Anonymous <nobody@remailer.privacy.at>
Just curious, but what was the rationale under which private posession of gold was made illegal in the US? It boggles the mind...
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However doing a straight devaluation was politically unacceptable at the time. Because the dollar was pegged to gold, devaluing the dollar meant in effect increasing the value of gold in terms of dollars. This would represent a tremendous windfall to holders of gold. And gold, by and large, is owned by the rich.
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By eliminating private gold ownership, Roosevelt was able to take a necessary step to invigorate the economy, devaluing the dollar, while reducing the risk of a civil war. The rich protested, of course, but in practice they went along with the measure as they were terrified of a workers' revolution.
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IIRC many of the wealthy were quick enough to ship huge amounts of gold to Europe. That is one reason I have heard given that the St Gauden's $20 gold pices of that era are possibly poor investments - there is a reservoir of them overseas. Mike
On Wednesday, July 3, 2002, at 08:50 AM, Michael Motyka wrote:
IIRC many of the wealthy were quick enough to ship huge amounts of gold to Europe. That is one reason I have heard given that the St Gauden's $20 gold pices of that era are possibly poor investments - there is a reservoir of them overseas.
But St. Gaudens coins were readily available during the time when gold ownership was banned. (Let me be overly careful: They were purchasable from coin stores and mail order places in the mid-1960s. I know because I used to see them listed at a price I clearly remember: $49.50.) I assume they did not just suddenly become available at the time I happened to be paying attention, and that they were purchasable in 1960, 1950, 1940, etc. The exemption for numismatic value, of course. Owning coins for collector, or numismatic, value, is of course a different kettle of fish than owning gold as bullion. --Tim May "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." --Robert A. Heinlein
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