They say ‘gold’, but they really mean Galleons. Especially given the wonky exchange rates, the Goblins must add more (or at least different) value to those than just a guarantee of purity and size.
Well, since the Goblins do agree to convert gold into Galleons for a modest percentage of the total, the point is moot—wizards will want gold to convert into Galleons.
Apparate into secure bank vaults and take all their gold. That’s all a wizard wants at first, gold, not Muggle money.
They say ‘gold’, but they really mean Galleons. Especially given the wonky exchange rates, the Goblins must add more (or at least different) value to those than just a guarantee of purity and size.
Well, since the Goblins do agree to convert gold into Galleons for a modest percentage of the total, the point is moot—wizards will want gold to convert into Galleons.
Do bank vaults actually contain gold, these days?
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York happens to have around 6,700 tons of physical gold stored in the basement of its building in Manhattan (http://www.newyorkfed.org/aboutthefed/goldvault.html).
There are definitely places gold is stored.
Surely they do. People trade in gold and banks are supposed to be holding the actual gold they own.