Can u.s. citizens own gold?

A year earlier, in 1933, Executive Order 6102 had made it a criminal offence for U.S. citizens to own or trade gold anywhere in the world, with exceptions for some collectible jewelry and coins. No, there are no restrictions on private ownership of gold in the United States. You're only limited by your budget and common sense.

Gold can now be owned as a non-monetary commodity. However, any efforts by private citizens to reintroduce gold money as a medium of exchange will quickly be challenged by the government as illegal competition against its monopoly on paper money. Ownership of gold was not legalized to restore solid money, but because the government no longer considers gold to be important. It appears that JavaScript is disabled in your browser.

For the best experience on our site, be sure to enable Javascript in your browser. Many investors have heard that the US government confiscated gold from the public years ago. Is it true? Is that a rumor? Could it happen again? This is a topic that comes up again and again among gold investors. Rather than speculate, we think it's better to consider the facts.

Below is a timeline that explains exactly what happened and, more importantly, how today's investors should react and what they can do to make sure they are prepared, should it happen again. The American golden eagles became one of the best-known gold coins. It is true that numismatic collector coins were excluded in the confiscation of 1933.Whether or not they will be excluded again in any future confiscation is completely unknown. There is a logical thought process to exclude collector coins, in the sense that the government was trying to gain monetary control of gold bars.

The government had no interest in rare and unusual coins of special value to collectors. However, what the government has done in the past is not necessarily indicative of what it will do in the future. In a nutshell: the confiscation happened. It was repealed, but it could happen again in the future.

Gold Bureau Metals Advisor, call (800) 775-3504.