The Netherlands recently decided to withdraw part of its gold reserves from the US. What about Italy? More than 1,000 tons of Italy’s gold are stored beneath New York City, an extraordinary financial connection between Italy and the US that dates back to the postwar reconstruction era and continues today.
Italy owns approximately 2,452 tons of gold, one of the world’s largest national reserves. Of that total, 1,061.5 tons – 43.29% – are held in the United States, primarily at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Another 1,100 tons remain in Italy, while 149.3 tons are stored in Switzerland and 141.2 tons in the United Kingdom.
The Italian gold in America is worth well over $100 billion at current prices. But its importance goes beyond its enormous monetary value. Its presence in New York is also a legacy of the economic relationship that developed between the two countries after World War II. As Italy rebuilt its economy and became a major exporter, it accumulated foreign currency – particularly US dollars – and converted part of those reserves into gold.
New York consequently became not simply a foreign storage location, but one of the geographical pillars of Italy’s financial security. The Federal Reserve acts as custodian, and foreign gold held there does not become US property. The Fed continues to hold substantial quantities of gold for foreign governments, central banks and international institutions.
The issue has returned to attention after the Netherlands moved part of its reserves from New York to London, citing diversification and geopolitical considerations.
Italy, however, has an unusually deep historical relationship with the United States. Keeping 1,061.5 tons of Italian gold in New York illustrates a broader reality: for decades, the transatlantic partnership has extended beyond diplomacy, defense, trade and migration into the architecture of Italy’s national financial reserves.
Few symbols of the Italy–US relationship are as tangible – or as valuable – as thousands of Italian gold bars resting beneath Manhattan.
