What Kind of Gold Cannot Be Confiscated?
Precious metals often raise fears of confiscation due to past experiences and current economic worries such as excessive debt levels and currency creation by central banks. It is understandable, given past history and current worries related to central bank currency issuance.
What can be done to mitigate such risks? Many believe that since we no longer operate under a gold standard, gold cannot be confiscated – is this really true?
Gold Coins
Some telemarketers assert that certain gold coins cannot be confiscated. This myth can be traced back to Roosevelt’s 1933 call-in of gold coins, which exempted “gold coins with special value to collectors of rare and unusual coins” but did not specify exactly which coins qualified. Furthermore, nothing prevents the Treasury Department from seizing any bullion coins with high enough price tags.
Government regulations mandate that purchases of precious metals over $10,000 made with cash must be reported, while many telemarketers offer European gold coins with 20% and 30% markups over their actual gold content; such products constitute bullion coins that could easily be confiscated by an administration in the future.
Put your gold into a trust or corporation can help protect it against confiscation, but this strategy may have tax repercussions that must be carefully evaluated with a qualified financial expert.
Gold Bullion
Telemarketer claims of gold cannot being confiscated are often justified on the basis of Roosevelt’s Executive Order which exempted “gold coins having special value to collectors of rare and unusual coins” from confiscation. This seems to suggest that any pre 1933 US gold bullion with numismatic value is safe from confiscation.
However, this is a myth: as witnessed with bail-ins in Greece, Cyprus and Ireland, desperate governments can seize your property – such as coins or bars from developed nations instead of jewelry.
Keep your gold outside the banking system to protect it from overreach by governments attempting to regulate capital flows or prevent defaults, and store it with an independent vault provider or refiner who specialize in precious metal bullion storage – this way your asset is more protected against risks from such overreach by governments than if kept inside it! Creating a well-diversified portfolio will reduce chances of the government seizing any particular holdings outright.
Gold Jewellery
Gold jewelry is an easy and convenient way to acquire physical gold. In the 1930s, when governments practiced confiscation (or nationalisation, as Franklin Roosevelt would term it), governments would seize people’s bullion and coins but generally avoided taking citizens’ jewelry as seizure targets.
As it’s possible to identify what kind of gold jewellery you possess based on its purity, by looking for hallmarks or stamps on it itself, it can help identify what sort of item it is. Many reputable jewellery makers include their maker’s mark along with a three-digit code identifying its content as gold purity.
Legal structures such as trusts and corporations may provide another layer of protection from potential confiscation in the future, though any decisions should be carefully discussed with an advisor before being implemented. It’s unlikely that any direct government interference into gold markets would be as dramatic as in 1933, though if crisis comes it’s often best practice to diversify assets during these times.
Gold Coin Collections
Gold coin collections should be professionally graded by industry experts to ensure an accurate valuation ranging from perfect 70 to less-than-10. Afterward, coins are sealed and marked with their grade number according to how pristine and rare each one is.
Remember the risk of confiscation is real when investing in gold. In times of economic or monetary crises, governments often seize assets like bullion and coins containing precious metals – although even today if a government attempted to seize your gold it might not be so straightforward.
Telemarketers who offer old US coins often claim that these cannot be confiscated as per the 1933 Executive Order which exempted “gold coins having special value to collectors of rare and unusual coins”. Unfortunately, this claim is mostly false since these rare coins usually only possess significant numismatic worth as opposed to any precious metal content.
Comments are closed here.