Gold Confiscation History

This video compares old US Mint gold coin mintage numbers versus 1933 to 1939 melt data to surmise an estimate on how much physical gold was turned in and melted down from Executive Order 6102 in 1933. 

We think you will not only be surprised to learn the amount but also some of the very far-reaching effects this era of financial history still holds on our world today.

Gold Confiscation History

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Executive Order 6102 is an executive order signed on April 5, 1933, by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt “forbidding the hoarding of gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates within the continental United States.” The executive order was made under the authority of the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917, as amended by the Emergency Banking Act in March 1933.

The limitation on gold ownership in the United States was repealed after President Gerald Ford signed a bill legalizing private ownership of gold coins, bars, and certificates by an Act of Congress, codified in Pub.L. 93–373, which went into effect December 31, 1974.

Executive Order 6102 required all persons to deliver on or before May 1, 1933, all but a small amount of gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates owned by them to the Federal Reserve in exchange for $20.67 (equivalent to $413 in 2020), per troy ounce. Under the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917, as amended by the recently passed Emergency Banking Act of March 9, 1933, a violation of the order was punishable by fine up to $10,000 (equivalent to $200,000 in 2020), up to ten years in prison, or both.

The order specifically exempted “customary use in industry, profession or art,” a provision that covered artists, jewelers, dentists, signmakers, etcetera. The order also permitted any person to own up to $100 in gold coins, a face value equivalent to 5 troy ounces (160 g) of gold valued at approximately $10,000 in 2020. The same paragraph also exempted “gold coins having recognized special value to collectors of rare and unusual coins”, which protected recognized gold coin collections from legal seizure and likely melting.

The price of gold from the Treasury for international transactions was then raised by the Gold Reserve Act to $35 an ounce (equivalent to $700 in 2020). The resulting profit that the government realized funded the Exchange Stabilization Fund, established by the 1934 Gold Reserve Act.

The regulations prescribed in the executive order were modified by Executive Order 6111 on April 20, 1933, both of which were ultimately revoked and superseded by Executive Orders 6260 and 6261 on August 28 and 29, 1933, respectively.

Executive Order 6102 also led to the extreme rarity of the 1933 Double Eagle gold coin. The order caused all gold coin production to cease and all 1933 minted coins to be destroyed. About 20 illegal coins were stolen, leading to an outstanding US Secret Service warrant for arrest and confiscation of the coin. A legalized surviving coin sold for over $7.5 million in 2002, making it one of the most valuable coins in the world.

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