1933 gold turn-in

[MUDSLINGER]

A rainy day thoughts. so the govt. says folks it will be illegal to own gold so you must turn in all your gold coins to be melted down. so grandpa tells the mrs. we better take those twenty and ten dollar coins and turn em in. Like heck they did. My first thought would be go get the shovel. what do you all think? so I think there are some still hidden in containers around some of those early homesteads. chime in what would you have done?

 

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[boblemon]

I whole hardheartedly agree. When i was around 6 years old a friend of our was tilling a g arden behind a garage. They found 12 cans full of coins in a straight line. The house was built at the turn of the century but sat in the middle of a neighborhood. They never told us how much they found but they bought a new home 3 months later. I don't believe silver would purchase a new home but who knows.

 

[Argentium]

Yeah , You know there are some caches out there - most of them may be humble - One or two larger gold coins and a few smaller
ones as well . Many a rural house in those days had root cellars where jars of "canned" fruits and vegetables were stored . I would
guess a number of caches are buried there to this day in tobacco tins or mason jars . The massive bank collapse just a few years
earlier (1929) - caused widespread skepticism on the part of many Americans about the govt. in general and the banks specifically.

 

[MUDSLINGER]

yeah I agree guys. so why aren't more stashes being found? we see the random dropped coins turning up; usually the smaller denominations but not the mason jars or the tobacco tins stuffed with those golden beauties. there are plenty of 1930ish properties still out there all across the country.

 

[CincinnatiKid]

Agreed.
City folks too created stashes. Metal detectors were unheard of at the time, so surely walls, floors, ceilings, etc., were all common hiding spots.
With the advent of metal detectors, I now would still hide within a home. Most dwellings these days have so much EMI they render detectors useless.
For example; a metal conduit box behind drywall is superb for hiding coins.
I still love the idea of finding pre 1933 loot.
If I ever do, I ain't tellin...
GL
Peace ✌

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Mudslinger:

Here's the thing. Gold coins were in circulation as everyday money. During the Great Depression $20 or $10 or even $5 was a lot of money. Many people probably only had a few gold piees - like now, when folks tuck away a $100 bill for a rainy day.

During those times many people didn't have a lot of cash and they needed what they had. While many of them probably wanted to save a yellow-back or a double-eagle, they also wanted to eat dinner.

Additionally, it was the law and people didn't want to get into trouble.

However, to support your theory, KvonM has a great story about a friend of his who asked another friend if he could store something in his garage for a little while. Turned out to be a pail of gold coins - when it was illegal to have them..

Yes, some people did bury their gold. And some of it is still there. Just like, in my opinion, there's a whole lot of buried drug money buried in plastic pipe.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[Argentium]

As to why we don't hear about a lot of these stashes being found - imagine yourself in the position of having just found a
cache of valuable Gold coins (probably some Silver too ) just how comfortable would you be in making that discovery public
knowledge ? (me neither ! ) The second reason that we don't hear about more of these being found is that there are
not very many of these being found - There is in my opinion a large gap between the number of these stashes that were
originally cached , and the number that have been - or will be found .

 

[Limitool]

Additionally, it was the law and people didn't want to get into trouble. Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

If someone had a bunch of gold coins or even one and the Govt. said there illegal.... why would anyone turn them in? What trouble would they get into...? How in the hell would the Govt. let alone the neighbor know how much gold you or anyone had. I'm sure once the Govt' outlawed gold its value really went up and they could get even more for their buck(s). Kind of like gun.... outlaw them and watch their value soar.

 

[MUDSLINGER]

argentium when it comes to reporting a find like this as you said many just keep it to themselves. the occasional story does show up in newspaper accounts. handyman discovers gold while fixing a broken pipe at new owners property. it happens. so us detectorists are going to not say a word like Keppy practices. well if I find a couple of gold coins in a jar a better man than me would have to keep it quiet. yes limitool once the date passed to turn in your gold coins you would now have to figure out what to do with them. Bank would not be option out of fear.

 

[Chizzy]

In 1933, it was tough times for many..........
I could see people doing a percentage "turn-in" and a percentage buried..........the percentages would depend on the need for cash to stay solvent............

 

[MUDSLINGER]

It sounds like no one has a problem showing silver caches but gold; and fear begins to show up. I just think some of those turn of the century homes must be hiding some gold if they had any. and since it was such a desirable metal I would think some had some stashed away. Maybe the rain has driven me crazy today and I have gold fever.

 

[Limitool]

I will never reveal any big finds ever again. You will only see my "What is it" and the Smaller finds.

I totally agree.... it only does/would bring grief and more questions from people who have no business asking them. But it would be hard not to share pics/video and the story.

 

[Nitric]

Yes, I do believe money is still buried everywhere. I met my Great Grandfather who was born in 1904, and was fortunate enough to grow up around him. He claimed a lot of people buried their gold at that time. They also had mistrust in banks and farmers used "fence post" banks. Even though I agree with above about most people didn't have money, There were still a lot of people and families that did. There are stories occasionally that pop up... About someone finding a cache. I think most are kept quiet.

And over the years, a lot of people searched for them. We searched a farm that was rumored to have $30 thousand buried, When I went to get the permission the old woman(about 90) said, "so, your here to look for the money too." she laughed and said "well, go ahead, and good luck! Hope you find it, because he didn't leave any of us a dime!" ...So, who knows, it might be there or was dug up and used by it's owner years ago....Oh, we never found a thing! it was fun though...

These stories are in every town. About the old farmer that buried his money, because of his mistrust with banks. I do know of one that was true. Not even sure if the family found it all....People hid money for a lot of reasons, Prohibition, mistrust in banks, tax evasion, drugs, whatever reason.... So, yes, I do believe there is a lot of money in the ground.....





Oh...And limittool!! I'm not just following you around! I'm watching the active threads...

 

[Argentium]

Just like the Volstead Act (1919 - 1933) The so called Prohibition on Alcohol sales , The 1933 legislation outlawing the private holding
of gold coinage (numismatic rarity excepted ) caused Millions of Americans to be "scoff laws " Bad legislation will be and should be
scoffed at ! If you go back a mere 239 years to the signing of the Declaration of Independence , It is clear that the American
people have no taste for bad legislation -to which I say AMEN !

 

[Joe hunter]

I've dug a lot of not very good at all tones hoping but still no hordes of gold not that I'd tell ,but it is why we love this because you never no what's I the next hole .

 

[MUDSLINGER]

argentium: I was just reading that FDR gave the order on 4/05/1933 and americans had until may 1 to turn over their gold coins and bullion. And it was met with some resistance in spite of 10,000. fine or year in jail or both. So how much was turned in and how much was hidden? Of course the banks turned in the gold in their vaults but that seems a very short time to comply. There was then people with money even in the middle of the depression. So how many citizens turned it in and how many hid it is something to ponder.

 

[Limitool]

Like I said earlier... or what? And don't say $10,000 fine and a year in jail.... that's just stupid. The whole fine/jail idea was stupid. I'm sure there is a lot of gold coins in multiplies hidden in old homes and underground still. And I'd bet MANY hordes have been found and not reported. Why would anyone "report" them...? They the Govt. didn't have a clue where all the gold coins were then nor who had them any more than now. It was a totally hollow "threat" and nobody would believe it now or then.

And again... as I said earlier if our Govt. said all guns were now outlawed and "we" had to turn all firearms in....? It would NEVER happen.... again like the gold coins "they" don't know where 90% of the guns are. Hollow threat... or what?

 

[Argentium]

Obviously we can never know the numbers , but it had to have been considerable ! and you're right that is a ridiculously small
window for compliance - but with the Depression raging - FDR was obviously trying to get the masses of people to bail him
out of the crisis - giving their Gold for Paper notes - A lot of people literally and figuratively raised the middle finger on this
one !

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

Obviously we can never know the numbers , but it had to have been considerable ! and you're right that is a ridiculously small
window for compliance - but with the Depression raging - FDR was obviously trying to get the masses of people to bail him
out of the crisis - giving their Gold for Paper notes - A lot of people literally and figuratively raised the middle finger on this
one !

And the sad thing was,America looked at him as a hero ....by screwing over others

 

[Old Bookaroo]

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