1933 gold turn-in

[Nitric]

Limitool:

Actually, the opposite happened. The Federal government froze the price of gold at $35/oz. The market price didn't go up - it was set.

What would a person do with an illegal gold coin? It had no monetary value - gold was demonetized. If the government learned you had it, it would be confiscated and the person who formerly had $10 had $0.

There's no point in trying to argue what people would or wouldn't do. Just look at what they did do.

As for your gun analogy, I'm sure some people out there have illegal machine guns. What are they going to do with them?

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

Not completely true, The key word was hoarding. If not, silver coinage wouldn't have been used up until 1964. And if no one hung on to their gold? Why so many gold and silver coins from that era today? It did have monetary value! You just weren't supposed to hoard it. So if you had a hoard, you might bury to stay out of trouble.

 

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[Argentium]

Old Bookaroo - You make some interesting points , but when the Federal government becomes intrusive into the lives of citizens
to the extent that personal possessions are confiscated , an extremely dangerous precedent is set in the relationship between the
government and the governed - We have seen far too many examples of this within the same time frame that FDR enacted this
abusive legislation , Hitler had assumed the position of Reich Chancellor , Stalin had been in power in the Soviet Union for at least
eight years .

 

[d2]

There is some buried out there, I promise...d2

 

[Limitool]

Limitool:

Actually, the opposite happened. The Federal government froze the price of gold at $35/oz. The market price didn't go up - it was set.

What would a person do with an illegal gold coin? It had no monetary value - gold was demonetized. If the government learned you had it, it would be confiscated and the person who formerly had $10 had $0.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

Just because the Fed's "said" gold was illegal and had no monetary value didn't make it so. Kind of like liquor.... The Feds are great at creating black markets. So what would a person do with an illegal coin? Spend it on some bottles of liquor I guess. But seriously... just because the Govt. says something doesn't make it so. The Govt. doesn't set market prices either.... it doesn't have the leverage to dictate. Not everybody was like a herd of sheep even then....

 

[FreeBirdTim]

The government bought the gold for $20.67 an ounce and then sold it for $35.00 an ounce. I wonder if they told the public they were going to do that before buying the gold? I doubt it. Talk about getting ripped off!

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Nitric: It would be silly to claim nobody held onto illegal gold coins. That's not what I wrote. Most people turned their gold in - that's a simple fact. After The Gold Act became law, gold coins had no monetary value. They were a liability - they couldn't be legally used to purchase anything.

Do you know what "Hammondizing" is?

There was no Silver Act. Silver coins (and silver certificates) don't have anything to do with gold coins.

The law initially defined "hoarding" as owning more than $100. Most people simply turned their coins, got paper or coin in return, and spent it. Just like many people sold their silver dollars when the Hunt Bros. tried to corner the market - although those individuals probably did a bit better in terms of market return.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Argentium: If you are attempting to compare the actions of an American President with those of Hitler or Stalin, I can only suggest your study of our history has produced very different results from my own. The American government passed a whiskey tax. The US Congress passed a law that private employers had to provide their employees with health insurance. Those were actions by our Founding Fathers and Framers.

Tommy guns were legal to own. Then they had to be registered and owners had to pay a hefty tax.

The US government made marijuana illegal. Times change - and laws change, as well. It was legal to own opium - often sold as laudanum. Then it was illegal. Absinthe was legal, then it was illegal, now it's legal again.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[Limitool]

Nitric: It would be silly to claim nobody held onto illegal gold coins. That's not what I wrote. Most people turned their gold in - that's a simple fact. After The Gold Act became law, gold coins had no monetary value. They were a liability - they couldn't be legally used to purchase anything.

Please explain why "gold coins had no monetary value" after the "Gold Act". And I don't mean like paying taxes, buying property from the bank or from the Govt. or paying debts to a bank which "exposes" your liability to someone. Are you saying that gold coins had no monetary value to anyone....? I would find it hard to believe those who had a lot of revenue in gold coins would EVER turn it into the Fed. Govt. There was no reason too.... They the Govt. bought low and sold higher later.

The Govt. then and now should not have any say about anything you own in gold be it... in your pocket, dresser or in your backyard. I bet many folks even then didn't fold into "losing" there gold coin values because the Govt. said it was illegal. I'd bet trading continued despite being "illegal" all over.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Limitool:

Gold coins were no longer legal tender. There was an excellent reason to turn gold coins into the Federal government. It was the law.

Did people break the law? Yep. They broke the law regarding alcohol, as well. People went to jail and prison over that, people died over it - many people paid no price at all.

When Wild Bill told the Texas cowpunchers they couldn't carry guns in Abilene, most of the waddies complied. Some didn't. Some went to jail, some were killed. Some weren't.

Understanding what happened in the past doesn't involve a personal point of view. Comprehension shouldn't be confused with agreement. Additionally, in looking at any historical event it is very important to see it in the eyes of the people who were there at the time and not attempt to impose today's mindset on the folks who lived back then.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[huntsman53]

I look at it this way, if the Government outlaws owing Gold Coins and they were able to demonetize them so folks could not use them as legal tender, Gold Coins can still make some really nice 14k Gold rings once you add some Copper to them when you melt them down, then just sell the Gold rings.


Frank

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Huntsman 53: Is that possible? Yes. Is that probable? Not for most people.

The average citizen wasn't (and still isn't) set up to melt gold, alloy it with copper, and make jewelry. And there are obvious risks associated with hiring someone to do it for you. Remember - Willie Sutton always worked alone.


Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[LI Tom]

Old Book is right,gold was no longer legal tender,but almost no one was ever prosecuted for owning it.The value of the the dollar was still linked to the value of gold ,at the same time the value of the dollar was devalued from ,I think $17 to $35 OZ,so the Federal Gov. could issue more dollars from its gold reserves and pay more of it's obligations.Today fiat currencies are all trying to devalue against each other for trade purposes.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

LI Tom: Thank you! If I may disagree with you a bit. People were certainly prosecuted for owning gold. I think it was like the IRS cracking down on people around April 15th each year. If the Federal government didn't make some public examples, they wouldn't have encouraged cooperation.

I certainly agree with you that the price of gold was raised to allow the government to get more money into the economy. To turn around a Depression requires more money in circulation and more circulation of the money (velocity).

As for "fiat currencies" we tried that in the early 19th Century with wildcat banks that could issue money. Cities could, as well. People actually accepted bills that looked good but weren't backed and refused to accept solid dollars that just didn't look very good.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[Kevin in IN]

I think people still find these caches more than what we hear. Look what happened to the people in California who found a cache of gold coins and made it public. The state jumped in to claim their share, nearly half the value. So if you wish to keep your find, you don't go public.

 

[Duckshot]

I think people still find these caches more than what we hear. Look what happened to the people in California who found a cache of gold coins and made it public. The state jumped in to claim their share, nearly half the value. So if you wish to keep your find, you don't go public.

And, if you are gonna bury a dragon's hoard, don't forget to include lots of pop can tops, nails, and broken glass in the cover soil.

 

[Nitric]

Nitric: It would be silly to claim nobody held onto illegal gold coins. That's not what I wrote. Most people turned their gold in - that's a simple fact. After The Gold Act became law, gold coins had no monetary value. They were a liability - they couldn't be legally used to purchase anything.

Do you know what "Hammondizing" is?

There was no Silver Act. Silver coins (and silver certificates) don't have anything to do with gold coins.

The law initially defined "hoarding" as owning more than $100. Most people simply turned their coins, got paper or coin in return, and spent it. Just like many people sold their silver dollars when the Hunt Bros. tried to corner the market - although those individuals probably did a bit better in terms of market return.

Oh I'm not arguing that people did in fact turn their gold in. What I was arguing....was that there were a lot of people that did not. Some understood what was going on.

I'm not good at writing...lol I know there wasn't a silver act. But our money was backed by silver and gold. So, that did not make gold worthless. Gold still had a value....

Either way, Whether it was illegal or not, people did hold onto it. It was not worthless.

If they said today to turn in all your (fill in the blank). of course you'll have lines of people doing it because that is what they are told to do, or are convinced it is what's best for them, or whatever reason..... There are going to be a lot of people that do not do it, for whatever reason. Maybe, they don't agree, maybe they see something coming, think they can get rich,etc......

You brought up the Hunt Brothers... I've talked to guys that sold half or all their silver at that time. There were other people buying, because they thought it was going to keep going. My grandfather sold half his silver and kept half in case it kept going up he said guys were going door to door buying any silver you had.. Well, he held too long and it dropped. What I'm getting at, no matter what happens or what the law is, there are a lot of people that try to think beyond or why is this happening, Why am I being told this. And They Should!!!!!!

You brought up that "Machine guns" are outlawed, And yes they are around. They are not worthless. If you have the money, you can find one. Why? Who knows, a lot of reasons. Not something most of us would be willing to risk everything on. But when the risk becomes so valuable, people forget consequences. Outlaw it? It becomes very valuable to someone. I'd take a bet that those are buried and found occasionally too. If I found one I'd just cover back over and move on. I wouldn't want the head ache

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Kevin in IN:

"Look what happened to the people in California who found a cache of gold coins and made it public. The state jumped in to claim their share, nearly half the value."

I missed that part. Beyond income tax, what did the state of California claim?

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Nitric: If I misread your post, my apologies!

Gold didn't lose its value. Gold coins lost their monetary value - they were no longer legal tender. Gold will have value just as long as someone else is willing to buy it.

But gold that isn't legal to own won't bring the open market price. Gold nuggets were in very high demand, commanding a significant premium because they were a legal way to own almost pure gold.

It's a very interesting question why gold trades above its cost of production plus some handling and storage costs. There's more than enough gold above ground today to satisfy all the industrial and jewelry demands - after all, we're excellent at recycling it.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[Nitric]

Nitric: If I misread your post, my apologies!

Gold didn't lose its value. Gold coins lost their monetary value - they were no longer legal tender. Gold will have value just as long as someone else is willing to buy it.

But gold that isn't legal to own won't bring the open market price. Gold nuggets were in very high demand, commanding a significant premium because they were a legal way to own almost pure gold.

It's a very interesting question why gold trades above its cost of production plus some handling and storage costs. There's more than enough gold above ground today to satisfy all the industrial and jewelry demands - after all, we're excellent at recycling it.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

Yes, I'm not good at trying to spit out what I mean. We are all looking at it from different directions. And arguing different paths. lol Makes it fun! Heck, I don't even know much about it. I just learned a lot from looking things up along the way through the thread! So, it's all in fun!

I think there is buried treasure dang it! I have to support that! If I look at it logically? I might ruin my buried treasure ideas!

I did read an interesting study or maybe watched video, can't remember.(don't know the link, I believe it was done at Berkeley?) About how the war on drugs actually caused a bigger problem. The people that normally wouldn't deal, were starting to deal, because the demand and price rose above the risk of getting into trouble. Among other problems in society from it. Now, whether I believe everything the study claims or not, it was interesting to think about.

Found one....Different but,some of the Same ideas could apply ? With the human nature part of it. Just kind of interesting and gives things to think about. Whether you agree with it or not. There is a longer video that goes more in depth, I'm too lazy to find it right now!
https://youtu.be/qRtadmTraVo

 

[lastleg]

After the Hunt spike silver settled in around $7 and stayed there a very long time. I sold my
silver at about the halfway path to $52 and now I'm glad I did.