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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Bonedigger, post: 330984, member: 4367&quot;]<b><span style="color: Red">Posted with permission of Mark&nbsp; Nestmann</span></b></p><p><br /></p><p>You have my permission so long as a full citation is provided as to the name</p><p>of the article, the author, the date originally published and a link back to</p><p>the article.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Also, please send me a link to the discussion group where it would be</p><p>posted--</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Best regards,</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Mark Nestmann</p><p>LL.M. international tax law, Vienna University of Economics and Business</p><p>Administration (2005)</p><p>President, The Nestmann Group, Ltd.</p><p>Wealth Preservation Solutions</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>2303 N. 44th St. #14-1025</p><p>Phoenix, AZ 85008 USA</p><p>Tel. / fax (USA):**************</p><p>E-mail: <a href="mailto:assetpro@nestmann.com">assetpro@nestmann.com</a></p><p>Web: <a href="http://www.nestmann.com" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.nestmann.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.nestmann.com</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://nestmannblog.sovereignsociety.com/2008/02/keep-your-han-1.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://nestmannblog.sovereignsociety.com/2008/02/keep-your-han-1.html" rel="nofollow">http://nestmannblog.sovereignsociety.com/2008/02/keep-your-han-1.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p>February 04, 2008</p><p><br /></p><p>Keep Your Hands Off My Gold! [Part I]</p><p><br /></p><p>Not many Americans are still living who remember the day that President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that the &quot;hoarding&quot; of gold and silver bullion by &quot;subjects of the United States&quot; constituted a &quot;serious emergency.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>To be exact, the date was March 9, 1933.&nbsp; And what to do in a serious emergency involving &quot;hoarding&quot; of gold and silver?&nbsp; Confiscate the offending &quot;hoards,&quot; naturally. </p><p><br /></p><p>To be fair, Roosevelt only ordered the partial confiscation of gold and silver bullion.&nbsp; When &quot;subjects of the United States&quot; (which included my grandparents) turned in their bullion, they received U.S. dollars in return, at the official price of US$20.67/ounce.&nbsp; Once the operation was reasonably complete, the confiscatory part occurred: the government unilaterally revalued gold at US$35/ounce. </p><p><br /></p><p>The revaluation was possible because this operation occurred in the days before currencies traded on the open market.&nbsp; Currencies were fixed in value, generally in terms of specific weights of silver and gold.&nbsp; The U.S. dollar, for instance, had an official value of US$20.67/ounce, set in 1834, until Roosevelt devalued it 40% in 1933.</p><p><br /></p><p>The question I&#039;m often asked is, &quot;could gold (and silver) confiscation happen again?&quot;&nbsp; And, if so, &quot;what can I do about it?&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>The answer to the first question is, &quot;yes, definitely.&quot;&nbsp; The legal authority Roosevelt used to confiscate your parents&#039; or grandparents&#039; gold and silver—the &quot;Trading with the Enemy Act&quot;—remains on the books.&nbsp; Indeed, in a remarkable letter written in 2005, the Treasury Department claimed that it had the power to confiscate gold, silver—and everything else.&nbsp; (Click here for details).</p><p><br /></p><p>What might lead to a second gold and silver confiscation?&nbsp; President Roosevelt&#039;s issued his 1933 emergency order when the U.S. dollar was still backed by gold.&nbsp; At that time, both individual citizens and foreign central banks could exchange U.S. dollars for gold.&nbsp; Today, no holder of U.S. dollars is legally entitled to exchange their dollars for gold at the U.S. Treasury.&nbsp; Indeed, only a small minority of U.S. citizens own precious metals in any form. </p><p><br /></p><p>However, if a day ever comes where foreign countries demand that the U.S. Treasury pay its debts in gold—not in U.S. dollars—a second confiscation could occur.&nbsp; I don&#039;t see a second confiscation as particularly likely, simply because so few Americans own any gold or silver bullion.&nbsp; The takings would likely be so slim it simply wouldn&#039;t be worth the effort.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Answering the second question is a lot harder.&nbsp; Tune in tomorrow for my thoughts on this matter.</p><p><br /></p><p>Copyright © 2008 by Mark Nestmann</p><p><br /></p><p>Keep Your Hands off My Gold! [Part II]</p><p><br /></p><p>In yesterday&#039;s blog entry, I described the legal precedent for the U.S. government to again confiscate privately held gold and silver, as it did in 1933.</p><p><br /></p><p>What are the best ways to protect yourself against such an event? </p><p><br /></p><p>One of the most important precautions is to not keep precious metals in a U.S. safety deposit box.&nbsp; President Roosevelt ordered all safety deposit boxes sealed when he issued his March 9, 1933 gold confiscation order.&nbsp; My grandparents couldn&#039;t retrieve their holdings from their safety deposit box until government thugs had rifled through it.</p><p><br /></p><p>Also, beware of investing in U.S.-based exchange traded gold funds.&nbsp; In the event of a second gold confiscation, Treasury agents would clean out any U.S. vaults these services used almost before the ink was dry on the emergency order.</p><p><br /></p><p>Some coin dealers claim that numismatic (collector) coins would be exempt from any future government confiscation of gold and silver.&nbsp; This claim is based on the terms of Roosevelt&#039;s 1933 emergency order, which specifically exempted &quot;coins having recognized special value to collectors of rare and unusual coins.&quot; </p><p><br /></p><p>Some firms say that premiums of at least 15% over the spot price of bullion magically turn coins &quot;numismatic.&quot;&nbsp; This notion is based on a proposed federal regulation issued in 1984, but never adopted.&nbsp; Other dealers claim that coins 100 years or older are automatically converted to numismatic status. </p><p><br /></p><p>It&#039;s beyond me why anyone takes these claims seriously.&nbsp; Why would a government that stole its citizens&#039; property in 1933 be consistent when it does so again?</p><p><br /></p><p>Nothing obliges the federal government to pay by the same set of &quot;rules&quot; it imposed 75 years go.&nbsp; Nothing obliges the federal government to honor the terms of a proposed regulation issued a quarter century ago.&nbsp; And naturally, those rules can change at any time. </p><p><br /></p><p>However, should such an exemption again come into existence, U.S. law (which could naturally be swept away by legislative or executive fiat) does stipulate which specific coins are &quot;numismatic.&quot;&nbsp; The 1985 legislation that authorized production of the coins now known as gold and silver Eagles stipulates that these coins are to be considered &quot;numismatic items.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Therefore, if you believe that numismatic coins would be exempt from a future gold (or silver) confiscation, you should consider purchasing the only coins specifically defined in U.S. law as &quot;numismatic.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>In addition to gold and silver Eagles, keep some gold and silver bullion outside the United States, preferably in a safety deposit box or a private vault.&nbsp; That way, if a second confiscation occurs, your holdings won&#039;t be immediately affected—although I suspect you&#039;d still be required to comply with the order.</p><p><br /></p><p>Copyright © by Mark Nestmann[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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