A bookkeeping price, not a market price
The $42.22 figure is the government’s statutory book value for its gold: the price used in a particular set of federal accounts. It does not mean the Treasury could buy or sell bullion for that amount. Gold’s market price is determined separately, and changing that price would not move a single bar in Fort Knox.
How certificates connect the gold to the Fed
The Treasury holds the bullion, while the Federal Reserve holds gold certificates issued by the Treasury. These certificates are accounting claims tied to the government’s gold—not tickets that let the Fed collect bars from the vault. The Treasury records the gold at the statutory rate, and the certificates are recorded at that same value.
To revalue the gold in this system, the Treasury would have to issue new certificates reflecting the changed valuation. That step matters because it would change the figures on government balance sheets; it is not merely a matter of updating a label on a vault inventory. The statutory price has remained at $42.22 per ounce since 1973, even as the market value of gold has moved far beyond it.
Why the distinction matters
A higher accounting value could make the government’s recorded gold assets look larger, but it would not create new bullion or automatically provide spendable cash. The bars remain a physical reserve; the certificates and statutory price determine how that reserve is represented in federal accounts. The striking gap is between what the gold is worth in the market and what the government’s books are authorized to call it.
