Gold Reserve Act Definition
The United States Gold Reserve Act of January 31, 1934 required that all gold bullion, coins and gold certificates be surrendered to the United States Department of the Treasury. It became a criminal offence for U.S. citizens to own or trade gold anywhere in the world, with an exception of some jewelry and collector's coins. Gold certificates were again allowed for private investors on April 24, 1964 although the obligation to pay the certificate holder on demand in gold specie would not be honored. By the 1975 Americans could again freely own and trade gold. The Act also changed the nominal price of gold from $20.67 per troy ounce to $35 per ounce.
The Gold Reserve Act authorized the Exchange Stabilization Fund to use such assets as were not needed for exchange market stabilization to deal in government securities. It had no statutory authority, however, to engage in other activities that it began to undertake.