St. Louis Fed’s Economy Museum Debuts $700k Exhibit

ST. LOUIS – Visitors to the St. Louis Fed’s Economy Museum will now be able to see and lift the latest exhibit, which is 9.75 inches long, 1.5 inches tall, nearly 28 pounds and made of 99.999% genuine gold. The gold bar, on loan from the U. S. Mint, was installed in the museum on Friday, Feb. 7. The bar is housed in a specially-designed case that will give visitors the opportunity to insert their hand into the case to hold about $700,000 of real gold (current value as of today).

The gold bar exhibit has been two years in the making.

“It was a very involved process, in terms of meeting security requirements and bringing the bar all the way from New York,” said Tom Shepherd, director of the Economy Museum. “Needless to say, we are very excited to give the public the unique experience of lifting the bar while learning about the history of gold.”

The museum is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and admission is free. Since opening in 2015, thousands of tourists, students and others have visited the Economy Museum where both walk-in visitors and scheduled group tours are welcome. For more information about the gold bar and other exhibits, visit stlouisfed.org/economymuseum.