The Gold Confiscation Of April 5, 1933
From: President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt
To: The United States Congress
Dated: 5 April, 1933
Presidential Executive Order 6102
Forbidding the Hoarding of Gold Coin, Gold Bullion and Gold Certificates By
virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 5(b) of the Act of October
6, 1917, as amended by Section 2 of the Act of March 9, 1933, entitled
An Act to provide relief in the existing national emergency in banking, and
for other purposes~',
in which amendatory Act Congress declared that a serious emergency exists,
I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do
declare that said national emergency still continues to exist and pursuant
to said section to do hereby prohibit the hoarding gold coin, gold bullion,
and gold certificates within the continental United States by individuals,
partnerships, associations and corporations and hereby prescribe the
following regulations for carrying out the purposes of the order:
Section 1. For the purpose of this
regulation, the term 'hoarding" means the withdrawal and withholding of gold
coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates from the recognized and customary
channels of trade. The term "person" means any individual, partnership,
association or corporation.
Section 2. All persons are hereby required
to deliver on or before May 1, 1933, to a Federal Reserve bank or a branch
or agency thereof or to any member bank of the Federal Reserve System all
gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates now owned by them or coming
into their ownership on or before April 28, 1933, except the following:
(a) Such amount of gold as may be required for legitimate and customary use
in industry, profession or art within a reasonable time, including gold
prior to refining and stocks of gold in reasonable amounts for the usual
trade requirements of owners mining and refining such gold.
(b) Gold coin and gold certificates in an amount not exceeding in the
aggregate $100.00 belonging to any one person; and gold coins having
recognized special value to collectors of rare and unusual coins.
(c) Gold coin and bullion earmarked or held in trust for a recognized
foreign government or foreign central bank or the Bank for International
Settlements.
(d) Gold coin and bullion licensed for the other proper transactions (not
involving hoarding) including gold coin and gold bullion imported for the
re-export or held pending action on applications for export license.
Section 3. Until otherwise ordered any
person becoming the owner of any gold coin, gold bullion, and gold
certificates after April 28, 1933, shall within three days after receipt
thereof, deliver the same in the manner prescribed in Section 2; unless such
gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates are held for any of the
purposes specified in paragraphs (a),(b) or (c) of Section 2; or unless such
gold coin, gold bullion is held for purposes specified in paragraph (d) of
Section 2 and the person holding it is, with respect to such gold coin or
bullion, a licensee or applicant for license pending action thereon.
Section 4. Upon receipt of gold coin, gold
bullion, or gold certificates delivered to it in accordance with Section 2
or 3, the Federal reserve bank or member bank will pay thereof an equivalent
amount of any other form of coin or currency coined or issued under the laws
of the Unites States.
Section 5. Member banks shall deliver alt gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates owned
or received by them (other than as exempted under the provisions of Section
2) to the Federal reserve banks of there respective districts and receive
credit or payment thereof.
Section 6. The Secretary of the Treasury, out of the sum made available to the President by
Section 501 of the Act of March 9, 1933, will in all proper cases pay the
reasonable costs of transportation of gold coin, gold bullion, and gold
certificates delivered to a member bank or Federal reserve bank in
accordance with Sections 2, 3, or 5 hereof, including the cost of insurance,
protection, and such other incidental costs as may be necessary, upon
production of satisfactory evidence of such costs. Voucher forms for this
purpose may be procured from Federal reserve banks.
Section 7. In cases where the delivery of
gold coin, gold bullion, or gold certificates by the owners thereof within
the time set forth above will involve extraordinary hardship or difficulty,
the Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, extend the time within
which such delivery must be made. Applications for such extensions must be
made in writing under oath; addressed to the Secretary of the Treasury and
filed with a Federal reserve bank. Each applications must state the date to
which the extension is desired, the amount and location of the gold coin,
gold bullion, and gold certificates in respect of which such application is
made and the facts showing extension to be necessary to avoid extraordinary
hardship or difficulty.
Section 8. The Secretary of the Treasury
is hereby authorized and empowered to issue such further regulations as he
may deem necessary to carry the purposes of this order and to issue licenses
there under, through such officers or agencies as he may designate,
including licenses permitting the Federal reserve banks and member banks of
the Federal Reserve System, in return for an equivalent amount of other
coin, currency or credit, to deliver, earmark or hold in trust gold coin or
bullion to or for persons showing the need for same for any of the purposes
specified in paragraphs (a), (c), and (d) of Section 2 of these regulations.
Section 9. Whoever willfully violates any
provision of this Executive Order or these regulation or of any rule,
regulation or license issued there under may be fined not more than $10,000,
or, if a natural person may be imprisoned for not more than ten years or
both; and any officer, director, or agent of any corporation who knowingly
participates in any such violation may be punished by a like fine,
imprisonment, or both.
This order and these regulations may be modified or revoked at any time.
/s/
Franklin D. Roosevelt
President of the United States of America
April 5, 1933