Under them, er, sits more than $200b in gold bars. No joke, really. According to researchers who apparently made the discovery, beneath Threadneedle Street in London, sits the massive collection of gold bars.  Interesting? You bet. Researchers say that the billions in gold underneath Threadneedle street is about 20% of all gold owned by the world’s governments.
Not quite like storing cash under the mattress,” the BBC says, “but still a way to hedge against risk in other markets.” You can’t actually visit the gold, and, some interesting (at least we think they are) security measures remain in place against the vaults. The Independent reports that 3-foot long keys are required to go anywhere near the vaults themselves. (We could probably imagine they’re better guarded than Buckingham Palace..).
The “maze” as it has been referenced spans about 300,000 sq feet and holds more than 6,000 gold bars owned by the Bank of England.
Fun Fact: During WWII the vaults served as bomb shelters.