This is a historical look at how the US built and then lost its dominant gold stash, not breaking news, but relevant background for anyone watching today's gold rally.

• In 1933, during the Great Depression, the government forced Americans to hand over their gold coins and bars in exchange for paper dollars.
• That seized gold, plus gold shipped in by other countries for safekeeping before World War II, filled the newly built Fort Knox vaults.
• By 1941 the US controlled about two-thirds of the world's official gold, the all-time peak.
• After the war, the US ran trade deficits and other countries cashed in their dollars for gold, steadily draining US reserves.
• By 1971 US gold holdings had fallen all the way down to roughly where they still sit today.

Outlook: US gold reserves have stayed roughly flat for decades, so any big change from here would be a historic shift, not business as usual.