Gold confiscation

As the fiat dollar sinks, these concerns are likely to escalate. This article discusses the likelihood and practical difficulties behind such a move.

The importance of property rights

An important error has crept in about President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 6102, signed by FDR on 5 April 1933. It did not order confiscation as many goldbugs say. It forbade ownership of gold coin, bullion, and gold certificates worth in excess of $100, with exemptions for specific uses and collections. It required all persons to deliver excess quantities by 1 May, 1933 to the Fed in exchange for $20.67 to the ounce. That it was not confiscation but enforced encashment is a vital distinction, because property rights were not technically violated. What was lost was the right to future ownership of gold.