Pre 1933 Foreign Gold Coins For Sale

Infamously, one of the first acts by Franklin D. Roosevelt upon taking office as president in 1933 was to issue Executive Order 6102. This decree essentially outlawed the private ownership of gold by American citizens. This ban would not be lifted for more than four decades until the middle of the 1970s.

The pivotal date 1933 also marked the end of the United States issuing gold coins as legal tender for regular circulation. This is why many coin collectors recognize "Pre-1933 Gold Coins" as its own separate category within American numismatics. You can shop for pre-1933 US gold coins of various sizes by following the link.

Although the confiscation of gold only applied to the U.S. in 1933, the timing of the decision coincided with many other countries around the world abandoning the gold standard. Very few countries regularly issued gold coins after this time, and even fewer did so after World War II.

Buying Pre-1933 Foreign Gold Coins

There are several historic gold coins from Europe that circulated during the era of the gold standard. Chief among these were the following:

• British Gold Sovereign, the iconic trade coin of the former British Empire
• French 20 Franc gold coins, which featured designs of Napoleon III, the French Rooster, and the French Angel
• 20 Franc gold coins that were issued by Switzerland, Italy, Belgium

Each of the 20 Franc coins are the same size and denomination despite coming from different countries. This was due to the de facto monetary alignment between several nations during the late 19th century known as the Latin Monetary Union.

Today, prices for foreign pre-1933 gold coins usually run about 10% over melt value or less. They occupy and attractive middle ground between bullion coins priced close to the gold spot price and more expensive rare gold coins.

For this reason, pre-1933 foreign gold coins are highly desirable for coin collectors. They represent an era that has been lost to history. Moreover, due to widespread melting of gold coins during the economic turmoil of the 1930s, only a limited number of these world gold coins have survived and are available for sale from coin dealers today.