Gold Hoarding

In April of 1933, FDR signed Executive Order 6102, otherwise known as "The Roosevelt Gold Confiscation Order," and the entirety of it can be found here.

In times of economic downturn, like our current one, the price of gold rises as a result of increase investment in it because it doesn't lose its value the way that dollars (or other currency) do during times of economic depression.

However, the hoarding of gold (whether in bullion, coin, or certificate), as the Roosevelt Administration saw it, banks potential wealth rather than circulating it, thus, causing further economic depression and stalling economic growth.

After FDR signed Exec Order 6102, individual citizens and corporate businesses holding an excess of $100 of gold coins had four months to exchange their gold for dollars at the rate of $20.67/troy ounce (which is about $350 in 2012).

This order eventually led to the Gold Reserve Act of 1934, which directed all Federal holdings of gold to  the Treasury.