The early 1930s saw a flurry of new bills that effectively transformed the banking system into an arm of the federal government--the Banking Act of 1932, the Banking Act of 1933, the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, the
Gold Reserve Act of 1934, and the Banking Act of 1935.
They argued that the government should be required to pay them with old gold coins, like the Eagle, at the 1918 standard of value, and then they should be able to convert the Eagles to dollars at the price established by the
Gold Reserve Act of 1934 ($35 per troy ounce of gold).
Congress then passed the
Gold Reserve Act of 1934, which raised the mint price of gold more than 59 percent.
The value of the dollar in terms of gold was lowered again with the
Gold Reserve Act of 1934.
Convertibility was suspended in 1933, and under the
Gold Reserve Act of 1934 convertibility was restored only for international payments.
The
Gold Reserve Act of 1934 excluded the ESF from the congressional appropriations process and explicitly authorized it to operate without congressional oversight and accountability.
seems to me to duplicate the foreign exchange stabilization operation that the Secretary of the Treasury has very properly undertaken pursuant to the
Gold Reserve Act of 1934. To me this is a tremendous power you have taken upon yourself, and I must serve notice on you right now that I consider this an usurpation of the powers of Congress.
Exchange Stabilization Fund established by Section 10 of the
Gold Reserve Act of 1934, with foreign monetary authorities, with the Bank for International Settlements, and with other international financial institutions:
It acted under the authority granted it by the
Gold Reserve Act of 1934, which established the Exchange Stabilization Fund for the purpose of stabilizing the exchange value of the dollar.