In 1933, just as Franklin D. Roosevelt was about to assume the presidency for the first time, the U.S. economy was in a shambles. There were fears of an economic collapse and that panicked citizens would pull all their gold from banks — the same gold that, at the time, underpinned our monetary system. So Roosevelt took the U.S. off the gold standard and mandated that all gold in private hands be returned to the federal government in exchange for cash.
But just before Roosevelt's proclamation, the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia had crafted almost 500,000 1933 Double Eagle $20 gold coins. That is where today's story starts.
Reporter Jody Callahan tells us about the time one of the world's most valuable coins found a home in Memphis … and how it ended up leaving in the hands of the federal government.
Plus:
