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 Replies: 26 / Views: 1,418 |
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Valued Member
 United States
381 Posts |
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Great topic, History has been Known to repeat itself.
Thanks M.D.! Just thought I would share a question that I had when I was discussing Bullion prices when confidence in the Banking System drops. |
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Valued Member
United States
311 Posts |
What would Uncle Sam hope to accomplish by confiscating gold? With the benefit of hindsight, everything we've done has led us to this point where USD is world reserve currency, we have largest economy and we have the biggest gold hoard by far. The FDR Act helped pull us out of the Great Depression. And then that accumulated gold helped pay for WW2.
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
10492 Posts |
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would you surrender your Silver or Gold collection What silver and gold collection?  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10492 Posts |
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That's a dumb question Jeez, I don't think even I would say something that straight forward   |
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Moderator
United States
187862 Posts |
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A bit of transparency and clarity regarding FDR and the gold ban: Quote:
Exempt from the Order were "gold coins having a recognized special value to collectors of rare and unusual coins." So, if a case could be made that a particular gold coin was "collectible," it was exempt from the requirement to turn it in. If precedent holds... Collectors are safe. Stackers can panic.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1071 Posts |
FDR's 1933 gold confiscation act relied heavily on voluntary public compliance rather than forced confiscation. Most Americans (foolishly) complied and voluntarily turned in $20 gold eagles at $20.67 per ounce.  Most Americans complied, with $300 million in gold coins and $470 million in gold certificates surrendered within weeks, though there was no widespread, active hunt for individuals keeping small amounts at home. People were prosecuted for selling gold. Citizens were allowed to keep up to five troy ounces of gold for personal, professional, or artistic use. The government secured over 600 tons of gold, later raising the price to $35 an ounce, which effectively devalued the dollar by 58% and boosted the treasury's assets. The confiscation, in my opinion, is already happening voluntarily every time price goes up and people sell. A lot of that gold and silver is being purchased and stockpiled by numerous governments, including USA, with the new "Vault" strategic metals stockpiling program. Every time someone sells precious metals there is no guarantee they'll be able to buy it back. Even if they can they may not be able to afford to buy it back. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5841 Posts |
Personally, I would have no problem surrendering my non-collectible silver and gold bullion to the government. Provided, that is:  They paid me current spot value, and They didn't tax me on any capital gains I have made on it The first might be possible, but I have my doubts regarding the second. |
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Moderator
United States
187862 Posts |
Interesting thought.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5823 Posts |
Have the cake and eat it too!
The government would allow that? Right!
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Valued Member
United States
372 Posts |
Does that include Dental Gold ? Better keep my mouth closed. One of my last Visit to a Dentist I told him I wanted the tooth back Maybe ( 1 ) Gram White Gold
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Moderator
United States
187862 Posts |
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Does that include Dental Gold ? Better keep my mouth closed. |
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Valued Member
United States
455 Posts |
Definitely not a dumb question, I've thought about this a lot. And a good question for a forum because, well look at the responses you're getting. Just reading through these replies and doing a little googling, I realize I know a lot less about this than I thought I did. There was a lot of spin back then and people really believed the feds were hunting down those who kept their gold. That's probably not true, but the spin is still out there. If you non-complied and held during the period the ban was on you probably would have found it very difficult to unload your metal. I hope this never happens again. In answer to your question though, I would certainly comply and surrender my meager holdings.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
6473 Posts |
I know it's fun to don our tinfoil hats every once in a while, but let's be practical economists for a moment. What would be the point of confiscating precious metals from the public? FDR was on the gold standard, so gold was money. There was no way to switch over to a new pure fiat system without forcing the transition.
Admittedly today, the vast majority of people would cheerfully vote for and support the confiscation of precious metals from "rich hoarders", as long as that didn't involve jewelry. But it would still cause a huge uproar, and for what? The government doesn't really need our money. At any time, it can simply issue treasury bonds that the Fed is forced to buy with digital dollars poofed into existence.
The only situation where I think the government would now involve itself in precious metals (or bitcoin, or whatever) is if it became a parallel competing currency to the U.S. dollar in transactions. Despite a few daydreams, that will never happen for a number of reasons. So I really don't think they will ever care, unless metals hoarding were to constrict legitimate industrial production of circuit boards, solar panels, transformers, power cables, and that sort of thing.
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Moderator
United States
187862 Posts |
Well said, Brand.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6383 Posts |
Harry213 made the point I wanted to stress: gold was recalled and exchanged at $20.67 per ounce and the government officially revalued it at $35. Everyone who complied with the voluntary recall was seriously cheated. I agree this underhanded maneuver should have disqualified FDR from being honored on a gold coin.  |
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Posted 02/09/2026 01:36 am
