IDL TIFF file

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the very minimum, Federal Reserve Notes to the tune of
20,000 metric tons of gold were ‘circulating naked’ in 1933.”

 

 

FDR’s 1933 Gold Confiscation was a Bailout of the Federal Reserve Bank

by Daniel Carr, owner/operator of Moonlight Mint and www.DC-Coin.com

 

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1933 executive order outlawing the private ownership of gold in the United States was arguably unconstitutional. But why did he do it ?  Many historians and economists point to efforts to get the economy moving again as the reason, the theory being that people were hoarding gold and the velocity of money in circulation needed to be sped up.

 

But the real reason for the gold confiscation was a bailout of the privately-controlled Federal Reserve Bank. And the evidence has been printed right in front of our faces.

 

 

PAPER REPLACES SPECIE

 

During the 1800s, paper money was suspect in the eyes of many. Nobody would ever choose a government-issue $20 note over a $20 gold coin. Gradually during the late 1800s and early 1900s, confidence in government paper money increased to the point where it was widely accepted. People accepted the money because they felt confident they could exchange it at the US Treasury or any Federal Reserve Bank for gold at any time – it even said so on the notes. Without the gold exchange clauses printed directly on the notes, the public would have been much less likely to accept them. Silver Certificates and United States Notes circulated alongside Gold Certificates, which were legally interchangeable dollar-for-dollar.

 

 

THE “FED” AND EASY MONEY

 

In 1913 the Federal Reserve Bank was established and it began issuing Federal Reserve Notes the following year.

Once free of the restrictions imposed by the limitations of available physical gold for coinage, the quantity of Dollars in circulation increased dramatically. The increase was mostly in the form of paper money, not specie.

 

The result was an economic “boom”, also known as “The Roaring Twenties” (1923-1929). But like all artificially-induced stimulus, it came to a crash in the fall of 1929. The burden of over-extended credit was the culprit. Prior to the formation of the Federal Reserve, money in circulation consisted of copper, silver, and gold coins, United States Notes, Silver Certificates, and Gold Certificates. All of these were non-interest-bearing, were issued directly by the US Treasury, and did not have any debt associated with their issuance.

 

Notes issued by the Federal Reserve, however, were generally lent out, with interest due. So for every Federal Reserve dollar in circulation, somebody needed that dollar to pay off a debt. During the Roaring Twenties, a lot of people took on debt, resulting in a great credit expansion. When only physical gold and silver was used as money, institutions were very cautious about lending it out because if the debtor defaulted, the creditor would be out some serious (sound) money.

 

But with the advent of Federal Reserve Notes, the bank was more willing to lend. And with easier qualification terms, people stepped up to the window. The increased willingness to lend was due to the fact that the item being lent out was just a piece of replaceable paper, not a hard-to-get piece of gold. Sure, the notes said “redeemable in gold” (otherwise they might have been refused in commerce). But few members of the public actually exchanged such notes for actual gold. And thus, the Federal Reserve was free to lend almost at will, with little regard for loan losses. When the interest burden of all that new credit began to weigh more-heavily on the general economy, the inevitable credit contraction led to the Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression. Everyone was suddenly reluctant to borrow, banks were reluctant to lend, and the velocity of money in circulation slowed to a crawl.

 

 

A GOLD RUN ?

 

The financial footing of the United States became shaky. European countries which were holding substantial quantities of US gold-clause notes began presenting them to exchange for physical gold. The US Government’s fixed price of gold at $20.67 per troy ounce had been in effect for some time. But as the Great Depression deepened, the free-market price of gold started creeping up above that. This was an indication that confidence in gold-clause notes was starting to wane. A gold run on the Federal Reserve bank was imminent. And that was something that couldn’t be tolerated.

 

And the reason that a gold run couldn’t be tolerated, is that neither the Federal Reserve nor the US Treasury held anywhere near enough gold to back all the Gold Certificates and Federal Reserve Notes that were in circulation. And printing more of these notes would only erode confidence in them even further. The gold fractional-reserve system was at the end of the road.

 

 

GOLD-CLAUSE NOTES

 

This is a typical gold-exchange clause found on Gold Certificates issued by the US Treasury from about 1905 to 1922.

 

And the clause on series 1928 US Treasury Gold Certificates looked like this:

 

Series 1914 Federal Reserve Notes carried this gold-clause:

 

1928 series Federal Reserve Notes were printed with this:

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HOW MANY IN CIRCULATION ?

 

Proof that the Federal Reserve Bank and the US Treasury were in serious trouble, that they didn’t have nearly enough gold to back the notes issued, can be found in the tables in the appendix to this article.

 

The total numbers of various notes issued are available from a number of sources. The appendix shows data reported in two books: “The Standard Handbook of United States Paper Money”, 6th edition (1977), by Chuck O’Donnell; and “The Comprehensive Catalog of U.S. Paper Money”, 1981 edition, by Gene Hessler.

 

To calculate the total face value of all gold-clause notes in circulation, it is necessary to know how many were issued, and how many may have still been around in 1933. The appendix tables do not include US Treasury Gold Certificates issued prior to 1905. Quantities of pre-1905 Gold Certificates were relatively small, and most would have been redeemed (and replaced with new notes) before 1933. The number of notes issued is known. The number surviving in 1933 can only be estimated.

 

According to the US Treasury, the average life span of a current $100 bill in circulation is about 7.5 years. Adjusted for inflation, one-hundred 2011 Dollars is equal to roughly five 1933 Dollars. Five Dollars in 1933 was a fair amount of money. The velocity of money in circulation was much lower then as well, especially during the Great Depression. A person receiving a $5 bill in change in 1933 would be unlikely to wad it up and casually stuff it in their pocket. They would more likely carefully squirrel it away for some other “rainy day”. So in 1933, a typical $5 bill would not get worn out as fast as a 2011 $100 bill. And larger-denomination notes would circulate even less often. Gold-clause notes would likely be the most tightly-held (and least circulated) of all types of notes, followed by Silver Certificates and US Notes (in that order). So it is probably a fair assumption that, on average, the “half-life” of gold-clause notes in circulation would be at least 20 years – meaning that after every 20 years or so, half the notes remaining in circulation would have to be replaced due to being worn out. The majority of gold-clause notes were issued shortly before 1933 during the 1928-1933 period, so they would still be in relatively new condition in 1933.

 

All this doesn’t account for gold-clause notes that were turned in for physical gold, even though they may have still been in good condition. But if Federal Reserve Notes were turned in while still in good condition, the notes would have simply been placed back into circulation by the Federal Reserve Bank or US Treasury. Many US Treasury Gold Certificates turned in for redemption may have actually been cancelled and not re-released into circulation.

 

 

GOLD SHORTFALL

 

Records indicate that the total gold reserves of the country in 1933 were 4 Billion dollars worth. And at $20.67 per troy ounce, that equates to about 6,000 metric tons of gold.

 

The total face value of US Treasury Gold Certificates issued from 1905 to 1928 equates to more than 16,000 metric tons of gold. Taking the generous assumption that the US Treasury did not issue more Gold Certificates than they had gold to back them, would mean that only 37.5% of all 1905-1928 Gold Certificates were still outstanding in 1933. In other words, if 37.5% of all Gold Certificates were still outstanding in 1933, the US Treasury would have just enough gold to back them.

 

Now the real problem is the gold-clause Federal Reserve Notes. Since these were generally re-released upon redemption (if in good condition), the only attrition in the quantity of notes outstanding would be due to replacement of worn-out notes. A conservative estimate of the total number of Federal Reserve Notes still in circulation in 1933 would be at least 75%.

 

The total face value of gold-clause Federal Reserve Notes issued prior to 1933 was equivalent to nearly 54,000 metric tons of gold. If 75% of them were outstanding in 1933, that would still be 40,500 metric tons of gold that the Federal Reserve Bank (and the US Treasury) didn’t have. Even taking the extremely low estimate of only 37.5% of the Federal Reserve Notes remaining, that would still be over 20,000 metric tons of gold. With US gold reserves at 6,000 tons, this would be a shortfall of 14,000 tons. But those 6,000 tons were needed to cover the US Treasury Gold Certificates. So at the very minimum, Federal Reserve Notes to the tune of 20,000 metric tons of gold were “circulating naked” in 1933.

 

And all of this doesn’t even include any of the bonds issued by the US Government which were typically denominated in gold as well.

 

Fourth Liberty Loan bond with gold clause: “… payable in United States gold coin of the present standard of value.”:

 

Approximately 7 billion dollars of these gold bonds were outstanding in 1933. But the total face value of every gold coin ever minted by the US Government totaled only about 2.3 billion dollars. This means that even if the US Government still had every single gold coin it had ever minted, that amount would still only be able to cover about one third of the Fourth Liberty Loan gold bonds that were outstanding in 1933. And, of course, the vast majority of those gold coins were held outside the US Government.

 

 

THE BAILOUT

 

So along comes FDR. One of the very first things he did was issue executive order 6102 which basically outlawed the private ownership of gold bullion. US Treasury Gold Certificates were no longer legal tender when held by the general public, unless exchanged at the US Treasury or Federal Reserve Bank for other non-gold paper. The US Treasury could then transfer 6,000 metric tons of gold to the Federal Reserve as a token backing for the “full faith and credit of the United States”. Reportedly, the US Treasury sent gold certificates to the Federal Reserve in exchange for Federal Reserve Notes. So the net result of this exchange was that the privately-controlled Federal Reserve Bank held US Treasury Gold Certificates backed by US Treasury gold, while the US Treasury held Federal Reserve Notes backed by “credit”. These actions bailed out the privately-controlled Federal Reserve bank, which as of 1933 would no longer be in danger of collapsing due to a short-fall of 20,000 or more metric tons of gold.

During a “Fireside Chat” on 07 May 1933, Roosevelt basically admitted that gold-clause obligations far exceeded the amount of gold held by the US Treasury and Federal Reserve.   In fact, the total gold obligations far exceeded the amount of gold in the entire world, not even counting corporate gold obligations.

 

Behind government currency we have, in addition to the promise to pay, a reserve of gold and a small reserve of silver, neither of them anything like the total amount of the currency.” – FDR, 07 May 1933.

 

In the same speech, Roosevelt outlined that the total US gold reserves amounted to between 3 and 4 billion dollars worth (4,500-6,000 metric tons), and that all the gold in all the world was valued at 11 billion dollars (16,500 metric tons).   At the same time, Roosevelt admits that US Government (and Federal Reserve) gold obligations were at least 30 billion dollars worth (45,000 metric tons), and that private US corporations had promised another 60 billion dollars worth (90,000 metric tons).

 

Roosevelt’s 07 May 1933 Fireside Chat (the important part of the audio starts at 15:30). NOTE: I have searched the internet and all posted transcripts of the speech are missing the key phrase “neither of them anything like the total amount of the currency”.   But that statement is clearly heard in the audio.

 

As citizens complied with the new ”law” by turning in gold, the gold reserves of the US Treasury and Federal Reserve increased. After most of the public’s gold was turned in, FDR raised the official price from $20.67 to $35.00 per troy ounce. How “convenient”. Gold-clause Federal Reserve notes were not recalled and remained in circulation. But they could no longer be exchanged for gold, except by certain foreign central banks. Those with connections were able to buy valuable assets with mere paper. Wealth was concentrated in fewer hands.

 

The new series of 1934 Federal Reserve notes no longer had any gold clause.
They were only redeemable for “lawful money”, whatever that was:

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The US Government also essentially defaulted on the Fourth Liberty Loan gold bonds. The bond holders had loaned money to the US Government on the basis of being paid back in gold at the rate of $20.67 per troy ounce. But when FDR revalued gold to $35 per troy ounce, the 7 billion dollars in outstanding Liberty Loan gold bonds were instantly diluted by 41%. This was equivalent to an aggregate loss of 139 million troy ounces of gold (4,325 metric tons), from the point of view of the bond holders.

 

But negating gold obligations and confiscating gold wasn’t enough. The people and entities responsible for this fiasco were concerned that the public would reject the new un-backed paper money and continue the bank runs by switching to silver bullion. A recall of currently-circulating silver coins was unworkable since it would be disastrous for commerce. The solution was two-fold: confiscate silver bullion; and impose a “Silver Tax”. FDR’s Executive Order 6814 required all holders of silver bullion to deliver it to the United States Treasury for coining. This order was in effect from 1934 to 1938. Any entity that made a profit on the transfer of silver bullion, had to pay a full 50% of that profit as tax. The Silver Tax Act was imposed in 1934, and lasted until 1963. During the time that silver bullion was under a confiscation order (1934-1938) the Silver Tax would still apply to any profit from a silver bullion transaction. Such transactions during that time typically involved one party that was outside the United States (usually Canada).

 

1935 silver tax return related to a silver bullion transaction:

 

 

 

THE FALLOUT

 

The Federal Reserve Bank’s actions, and FDR’s resulting bailout, set in motion the ultimate debt-enslavement of the US Government and its citizens.

 

 

ANOTHER GOLD CONFISCATION ?

 

The credit contraction which started in 2008 has many similarities to 1929. But this time, there is no gold limitation constraining the printing presses. Some people believe that another gold confiscation is a very real possibility. But the major difference between now and 1933 is that in 1933 the Federal Reserve owed a lot of gold that it didn’t have. Today the only backing for the US Dollar is the “full faith and credit” of the United States. Government debts, domestic and international, can now be paid with nothing more than newly-printed paper. The liabilities of the Federal Reserve Bank are no longer denominated in gold, and they haven’t been since Richard Nixon closed the international dollar-gold exchange window in 1971.

 

 

APPENDIX

 

United States Gold Obligation

Gold Certificates and Federal Reserve Notes

Total Face Value of Notes Issued, 1907-1933

 

Table Columns:

 

Series:         Year of enactment (issue).

District:       Federal Reserve Bank District.

$FV:            Face Value of note in Dollars.

Notes Issued:   Total number of notes printed and issued.

 

The Total Face Value is the sum of the

face values times the numbers of notes.

 

 

US TREASURY GOLD CERTIFICATES

 

 Series            $FV  Notes Issued    Total Face Value

 

   1907             10   105,094,800

   1922             10   160,604,000

 

   1905             20     4,676,000

   1906             20    55,954,587

   1922             20    87,120,000

 

   1913             50     1,624,000

   1922             50     5,984,000

 

   1922            100     2,444,000

 

   1907          1,000       228,000

   1922          1,000        80,000

 

   1928             10   130,812,000

                    20    66,204,000

                    50     5,520,000

                   100     3,240,000

                   500       420,000

                 1,000       288,000

                 5,000        24,000

                10,000        36,000

 

                                     $ 10,754,999,740.00

 

Official US price 1933: $20.67 (per troy oz)

Total gold obligation: 0.52 Billion troy oz.

Total gold obligation: 16,183 Metric Tons

 

 

FEDERAL RESERVE NOTES

 

 Series/District   $FV  Notes Issued    Total Face Value

 

   1914     A        5    90,400,000

            B        5   297,852,000

            C        5   103,824,000

            D        5    73,216,000

            E        5    45,932,000

            F        5    54,476,000

            G        5   164,876,000

            H        5    41,704,000

            I        5    29,280,000

            J        5    43,928,000

            K        5    28,536,000

            L        5    91,848,000

 

   1914     A       10    69,756,000

            B       10   176,728,000

            C       10    56,616,000

            D       10    43,856,000

            E       10    27,528,000

            F       10    31,400,000

            G       10    84,804,000

            H       10    21,508,000

            I       10    14,376,000

            J       10    16,448,000

            K       10    12,988,000

            L       10    41,432,000

 

   1914     A       20    25,760,000

            B       20    58,704,000

            C       20    30,088,000

            D       20    38,544,000

            E       20    16,944,000

            F       20    15,956,000

            G       20    46,776,000

            H       20    10,748,000

            I       20     6,600,000

            J       20     9,172,000

            K       20     6,872,000

            L       20    35,756,000

 

   1914     A       50     1,052,000

            B       50     5,264,000

            C       50     3,720,000

            D       50     6,012,000

            E       50     1,664,000

            F       50       868,000

            G       50     3,988,000

            H       50       572,000

            I       50       160,000

            J       50       372,000

            K       50       216,000

            L       50     1,365,000

 

   1914     A      100       728,000

            B      100     3,084,000

            C      100       636,000

            D      100       668,000

            E      100       416,000

            F      100       476,000

            G      100       888,000

            H      100       188,000

            I      100       120,000

            J      100       256,000

            K      100       124,000

            L      100     1,064,000

 

   1918     A      500        17,600

            B      500       125,600

            C      500        24,000

            D      500        15,600

            E      500        23,200

            F      500        34,400

            G      500        38,000

            H      500        14,400

            I      500         7,200

            J      500        16,000

            K      500         6,000

            L      500        24,000

 

   1918     A    1,000        39,600

            B    1,000       124,800

            C    1,000        16,400

            D    1,000         8,800

            E    1,000        17,600

            F    1,000        43,200

            G    1,000        23,600

            H    1,000         8,400

            I    1,000         7,600

            J    1,000        15,200

            K    1,000         6,000

            L    1,000        22,400

 

   1918     A    5,000           800

            B    5,000         1,600

            C    5,000             0

            D    5,000           400

            E    5,000           400

            F    5,000             8

            G    5,000           800

            H    5,000           400

            I    5,000             0

            J    5,000             0

            K    5,000             0

            L    5,000         2,800

 

   1918     A   10,000           800

            B   10,000         1,600

            C   10,000             0

            D   10,000           400

            E   10,000           400

            F   10,000             0

            G   10,000             0

            H   10,000           400

            I   10,000             0

            J   10,000             0

            K   10,000             0

            L   10,000         2,000

 

   1928     A        5     8,025,300

            B        5    14,701,884

            C        5    11,819,712

            D        5     9,049,500

            E        5     6,027,600

            F        5    10,964,400

            G        5    12,326,052

            H        5     4,675,200

            I        5     4,284,300

            J        5     4,480,800

            K        5     8,137,824

            L        5     9,792,000

 

   1928-A   A        5     9,404,252

            B        5    42,878,196

            C        5    10,806,012

            D        5     6,822,000

            E        5     2,409,900

            F        5     3,537,600

            G        5    37,882,176

            H        5     2,731,824

            I        5       652,800

            J        5     3,572,400

            K        5     2,564,400

            L        5     6,565,500

 

   1928-B   A        5    28,430,724

            B        5    51,157,536

            C        5    25,698,396

            D        5    24,874,272

            E        5    15,151,932

            F        5    13,386,420

            G        5    17,157,036

            H        5    20,251,716

            I        5     6,954,060

            J        5    10,677,636

            K        5     4,334,400

            L        5    28,840,080

 

   1928-C   D        5     3,293,640

            F        5     2,056,200

            L        5       266,304

 

   1928-D   F        5     1,281,600

 

   1928     A       10     9,804,552

            B       10    11,295,796

            C       10     8,114,412

            D       10     7,570,680

            E       10     4,534,800

            F       10     6,807,720

            G       10     8,130,000

            H       10     4,124,100

            I       10     3,874,440

            J       10     3,620,400

            K       10     4,855,500

            L       10     7,086,900

 

   1928-A   A       10     2,893,440

            B       10    16,631,056

            C       10     2,710,680

            D       10     5,610,000

            E       10       552,300

            F       10     3,033,480

            G       10     8,715,000

            H       10       531,600

            I       10       102,600

            J       10       410,400

            K       10       961,800

            L       10     2,547,900

 

   1928-B   A       10    33,218,088

            B       10    44,458,308

            C       10    22,689,216

            D       10    17,418,024

            E       10    12,714,504

            F       10     5,246,700

            G       10    38,035,000

            H       10    10,814,664

            I       10     5,294,460

            J       10     7,748,040

            K       10     3,396,096

            L       10    22,695,300

 

   1928-C   B       10     2,902,678

            D       10     4,230,428

            E       10       304,800

            F       10       688,380

            G       10     2,423,400

 

   1928     A       20     3,790,880

            B       20    12,797,200

            C       20     3,787,200

            D       20    10,626,900

            E       20     4,119,600

            F       20     3,842,388

            G       20    10,891,740

            H       20     2,523,300

            I       20     2,633,100

            J       20     2,584,500

            K       20     1,568,500

            L       20     8,404,800

 

   1928-A   A       20     1,293,900

            B       20     1,055,800

            C       20     1,717,200

            D       20       625,200

            E       20     1,534,500

            F       20     1,442,400

            G       20       822,000

            H       20       573,300

            I       20             0

            J       20       113,900

            K       20     1,032,000

            L       20             0

 

   1928-B   A       20     7,749,636

            B       20    19,448,436

            C       20     8,095,548

            D       20    11,684,196

            E       20     4,413,900

            F       20     2,390,240

            G       20    17,220,276

            H       20     3,834,600

            I       20     3,298,920

            J       20     4,941,252

            K       20     2,406,060

            L       20     9,689,124

 

   1928-C   G       20     3,363,300

            L       20     1,420,200

 

   1928     A       50       265,200

            B       50     1,351,800

            C       50       997,056

            D       50     1,161,900

            E       50       539,400

            F       50       538,800

            G       50     1,348,620

            H       50       627,300

            I       50       106,200

            J       50       252,600

            K       50       109,920

            L       50       447,600

 

   1928-A   A       50     1,834,989

            B       50     3,392,328

            C       50     3,078,944

            D       50     2,453,364

            E       50     1,516,500

            F       50       338,400

            G       50     5,263,956

            H       50       880,500

            I       50       780,240

            J       50       791,604

            K       50       701,496

            L       50     1,522,620

 

   1928     A      100       376,000

            B      100       755,400

            C      100       389,100

            D      100       542,400

            E      100       364,416

            F      100       357,000

            G      100       783,300

            H      100       187,200

            I      100       102,000

            J      100       234,612

            K      100        80,140

            L      100       486,000

 

   1928-A   A      100       980,400

            B      100     2,938,176

            C      100     1,496,844

            D      100       992,436

            E      100       621,364

            F      100       371,400

            G      100     4,010,424

            H      100       749,544

            I      100       503,040

            J      100       681,804

            K      100       594,456

            L      100     1,228,032

 

   1928     A      500        69,120

            B      500       299,400

            C      500       135,120

            D      500       166,440

            E      500        84,720

            F      500        69,360

            G      500       573,600

            H      500        66,180

            I      500        34,680

            J      500       510,720

            K      500        70,560

            L      500        64,080

 

   1928     A    1,000        58,320

            B    1,000       139,200

            C    1,000        96,708

            D    1,000        79,680

            E    1,000        66,840

            F    1,000        47,400

            G    1,000       355,800

            H    1,000        60,000

            I    1,000        26,640

            J    1,000        62,172

            K    1,000        42,960

            L    1,000        67,920

 

   1928     A    5,000         1,320

            B    5,000         2,640

            C    5,000             0

            D    5,000         3,000

            E    5,000         3,984

            F    5,000         1,440

            G    5,000         3,480

            H    5,000             0

            I    5,000             0

            J    5,000           720

            K    5,000           360

            L    5,000        51,300

 

   1928     A   10,000         1,320

            B   10,000         4,680

            C   10,000             0

            D   10,000           960

            E   10,000         3,024

            F   10,000         1,440

            G   10,000         1,800

            H   10,000           480

            I   10,000           480

            J   10,000           480

            K   10,000           360

            L   10,000         1,824

 

                                      $ 35,833,509,910.00

 

Official US price 1933: $20.67 (per troy oz)

Total gold obligation: 1.7336 Billion troy oz.

Total gold obligation: 53,919 Metric Tons