Existing comment:
Coin Vaults
These spacious, heavily fortified vaults were built in 1878 while this building was used as a Sub Treasury. They provided much-needed additional storage space the large volume of coins passing through here every day.
The vaults are 47' x 27' x 12' high. They consist of a long corridor with compartments on both sides. The compartments are separated by iron lattices. The floor is supported by solid masonry to withstand the tremendous weight of the coins that were stored here. The walls are lined with layers of iron and steel.
As the volume of business transacted in New York increased, so did the flow of money through the Sub Treasury. An idea of the vast quantities of money stored in these vaults can be had from the record of holdings at the close of the business day, June 30, 1897. The vaults held $96,773,661.41 in gold coins, "about" $52,000,000 in silver coins, plus bags of nickels and pennies. Total cash assets were $220,222,138.01!
The gold coins were stored in bags worth $5000, which weighed 19 pounds each. The bags of silver coins, each worth $1000, weighed 59 pounds each. At that rate, on June 30, 1897, there weer approximately 19,355 bags of gold and 52,000 bags of silver. The combined weight of the gold and silver coins alone in these vaults was a stupendous 1,718 tons! |