Believe it or not, from 1933 to 1974, it was illegal for American citizens to keep gold. Failing to abide meant $10,000 penalty and 10 years imprisonment! Yes you heard it right, you could not buy your wife a gold ring neither could she wear any gold jewellery . All your gold hoardings now belonged to the Federal Reserve Bank (FED)! On April 5, 1933, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt , signed the Executive Order 6102 , which outlawed the private ownership of gold coin, gold bullion and gold certificates for every American citizen. 2.24 2.23 2.22 2.21 2.20 2.19 2.18 2.17 2.16 2.15 2.14 2.13 2.12 2.11 2.10 2.9 2.8 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.2 2.1 2.0 1.0 Foreigners living in United States also had their gold confiscated , and were forced to accept paper money for their gold. Through this unconstitutional executive order, citizens were told to hand over all their gold hoardings to Federal Reserve Bank within 25 days . It was forbidden to hoard gold after May 1, 1933. An