Roosevelt's Gold Confiscation
Roosevelt's Gold Confiscation
In 1933, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order outlawing all private ownership of gold. Americans were legally compelled to hand their gold bullion over to the authorities, in return receiving their value in dollars (at the time it was $20.67).. Immediately after the people had received their money in exchange for the gold, FDR then devalued the dollar by forty percent. People lost 40% of their savings in a flash.
Many people will exclaim that the gold confiscation occurred in the Depression era, and that today's situation is completely different. But there are plenty of people who predict that our current economic woes will be even worse than the Great depression. The authorities decide what the rules are, and when times are tough they often exercise their right to do so. I'm not sure if there will be another gold confiscation in the US, but the possibility is there, and the same legislation that allowed government to take our gold is still law today. And gold has been nationalized in other countries as well. It is far from impossible.
What can gold owners do to shield themselves from a gold confiscation? The most important thing is to keep your gold away from the people who could take it, and to diversify your gold portfolio so that you possess gold in a number of different forms, locations, and countries.
First off, it's critical to emphasize thatin 1933 most gold owners who secretly kept their gold at home or in another hidden place did not turn their gold in. The president did not send police officers to individuls' homes searching for hidden gold. They made possession illegal, and requested that people hand their gold over, however it was mostly based on the honor system, and it's estimated that 78% of privately held gold was not turned in.
So, right off the bat we can see that personal possession of gold provides you with much more security than keeping your gold at a bank. Financial institutions on the other hand, granted the authorities access to safe deposit boxesand that gold was seized unless you could prove it was exempt from confiscation (we'll discuss what was exempt in a later section of the article). If your gold had been placed in an allocated storage facility with a US financial institution, you would have had your gold taken away.
In addition to hiding some gold where you live, some hardcore "gold bugs" also recommend that you have a bunch of one ounce gold coins with you all the time, in case the government does decide to raid homes. But I can't related to their high level of suspicion in the current atmosphere, and I won't take such a drastic step unless serious problems are taking place, such as war or hyperinflation.
The difficult thing about keeping your gold after an official seizure order is that it would be illegal to liquidate it, unless you gave it over to the government for dollars. I'm positive that there would be a black market for gold, and I'm also sure that some people would be trying to sneak their gold out of the USA, but I am of the opinion that the reason to have gold in your home is to offer you some quick liquidity in times of disaster. If you have a larger investment for the future, it makes more sense to own gold overseas that is geographically protected from confiscation.
One method to hold gold in other countries is to have a digital gold account. If you own digital gold in an account based in Switzerland or Dubai, for instance, if there's ever a confiscation in the US (or whatever country you live in), then your gold would be safe. As a rule, digital gold accounts give you the option to buy other currencies with your digital gold, therefore you would be able to change gold into another currency and then wire the money from your digital account to an account in your home country(or an account elsewhere). Maybe the government would make these overseas possessions illegal too, but there must be ways to keep your possessions discreet, and there will always be legal loopholes for those who bother to find them (which is usually only rich people with a lot to lose). In the 1930s, wealthy influential people still owned gold. They owned it overseas. In the age of the internet, even regular "little people" have access to different ways to legally hold assets overseasI would advise you to track down your own information to find out the exact legal situation for overseas digital gold accounts and if reporting of the income is legally required, and find out how well it can protect your wealth.
Digital gold is one great option for protecting your gold investment. To learn more methods that can protect you take a few minutes to read Gold Confiscation.
In 1933, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order outlawing all private ownership of gold. Americans were legally compelled to hand their gold bullion over to the authorities, in return receiving their value in dollars (at the time it was $20.67).. Immediately after the people had received their money in exchange for the gold, FDR then devalued the dollar by forty percent. People lost 40% of their savings in a flash.Many people will exclaim that the gold confiscation occurred in the Depression era, and that today's situation is completely different. But there are plenty of people who predict that our current economic woes will be even worse than the Great depression. The authorities decide what the rules are, and when times are tough they often exercise their right to do so. I'm not sure if there will be another gold confiscation in the US, but the possibility is there, and the same legislation that allowed government to take our gold is still law today. And gold has been nationalized in other countries as well. It is far from impossible.
What can gold owners do to shield themselves from a gold confiscation? The most important thing is to keep your gold away from the people who could take it, and to diversify your gold portfolio so that you possess gold in a number of different forms, locations, and countries.
First off, it's critical to emphasize thatin 1933 most gold owners who secretly kept their gold at home or in another hidden place did not turn their gold in. The president did not send police officers to individuls' homes searching for hidden gold. They made possession illegal, and requested that people hand their gold over, however it was mostly based on the honor system, and it's estimated that 78% of privately held gold was not turned in.
So, right off the bat we can see that personal possession of gold provides you with much more security than keeping your gold at a bank. Financial institutions on the other hand, granted the authorities access to safe deposit boxesand that gold was seized unless you could prove it was exempt from confiscation (we'll discuss what was exempt in a later section of the article). If your gold had been placed in an allocated storage facility with a US financial institution, you would have had your gold taken away.
In addition to hiding some gold where you live, some hardcore "gold bugs" also recommend that you have a bunch of one ounce gold coins with you all the time, in case the government does decide to raid homes. But I can't related to their high level of suspicion in the current atmosphere, and I won't take such a drastic step unless serious problems are taking place, such as war or hyperinflation.
The difficult thing about keeping your gold after an official seizure order is that it would be illegal to liquidate it, unless you gave it over to the government for dollars. I'm positive that there would be a black market for gold, and I'm also sure that some people would be trying to sneak their gold out of the USA, but I am of the opinion that the reason to have gold in your home is to offer you some quick liquidity in times of disaster. If you have a larger investment for the future, it makes more sense to own gold overseas that is geographically protected from confiscation.
One method to hold gold in other countries is to have a digital gold account. If you own digital gold in an account based in Switzerland or Dubai, for instance, if there's ever a confiscation in the US (or whatever country you live in), then your gold would be safe. As a rule, digital gold accounts give you the option to buy other currencies with your digital gold, therefore you would be able to change gold into another currency and then wire the money from your digital account to an account in your home country(or an account elsewhere). Maybe the government would make these overseas possessions illegal too, but there must be ways to keep your possessions discreet, and there will always be legal loopholes for those who bother to find them (which is usually only rich people with a lot to lose). In the 1930s, wealthy influential people still owned gold. They owned it overseas. In the age of the internet, even regular "little people" have access to different ways to legally hold assets overseasI would advise you to track down your own information to find out the exact legal situation for overseas digital gold accounts and if reporting of the income is legally required, and find out how well it can protect your wealth.
Digital gold is one great option for protecting your gold investment. To learn more methods that can protect you take a few minutes to read Gold Confiscation.
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