Executive Order 6102 - FDR confiscates gold in 1933

Here's a little history lesson for you: FDR confiscated gold in 1933, paying Americans $20.67 per ounce, and then set the price at $35 per ounce, thus devaluing the paper money. In high school, they taught us about the Robber Barons and greedy capitalists causing the Great Depression, but I don't remember anything about the U.S. government stealing gold from citizens.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102

> Executive Order 6102 required U.S. citizens to deliver on or before > May 1, 1933 all but a small amount gold coin, gold bullion, and gold > certificates owned by them to the Federal Reserve, in exchange for > $20.67 per troy ounce. Under the Trading With the Enemy Act of > October 6, 1917, as amended on March 9, 1933, violation of the order > was punishable by fine up to $10,000 ($166,640 if adjusted for > inflation as of 2008) or up to ten years in prison, or both.
>
> Order 6102 specifically exempted "customary use in industry, > profession or art"--a provision that covered artists, jewelers, > dentists, and sign makers among others. The order further permitted > any person to own up to $100 in gold coins ($1,664 if adjusted for > inflation as of 2008; a face value equivalent to five troy ounces of > Gold valued at $4800 as of 2009).
>
> The price of gold from the treasury for international transactions > was thereafter raised to $35 an ounce. The value of the dollar was > thenceforth determined by its value relative to other national > currencies.

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