Executive Order 6102 is an Executive Order signed on April 5, 1933 by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt "Forbiding the Hoarding of Gold Coin, Gold Bullion, and Gold Certificates." It required all persons to deliver on or before May 1, 1933 all gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates owned by them to the Federal Reserve. Under the Trading With the Enemy Act of October 6, 1917, as amended on March 9, 1933, violation of Executive Order 6102 was punishable by fine up to $10,000 ($142,822 if adjusted for inflation as of 2006) or up to ten years in prison, or both. Because of this forced immediate sale of gold to the Federal Reserve at the government set price of $20.67 per ounce, this Executive Order is often referred to as the Gold Confiscation of 1933.
According to Keynesian economic theory, one of the best ways to fight off a recession is to inflate the money supply. In 1933 the Federal Reserve was tied to a fractional reserve gold standard, limiting its ability to inflate the money supply. Executive Order 6102 increased the amount of gold held by the Federal Reserve thereby increasing its power to inflate the money supply. In 1934 the government price of gold was increased to $35 per ounce (an increase of 69%), effectively increasing the gold on the Federal Reserve's balance sheets by 69%. This increase in assets allowed the Federal Reserve to further inflate the money supply. All this was done in an attempt to prevent the Great Depression that ensued for almost a decade....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102
Zu einem Goldverbot braucht es gar nicht mehr kommen, denn die Zentralbanken koennen heute ohne Goldstandard die Geldmengen so oder so erhoehen. Ausserdem gab es damals genuegend Vorwarnzeit. Gold-Razzien nur wegen dieser Order hat es damals nie gegeben. Lediglich ein Mann vom FBI soll in der Bank gesessen haben und den Schliessfachinhalt nach Oeffnen durch den Kunden in Augenschein genommen haben. Wer Gold vertraut hat, liess es einfach bis 1971 im Schliessfach liegen. Wer kein Vertrauen mehr in Gold hatte, konnte es ja zu einem hoeheren Preis abtreten.