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April 5

Executive Order 6102 Signed Instructing Citizens To Deliver Their Gold to Government (1933)


On April 5, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102 in the midst of the Great Depression. An executive order is an order issued by the President as the head of the executive branch of the government. Executive orders are usually issued to help officers and agencies of the executive branch manage the operations within the federal government. This was the case with Executive Order 6102, which was intended to aid in the financial crisis by "forbidding the Hoarding of Gold Coin, Gold Bullion, and Gold Certificates" (Executive Order 6102).

Signed by President Roosevelt on April 5, 1933, Executive Order 6102 required all U.S. citizens to deliver almost all gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates to the Federal Reserve by May 1, 1933. In exchange, the citizens would receive $20.67 per ounce. The Order permitted individuals to keep a maximum of only $100 in gold coins. Violations of the order were punishable by fines up to $10,000 or up to ten years in prison, or both. However, the Order exempted those who used gold in their profession, such as jewelers and artists.

President Roosevelt passed Executive Order 6102 in an attempt to provide relief to the banking industry, as well as to outlaw the hoarding of gold. Only months after its passage, the Order was deemed invalid under the Emergency Banking Act, because it did not hold the signature of the Secretary of Treasury. The government was given 20 days to rectify the situation, and another Order with the same terms was immediately issued under the Secretary of Treasury.

Executive Order 6102 was replaced less than one year later by the passage of the Gold Reserve Act in January of 1934.