Read the text. Golden Opportunity 1 A world record was broken in July 2002, when a coin was auctioned in New York City for 7.6 million dollars. This particular 1933 double eagle became the most expensive piece of currency ever sold. Double eagles were manufactured by the United States Mint from 1849 through 1933. They are gold coins with a face value of twenty dollars, just as a nickel is worth five cents. A total of 445,500 double eagles were produced in 1933 alone. So how could just one of these twenty-dollar coins be worth so much money? 2 When Franklin Roosevelt became president of the United States on March 4, 1933, the country was already in the middle of the Great Depression. This severe financial slump began in the United States, but its effects were felt worldwide. Millions of people in the U.S. were unemployed, and businesses and farms were going bankrupt at alarming rates. Additionally, the country's banking system was in crisis. President Roosevelt determined that more paper money needed to be printed to aid the economy, but he could not simply order money to be produced. Back then, banks had to keep a supply of gold that could be exchanged to people for dollars. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 required that the U.S. central bank keep, in reserve, about forty cents worth of gold for every dollar it issued. Because of the Depression, the central bank no longer had enough gold in reserve to produce more paper money. However, Roosevelt developed a strategy. He signed Executive Order 6102. This order prohibited the "hoarding" of gold by American citizens, ordering them to surrender nearly all of their gold to the government in return for a cash payment of $20.67 per ounce. Citizens were told that the practice of stockpiling gold resulted in less spending and made the Great Depression worse, but the president knew the truth. If nobody could own gold, no one would be exchanging their paper money for gold at banks. As a result, the central bank no longer needed to keep a large supply of gold on hand for these exchanges. Paper money could be printed no matter how much—or how little—gold the central bank had in its reserves. Of course, Executive Order 6102 created controversy. Several people argued in court that it was against the U.S. Constitution for the government to take people's personal property. The order also drew criticism for how it was enforced. Citizens were required to turn in their gold to the government by May 1, 1933; after the deadline passed, the United States raised gold's value from $20.67 to $35.00 per ounce. The increase angered many who had followed the law and sold their gold cheaply. However, some supported the order due to the grave desperation caused by the Great Depression. They believed this step was necessary to keep the economy afloat during hard times. Roosevelt's executive order also had a more direct effect on U.S. currency: it halted the production of gold coins. However, that year's batch of gold currency had already been manufactured, although it had not yet been put into use. Every 1933 double eagle coin was melted down—all except twenty-two of them, as far as we know. Two were intentionally saved by the government; these are now kept at the National Museum of American History. The other twenty were stolen before they could be destroyed. Because the stolen coins are are still technically government property, none of the 1933 double eagles may be sold legally, with a single exception. The United States reached a secret settlement with the holders of one of the stolen 1933 double eagles that allowed the coin to be placed on the auction block in New York. A coin's worth is largely based on how rare it is, so the 1933 double eagle is of an incredibly high value. But who knows—maybe more salvaged double eagles will be discovered someday!