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How to Legally Smuggle GoldBy
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Did you know the President confiscated all the gold of American citizens in 1933? It's true... all in one quick swoop of the pen: Issued April 5, 1933 All persons are required to deliver ON OR BEFORE MAY 1, 1933 all GOLD COIN, GOLD BULLION, AND GOLD CERTIFICATES now owned by them to a Federal Reserve Bank, branch, or agency, or to any member bank of the Federal Reserve System. It was the height of the Great Depression. And the U.S. government desperately needed to shore up its financial position. So in a dramatic move, it took everyone's gold. Could it happen again? Well, put it this way: Who could have imagined it would happen the first time around? Every day on the radio, I hear ads about buying gold as a store of wealth. But folks who held gold as a store of wealth in the Great Depression had that "wealth" confiscated by the government. I had lunch with my longtime friend Michael Checkan on Saturday. Michael's business is called Asset Strategies International. He finds legal ways to protect and diversify your wealth. Michael told me about a neat little idea he came up with. I thought the idea was worth sharing with you... "When the U.S. government confiscated gold back in 1933," Michael told me, "you were allowed to keep your gold jewelry. The President didn't ask for Grandma's wedding ring." So Michael started a gold jewelry company, called First Collector's Guild. This company is different from other jewelry companies. It thinks about the gold first... For example, each piece of First Collector's jewelry measures exactly one ounce or five ounces of gold. Most gold jewelry is 14-karats (which is only 58% pure) or 18-karats (which is 72% pure). But each First Collector's piece is 24-karat gold – which is 99.99% pure. These pieces are, of course, jewelry... not currency. For example, if you wanted to, you could carry 100 First Collector's necklaces out of the country, and you wouldn't run afoul of the currency laws. And then you could convert them to money at most gold dealers in the world. It's like legal gold smuggling. Now, I don't recommend doing this on any scale. First off, you'd look like Mr. T. going through customs. And secondly, it's just not cost effective.... First Collector's jewelry is handmade and costs a premium over the price of gold. But a gold dealer will only pay you a discount to the gold price. Finally, I'm not a lawyer, but I'm sure that if you tried to bring a load of First Collector's jewelry across the border, someone would decide you're somehow breaking a law. However, for a small portion of your gold, First Collector's jewelry is an interesting idea... My DailyWealth colleague Tom Dyson was also at the lunch, and he was considering buying some for his wife. "My wife would like some jewelry, but I don't like getting ripped off through jewelry-store markups. If I bought this, my wife would get something she wants to wear... and I'll be confident that it's not worthless. It has real gold value." If you feel the way Tom does, you might consider Michael's necklaces or bracelets... You specify the length, gold weight, and style you want. It takes four to six weeks to arrive at your doorstep. With this idea, you can keep your significant other happy while you're confident you own something with real value. And in the extreme case, if we see another 1933 again, your gold should be safe. It's an interesting idea. For a small portion of your gold holdings, jewelry from First Collector's is worth considering... Good investing, Steve P.S. If you're curious, we don't receive any compensation from Michael. He's an old friend, and we liked this idea.
Further Reading:
The First Step You Should Take to Diversify Assets Overseas |
In The Daily Crux
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