[OT] why was private gold ownership made illegal in the US?

[Tim May]

On Wednesday, July 3, 2002, at 10:42  AM, Michael Motyka wrote:

> Tim May <tcmay at got.net> wrote :
>>
>> 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.
>>
> The opinion I am repeating ( not mine, but seems plausible ) is that the
> supply of numismatic quality St. Gauden's may be such that the current
> premiums are not justified.

A different issue. I have no idea if the current premiums are too low, 
too high, or about right. My point was to cite the ready availability of 
St. Gaudens (and also the less artistic Liberty) gold pieces in the 
1960s, and presumably earlier, as strong evidence that such coins did 
not have to be smuggled away to Europe or hidden. They were, all 
indications point out, exempted by the numismatic exemption.

>
>> Owning coins for collector, or numismatic, value, is of course a
>> different kettle of fish than owning gold as bullion.
>>
> The premium over the bullion value is a very large component of the
> price.

Yeah, so? That's precisely why owning such coins is a numismatic issue.
>

> I've tried to learn a bit about coin collecting but I find myself
> hesitant to plunge right into it. It's just like any other "investment",
> subject to bubbles, busts and shady operators. I don't know enough to
> feel comfortable with it.

Sounds like you shouldn't do it, then. Which would be wise on your part, 
in my opinion.

--Tim May
--
Timothy C. May         tcmay at got.net        Corralitos, California
Political: Co-founder Cypherpunks/crypto anarchy/Cyphernomicon
Technical: physics/soft errors/Smalltalk/Squeak/ML/agents/games/Go
Personal: b.1951/UCSB/Intel '74-'86/retired/investor/motorcycles/guns
Recent interests: category theory, toposes, algebraic topology