An Act to protect the currency system of the United States, to provide for the better use of the monetary gold stock of the United States, and for other purposes.
Acronyms (colloquial)
GRA
Nicknames
Gold Reserve Act (Devaluation)
Enacted by
the 73rd United States Congress
Effective
January 30, 1934
Citations
Public law
Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 73–87
Statutes at Large
48 Stat. 337
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 6976
Passed the House on January 20, 1934 (373-41)
Passed the Senate on January 27, 1934 (69-25)
Signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 30 January 1934
The United States Gold Reserve Act of January 30, 1934 required that all gold and gold certificates held by the Federal Reserve be surrendered and vested in the sole title of the United States Department of the Treasury. It also prohibited the Treasury and financial institutions from redeeming dollar bills for gold, established the Exchange Stabilization Fund under control of the Treasury to control the dollar's value without the assistance (or approval) of the Federal Reserve, and authorized the president to establish the gold value of the dollar by proclamation.[1][2]
Immediately following passage of the Act, the President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, changed the statutory price of gold from $20.67 per troy ounce to $35. This price change incentivized gold miners globally to expand production and foreigners to export their gold to the United States, while simultaneously devaluing the U.S. dollar by increasing inflation. The increase in gold reserves due to the price change resulted in a large accumulation of gold in the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury, much of which was stored in the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox and other locations. The increase in gold reserves increased the money supply, lowering real interest rates which in turn increased investment in durable goods.
A year earlier, in 1933, Executive Order 6102 had made it a criminal offense for U.S. citizens to own or trade gold anywhere in the world, with exceptions for some jewelry and collector's coins. These prohibitions were relaxed starting in 1964 – gold certificates were again allowed for private investors on April 24, 1964, although the obligation to pay the certificate holder on demand in gold specie would not be honored. By 1975, Americans could again freely own and trade gold.
^"White House Statement on Proclamation 2072 - Franklin D. Roosevelt" (PDF). FAME - Foundation for the Advancement of Monetary Education. January 31, 1934. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-26.
^"Gold Reserve Act of 1934". Statutes at Large of the United States of America from March 1933 to June 1934. 48 (1). Washington: Government Printing Office: 337–344. 1934.
The United States GoldReserveAct of January 30, 1934 required that all gold and gold certificates held by the Federal Reserve be surrendered and vested...
The Federal ReserveAct was passed by the 63rd United States Congress and signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on December 23, 1913. The law created...
assets with gold. Congress passed the GoldReserveAct on 30 January 1934; the measure nationalized all gold by ordering Federal Reserve banks to turn...
ReserveAct Federal Reserve System Federal Reserve Districts Federal Reserve Branches Federal Reserve Bank of New York Buffalo Branch Official gold reserves...
protected recognized gold coin collections from legal seizure. The 1934 GoldReserveAct subsequently changed the statutory gold content of the U.S. Dollar...
in total, one for each of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts that were created by the Federal ReserveAct of 1913. The banks are jointly responsible for...
Banking Act of 1933, passed by Congress on March 9, 1933, three days after FDR declared a nationwide bank holiday, combined with the Federal Reserve's commitment...
or gold, it formally adopted the gold standard in 1900, and finally eliminated all links to gold in 1971. Since the founding of the Federal Reserve System...
ReserveAct of 1913: Banks and Politics during the Progressive Era, 1897–1913 (Ph.D.). University of Texas. Gold Standard Act (text of the Act) Gold Standard...
of the Fed and a return to a gold standard. Critics have also raised concerns about the Fed's role in fractional reserve banking, its contribution to...
Federal ReserveAct of 1913 and issues them to the Federal Reserve Banks at the discretion of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The...
States Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913. The Federal Reserve System is the...
505 g) fine gold, or $20.67 per troy ounce. The Gold Standard Act of 1900 linked the dollar solely to gold. From 1934, its equivalence to gold was revised...
into gold or other reserve assets, ordering the gold window to be closed such that foreign governments could no longer exchange their dollars for gold. Nixon...
added to the Federal ReserveAct until the Banking Act of 1935 (P.L. 74-305, 49 Stat. 684). Upon enactment of the Federal ReserveAct on December 23, 1913...
under the Thomas Amendment of the Agricultural Adjustment Act, as amended by the GoldReserveAct. The order allowed the Secretary to issue silver certificates...
Silver Certificates, Gold Certificates, National Bank Notes and Federal Reserve Notes. They were specified in the Federal ReserveAct of 1913 and had the...
Reserve Bank of India. The Reserve Bank manages currency in India and derives its role in currency management based on the Reserve Bank of India Act,...
continued until 1933, when the official price of gold was changed to $35/ozt by the GoldReserveAct. Regular issue double eagles come in two major types...
join the Federal Reserve System. Before 1950, the laws establishing the FDIC and FDIC insurance were part of the Federal ReserveAct. 1950 legislation...
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the main governing body of the Federal Reserve System. It is charged...
guaranteed price in gold, only to be fixed again at a significantly lower level a year later with the passage of the GoldReserveAct in 1934. Markets immediately...
reserves under the National Bank Act. The Federal government issued greenbacks which fulfilled this role along with gold. Congress suspended the gold...
the Bank Charter Act 1844. Under the 1844 Act, bullionism was institutionalized in Britain, creating a ratio between the goldreserves held by the Bank...
The Edge Act is a 1919 amendment to the United States Federal ReserveAct of 1913, codified at 12 U.S.C. §§ 611–631, which allows national banks to engage...