Coinweek Article: Gold Coins Into Bullion Bars After 1933 0

[GoldFinger1969]

Nice article in CoinWeek by some guy named "Roger W. Burdette" (probably an alias  ) on the melting down of gold coins into 400 ounce bullion bars.  Other interesting gold facts about that time period, too.  He shows promise as an author, maybe if we can get him down here we can help the lad out.

https://coinweek.com/converting-gold-coins-into-bullion-bars-after-1933/

Seriously....excellent article Roger and congrats. 

 

Edited January 21 by GoldFinger1969

[RWB]

Yeah....well, that sounds like a nom de plume, or maybe a nom de nom.

(This was prepared by popular request. Took quite a while to find and correlate all the pieces, then craft a clear story line so it would be easy to read.)

[GoldFinger1969]

On 1/21/2024 at 1:21 PM, RWB said:

Yeah....well, that sounds like a nom de plume, or maybe a nom de nom.

(This was prepared by popular request. Took quite a while to find and correlate all the pieces, then craft a clear story line so it would be easy to read.)

I love "fill-in-the-blank" articles or books that go into more depth and detail on something we just have surface knowledge about (i.e, gold ownersip prohibited).  Hope you write more about these.  For me, stuff from the 1900's onward is more my interest but I get how some people like stuff about the 1700's and 1800's.

Just curious....any idea how long it took you to do the article, both on the research gathering/double-checking...and then the actual writing of the article ?  Myself, I find that about 10-20% of the time is spent on writing and re-writing and trimming, cutting, re-wording, etc....and the other 80-90% was the actual gathering of the facts, outline, footnotes, etc.

Your article was well-written.  An article can interest me...it can have interesting ideas....but if it is poorly-written or laid-out, it can defeat the whole purpose and make reading it a chore. 

Same thing with speakers, of whom I have booked many:  I've seen boring, confusing topics done top-notch and keep an audience on the edge of their seat....I've had great topics I thought would be of interest with simple easy-to-understand facts and slides...and people doze off because the presenter is a bad speaker, all over the place, and doesn't have a good layout of his or her material.

Edited January 21 by GoldFinger1969

[RWB]

It took a couple of months to locate the data in my database, and about 3 weeks (overlapping research) to write and edit. I guess locating data took maybe 3 hours; correlating about 20 hours; verifying another 2 hours; rechecking database another hour; writing and editing abut 10 hours. Obviously, this was done as time was available with thought and reconsideration in between. However, my database goes back 20+ years and is fully searchable. If it had to be done from scratch, the basics would have taken every day for many months --- and there'd be a lot of gaps.

[GoldFinger1969]

On 1/21/2024 at 5:13 PM, RWB said:

It took a couple of months to locate the data in my database, and about 3 weeks (overlapping research) to write and edit. I guess locating data took maybe 3 hours; correlating about 20 hours; verifying another 2 hours; rechecking database another hour; writing and editing abut 10 hours. Obviously, this was done as time was available with thought and reconsideration in between. However, my database goes back 20+ years and is fully searchable. If it had to be done from scratch, the basics would have taken every day for many months --- and there'd be a lot of gaps.

I have taken to saving interesting articles on coins in PDF format or cutting-and-pasting into Word and saving it that way.  

I've done that for Heritage Auction commentaries on Saints and other trophy coins....and internet articles/legal mumbo-jumbo on the 1933 Double Eagle. 

You're right about having to organize the stuff.  My 1933 Word piece containing all kinds of articles and relevant and not-so-relevant articles was over 320 pages at one point ...but cutting out dupes, eliminating excess spaces, etc....I've since cut it down to about 270.  

It might pay to save stuff you KNOW you will use in Word or PDF format -- as opposed to stuff you may just find interesting and/or fear it might depart the Internet or some database and not be retrievable again -- because then you can use the FIND feature to look it up. 

The workload for your Saints book must have been astronomical compared to 1 small 2-page article in CoinWeek. 

Those of you reading this, consider this for anything of interest TO YOU, too.  This site underwent a major renovation over a decade ago I believe -- some threads and posts may have been lost, or just more difficult to find.  You never know when a Thread or post will be locked or deleted, a website gets a DOS attack, the entire company folds up, etc.  If it's critical or unique information here or elsewhere, save it to YOUR PC !! 

Edited January 21 by GoldFinger1969

[RWB]

...and back up your PC drive.

Edited January 24 by RWB

[USAuPzlBxBob]

Roger, above the photo of Brigadier General Billy Mitchel, the exemption of numismatic gold is mentioned in your article.

It would be interesting to see this exemption in the executive order.

Can you display the executive order in this thread, for us to see?  That would be really something.

[GoldFinger1969]

Here's the EO and the exemption is listed in Section 2(b):

Edited January 25 by GoldFinger1969

[RWB]

Section 3:

(a) Gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates in an amount not exceeding in the aggregate $100 belonging to any one person;

(b) Gold coin having a recognized special value to collectors of rare and unusual coin;

[GoldFinger1969]

The numismatic exemption was the loophole that allowed "gold bugs" or those who wanted to own gold to hedge inflation or economic problems.  The collectors in the 1940's and 1950's (i.e., Eliasberg) took advantage of this (maybe it was in Roger's book, I can't remember).

Didn't matter if the numismatic premium to gold was 20% or 2,000%.  I'm kind of suprised that Spencer Marsh (1932's) and other high-profile gold folks (like the guy who sued Chase Manhattan when they seized his gold) didn't have their lawyers use this loophole.

Just say you were a collector and/or the coins were not pure bullion, but part of a collection.   

Edited January 24 by GoldFinger1969

[RWB]

Treasury and Secret Service depended on Theodore T. Belote, Curator at the SI Museum of American History for determination of what was "recognized special value to collectors." However, they also accepted the opinion of numismatists including members of the ANA. Belote made the determination that 1933 DE were of special value and that led to the coin's export.

[GoldFinger1969]

Apparently, "person" meant ANYBODY -- even kids.  I think it was interpreted like that.

$100 was a decent amount of savings in 1933....if you had a husband and wife and a few kids...plus some other family members like in-laws living with you (say, on a farm)....it wouldn't be a stretch to see some housholds easily be able to hold $500-$1,000 in gold....assuming they had it and could afford it.

[RWB]

If each person in the United States retained $100 in gold coin, the total would exceed all gold ever coined in the U.S. or mined. Most of the coins were already in Treasury possession and had been for decades....there was very little public demand.

[GoldFinger1969]

deleted mistake

Edited January 25 by GoldFinger1969

[Henri Charriere]

[Fast-forward to the future, circa 2024.... while this may be of interest to one-tenth of one percent of the membership,  a little-known fact: .... if you apply for public entitlements in New York State, you will be asked about any "resources" you may have which pointedly includes gold and silver bullion -- and collectibles, such as relics (including coins) with "numismatic" value and character....

No Executive Orders or similar such public notices.  Just another line on a  simple paper application....]

[GoldFinger1969]

And where did those coins go once turned into bars ?  Same place as Miss Galore and her acrobatic circus.....Fort Knox, Kentucky ! 

Everything about Fort Knox (but nothing about the electrical system that electrocuted poor Oddjob  ) from the illustrious RWB  :

https://coinweek.com/the-national-gold-bullion-depository-at-fort-henry-knox/

 

Edited February 28 by GoldFinger1969