FDR signs Executive Order 6102, seizing citizens' gold to free the Federal Reserve

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102 on April 5, 1933, requiring Americans to surrender gold coin, bullion, and certificates to the Federal Reserve in exchange for paper dollars at $20.67 per troy ounce. The primary rationale was to remove the gold-backing constraint on the Federal Reserve, which was legally prohibited from expanding the money supply beyond its gold reserves during the Depression. Roosevelt subsequently devalued the dollar by raising the official gold price to $35 per ounce, expanding the Fed's lending capacity.