, as well as several affiliations and memberships with organizations of integrity within the rare coin and bullion industry. ITM Trading is also an authorized dealer of NGC and PCGS certified coins.