Gold as Money Gold has been a popular form of money for mankind for thousands of years.  In fact gold was used as money right here in the United States from 1795 to 1933.  But that trend stopped when something very interesting happened.  In 1933 under executive order 6102, then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ordered that all gold coins be turned into the government in lieu of paper money.  We did remain on a gold standard until 1971, but what many people do not realize is that it was illegal to own gold bullion in the U.S. from 1933 to 1974. What happened in 1933 was a tragedy for the people of the U.S. because purchasing power was lost when gold was confiscated and revalued.  But for pre 1933 US gold coins it was a good thing.  Most gold coins that were minted prior to 1933 were melted down into bricks and moved into the U.S. gold reserves.  Therefore very few survived in relationship to how many were minted making many of them very rare and valuable. Rarity Creates Leverage Due to this new-found rarity many coins became sought after by investors and collectors alike because now their value was not only dictated by the value of gold they contained, but also by how rare they are and what condition they survived in.  This combination of rarity and quality is what gives these coins extra leverage beyond just the gold market. In a well-diversified portfolio pre-1933 gold coins like the Liberty Head series and Saint Gaudens can add a dimension that plain gold bullion cannot.  There have been times in history that pre-1933 gold coins have outperformed gold bullion by a wide margin.  For example, in 1989 gold bullion fell from $395/oz. to around $360/oz. a decline of almost 10% while many $20 Liberties and $20 Saint Gaudens rocketed up over 600%. Well Diversified Portfolio There have also been times when gold bullion has outperformed pre-1933 gold coins and that is why we believe in a well-diversified portfolio.  A great feature of the pre-1933 gold coins is that their value will never drop below that of their gold content. Buy pre 1933 gold coins to and add them to a well-diversified precious metals portfolio, it is the smart choice.  At Gold and Silver Online we offer common date pre-1933 gold coins, which means that they tend to move more closely with bullion prices which makes them less risky.  However at this time in history we are witnessing some of the lowest premiums over the spot price of gold for pre-1933 gold coins than we have seen in 50 years; making a premium play possible. Click on the coins below to be directed to the Pre-1933 Gold Coins page: