Gold Coins Are Now In Circulation Again – Here is an old article celebrating the loosening of rules pertaining to possessing gold by US citizens.
Gold coins, symbols of a bygone era of American money, are in circulation again.
Under broadly relaxed Federal restrictions, gold coinage sales remind many dealers of “the good old days” when father wore a $5 piece on his watchfob and the youngster got one for his birthday. Seekers of ornamentation and gifts again are causing a demand for golden money, says the National Geographic Society.
“Many people are buying gold pieces as charms for bracelets,” a Washington, D. C., dealer reported, adding that “there will always be interest in gold coins.” Those stamped $5 (half eagles), $10 (eagles), and $20 (double eagles) are currently most popular.
Gold Coin Collectors Active
The fascination gold coins hold for thousands of hobbyists has never flagged. Even with the April, 1933, recall of United States gold coins, bullion and gold certificates, collectors were allowed to retain “rare and unusual coins.”
A problem immediately arose: Who qualifies as a collector? And what is a rare coin? Claimants at first were directed to send their rare and unusual holdings to Washington for official decision.
Subsequently, collectors were permitted to send mere descriptions of their prizes, with the Smithsonian Institution acting as a referee. Later, still, even broader relaxation came, reviving general use of the coins for ornamentation and sentimental giving.
No gold has been minted since 1933, although the government itself maintains an accumulation of gold-coin rarities at the Smithsonian.
Included is a $5 gold coin of 1822, valued at 515,000 – an extreme rarity. Another $5 specimen of 1815 is valued at $3,000. One of S20 denomination dated 1849, the only one made, drew an offer of $35,000. It was rejected.
Many of the skillfully-engraved gold pieces were as much admired by United States Mint employees as by the public. Mint workers called the eagle’s picture. “The Goose.” They knew the technical aspects thousand dollars of United States gold coin, for instance, weighed just 3.685 pounds avoirdupois, an easy handful.
Commemoration In Gold
Gold coins occasionally were struck to commemorate national events. One, of $50 denomination, honored the Panama Pacific Exposition of 1915. The, head of Minerva; adorns one face; the reverse shows an owl on a pine branch. Some collectors place its value its value now at above $1,000.
Gold dollars greeted the Louisiana and Purchase Exposition (1903); the Lewis and Clark Exposition (1904); the McKinley Memorial (1916); the Grant Memorial (1922). A quarter eagles commemorated the Sesquicentennial of Independence (1926).
The use of gold as money in the United States dates from the beginning of the monetary system in 1792. Gold money may still be freely passed today as exchange in many nations. Few, however, mint gold coins, though Switzerland recently authorized a new series, with restrictions aimed at smugglers.
Gold has not been coined on a regular basis in England since 1917. In 1919, however, 138,000 gold sovereigns were minted “just to keep our hand in,” British officials explained.