Gold Reserve Act

E29889

United States federal law economic legislation

The Gold Reserve Act was a 1934 U.S. federal law that nationalized gold holdings, devalued the dollar, and centralized control of the nation’s gold in the U.S. Treasury to stabilize the economy during the Great Depression.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form	Occurrences
Gold Reserve Act of 1934	1

Statements (45)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States federal law ⓘ economic legislation ⓘ
administeredBy	United States Department of the Treasury ⓘ
appliesTo	gold bullion ⓘ gold certificates ⓘ gold coins ⓘ
authorized	use of the Exchange Stabilization Fund to stabilize the value of the dollar ⓘ
changedGoldPriceTo	35 U.S. dollars per troy ounce ⓘ
codifiedIn	Title 31 of the United States Code ⓘ
consequence	increased federal control over U.S. monetary system ⓘ limited private ownership of monetary gold in the United States for decades ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
created	Exchange Stabilization Fund ⓘ
dateEnacted	1934-01-30 ⓘ
effect	centralized gold reserves in the United States Treasury ⓘ devalued the U.S. dollar against gold by approximately 40 percent ⓘ established the Exchange Stabilization Fund ⓘ nationalized most gold held by U.S. citizens and institutions ⓘ prohibited private ownership of most forms of monetary gold ⓘ raised the official price of gold in dollars ⓘ reduced the gold content of the U.S. dollar ⓘ required delivery of gold and gold certificates to the U.S. Treasury ⓘ transferred title to monetary gold to the U.S. Treasury ⓘ
field	macroeconomics ⓘ monetary policy ⓘ
historicalPeriod	New Deal ⓘ surface form: New Deal era
jurisdiction	United States government ⓘ surface form: United States federal government
languageOfWork	English ⓘ
legalStatus	in force with amendments ⓘ
legislativeBody	United States Congress ⓘ
locationOfImplementation	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
partOf	New Deal ⓘ surface form: New Deal legislation
passedDuring	Great Depression ⓘ
presidentAtEnactment	President Franklin D. Roosevelt ⓘ surface form: Franklin D. Roosevelt
previousOfficialGoldPrice	20.67 U.S. dollars per troy ounce ⓘ
purpose	centralize control of the nation’s gold in the U.S. Treasury ⓘ devalue the United States dollar relative to gold ⓘ stabilize the United States economy during the Great Depression ⓘ
relatedTo	Bretton Woods system ⓘ Executive Order 6102 ⓘ United States gold policy ⓘ
shortDescription	1934 U.S. federal law nationalizing gold and devaluing the dollar ⓘ
signedBy	President Franklin D. Roosevelt ⓘ surface form: Franklin D. Roosevelt
subjectOf	monetary policy debates in the United States ⓘ
yearEnacted	1934 ⓘ

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

73rd United States Congress → enacted → Gold Reserve Act ⓘ

Roosevelt administration → significantEvent → Gold Reserve Act ⓘ

this entity surface form: Gold Reserve Act of 1934