
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


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:
By The Daily Memphian4.8
88 ratings
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:

26,012 Listeners

14,681 Listeners

9,238 Listeners

67 Listeners

87,868 Listeners

113,121 Listeners

56,944 Listeners

9,556 Listeners

75 Listeners

17 Listeners

19 Listeners

22 Listeners

6,446 Listeners

14 Listeners

14 Listeners

6,462 Listeners

11,495 Listeners

11,013 Listeners

67 Listeners