Private individual ownership of gold coins and bars was illegal in the United States for four decades.  “Hoarding” individual wealth in gold was banned from 1 May 1933 until 31 December 1974.  Vast amounts of gold bullion were confiscated from people, who were forced to accept instead the Monopoly Money known as “United States Dollars”.  Numerous individuals were criminally prosecuted for attempting to keep their gold—a crime according to Executive Orders 6102, 6111, 6260, and 6261, and the Gold Reserve Act passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.