Hi Jim.
I’m pretty sure you know this but I thought i would pass it along anyway. I just went through this trying to explain some of the history of 1933 to a friend.
Presidential Executive Order 6102 (From: President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt to the United States Congress, 5 April, 1933)
And yes, you are very correct that most of this is coming from coin dealers trying to sell overpriced stuff. Here is an explanation.
Here ia quote from Congressman Dr. Ron Paul on gold confiscation:
“If it gets bad enough, they’ll declare a national economic emergency. They’ll take over the banks, all business and industry. They may even try to confiscate our gold. I served on the Gold Commission for eight or nine months while I was in Congress along with fifteen other members. I brought up the subject of confiscation. The power to confiscate gold is still on the books as the law of the land. I urged the full Commission to recommend Congress repeal the power to confiscate gold in an economic emergency. We pushed it to a vote and I was the only one that voted to recommend to Congress that we never again contemplate taking the gold of the American people. The fifteen other members voted it down. The power is still there on the books, and they can do it any time they wish.”
Also read: What You Need To Know Before You Buy Numismatics. And from Gary North’s web site, read this: Gold Confiscation: How Big a Threat? by Franklin Sanders
Regards, – Dave M.