The FDR $5 Gold Coin in an Interesting Package

[BillJones]

 

I confess that I did not pay much attention to most of the offerings of modern commemorative coins when the mint first marketed them. My attitude was that if I wanted any of the modern commemorative coins, I could buy them for less in the secondary market a few years after they were issued. In many cases, that assumption turned out to be correct. Still there were a couple of neat packaging varieties that the mint did offer of which I had no knowledge. This Franklin Roosevelt coin and stamp set is one of them.

 

 

Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) was an avid stamp collector. After a long day’s work as president, FDR would get out his stamp collection and work on it most evenings when he was home in the White House. Overall FDR’s collection contained over a million pieces, although one must remember that a stamp collector can accumulate a large “junk box” for a lot less money than a coin collector can. When I was kid one the stamp and coin dealers with whom I did business offered stamps that were billed as having part of FDR’s collection.

 

The 1997 FDR commemorative $5 gold piece offers an interesting study of the man and also a striking paradox. Although anyone who has read a modern history of FDR’s life is aware that he was paralyzed from the waist down as a result of polio, that fact was not well known when he was President. My mother, who was in her teens and twenties when FDR was in office, told me that she was not aware at the time of the extent of his disability. People were aware that he had had polio, but they did not know that he was unable to walk or stand without braces. And at the time press as well as FDR’s political opponents had the respect not to make an issue of it.

 

Roosevelt and his aids were careful not allow any photographs or motion pictures be taken of him in a wheelchair or struggling to move with the heavy, painful braces that supported his legs when he was standing. I’ve read that there is only one small photo of FDR seated in a wheelchair in his home at Hyde Park, NY. And there is only one newsreel clip, which lasted for less than 5 seconds, of him shuffling to move on his feet with the help of an aide, that has survived.

 

The images of Roosevelt that did make it to print where like the one that appears on the FDR commemorative gold coin. That image was taken from a photograph of FDR that was shot on the presidential yacht. Roosevelt is shown smiling, facing the wind and looking very vigorous.

 

The reverse of this piece shows the eagle that was the symbol of the National Recovery Administration (NRA), which was one of the centerpieces of FDR’s program to end The Great Depression. In 1935 the Supreme Court declared the NRA to be unconstitutional, which caused a major political upheaval. Subsequently FDR sought to “pack the Supreme Court” in an effort to appoint justices who were sympathetic to his programs. We can discuss these issues further if any of you are interested.

 

The paradox of this coin is that it is made of gold and would have been illegal to own had the FDR’s gold restriction laws not been rescinded. Franklin Roosevelt took gold coins out of circulation in The United States and yet here he is being honored on a gold coin!

 

I found this set to be very interesting because it combines numismatics with FDR’s stamp hobby. The stamps themselves have a face value of 11 cents, and given the way stamp prices work probably, they have collectors’ value that is probably less than that. Still it makes for interesting display. I purchased this set for about $10 under the “bid” price for the single Roosevelt $5 gold coin. I also own the two piece Proof and Uncirculated set, which makes this coin a bit of duplicate, but I don’t mind having the money tied up in it.

 

 

[zrlevin]

That was a very interesting write up. Thanks!

[EZ_E]

Great thread! Well written and fascinating! And I'm not even a FDR fan.

[MikeKing]

I love this man, he is my hero! Absolutely. I didn't know about the gold coin. That is ironic, about the gold. I can picture him, and hear him laughing about it with gusto, and with that cigarette holder and a martini on the side.

[TomB]

I don't believe FDR's Executive Order 6102 would have forbid the owning of this coin since it allowed individuals to own up to $100 face value in gold coinage, which was $100 in 1933 dollars, for the purposes of collecting.

[WoodenJefferson]

FDR's wheelchair, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Hyde Park NY

 

Fascinating story Bill, thanks for sharing. Although Roosevelt's passing was a few years before my time, polio was still a crippling disease during my childhood. I went to grade school with two other kids who were crippled by that disease. The Dr. Jonas Salk polio vaccine of 1955 all but erradicated the disease in the United States. My children and their children have benefitted from science and the dedicated researchers.

 

I once held a grey wool blanket with the intitials FDR in the center that he supposedly wore on his lap during the winter months. It was not know if it was used during his Presidency or not, but I I was awe inspired then as I still am with notable figures such as Franklin Roosevelt.

[MikeKing]

A great President and a great First Lady. It's amazing how he got around, Yalta and all that...smart, shrewd and a true Idealist who believed in his Country.

[RoySlade-migration]

How did they manage to make him look so much like LBJ in the profile?

[BillJones]

How did they manage to make him look so much like LBJ in the profile?

 

Maybe older men with “a widow’s peak” (a type of male pattern baldness) have a tendency to have a similar look. At any rate, you ever have a chance to see the original photo, you will be struck by how similar the coin is to it. And I’m sure that LBJ would be proud to know that some people think that he could resemble FDR. FDR was one of the LBJ’s heroes.

 

Speaking of using FDR’s profile, Henry Wallace used it in 1948 on this political button to claim that he was the TRUE heir apparent to FDR’s political legacy. Wallace had been vice president under FDR from 1941 to ’45. Many Democratic Party leaders demanded that he be dropped from the ticket in 1944 because they thought that he was too liberal. In 1948 Wallace jumped from the Democratic Party and ran as a third party candidate (actually even a fourth party if you consider that Strom Thurmond, the “Dixie-crat,” was the third party candidate) against Harry Truman. Wallace polled a million popular votes, but did not win any votes in the Electoral College.

 

[TomB]

That is a pretty amazing political pin, Bill, and I would bet that a large number of folks would not know that Truman was FDR's VP for only his last term in office.

[BillJones]

That is a pretty amazing political pin, Bill, and I would bet that a large number of folks would not know that Truman was FDR's VP for only his last term in office.

 

Our country was DARN lucky that we ended up with Truman rather than Wallace when FDR died. But if I say much more it might get political, even though we are talking about history from over 60 years ago.

[TomB]

That is a pretty amazing political pin, Bill, and I would bet that a large number of folks would not know that Truman was FDR's VP for only his last term in office.

 

Our country was DARN lucky that we ended up with Truman rather than Wallace when FDR died. But if I say much more it might get political, even though we are talking about history from over 60 years ago.

I agree.

[shirohniichan]

Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) was an avid stamp collector.

 

Maybe this explains some things.

 

The man brought us Executive Order 9066!

[Conder101]

Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) was an avid stamp collector.

And it was his interest in stamps which spelled the beginning of the decline in the stamp collecting hobby. his desire for more and more stamps for his collection resulted in the BEP coming to the realization that collectors are suckers who will buy what ever was produced for them. So they began producing ever more and more designs until they drove th collectors out of the hobby. (The mint started realizing the same thing a few years ago.)

[BillJones]

Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) was an avid stamp collector.

And it was his interest in stamps which spelled the beginning of the decline in the stamp collecting hobby. his desire for more and more stamps for his collection resulted in the BEP coming to the realization that collectors are suckers who will buy what ever was produced for them. So they began producing ever more and more designs until they drove th collectors out of the hobby. (The mint started realizing the same thing a few years ago.)

 

Is history repeating its self at the mint?

 

Sadly I think so.

[RoySlade-migration]

And it was his interest in stamps which spelled the beginning

...of publicly disclosed (only after being "found out") shenanigans favoring government employees at the cost of the public.

 

Too bad that (who was it, Ickes?) had to brag about his imperfs and make it so they had to print lots more.

 

What a country.

 

[shirohniichan]

Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) was an avid stamp collector.

And it was his interest in stamps which spelled the beginning of the decline in the stamp collecting hobby. his desire for more and more stamps for his collection resulted in the BEP coming to the realization that collectors are suckers who will buy what ever was produced for them. So they began producing ever more and more designs until they drove th collectors out of the hobby. (The mint started realizing the same thing a few years ago.)

 

So he brought us the prostitution of the BEP, the de facto suspension of Amendment V of the Constitution, and socialist programs? What a guy!!

 

Which other Presidents collected stamps?

[WoodenJefferson]

And it was his interest in stamps which spelled the beginning

...of publicly disclosed (only after being "found out") shenanigans favoring government employees at the cost of the public.

 

Too bad that (who was it, Ickes?) had to brag about his imperfs and make it so they had to print lots more.

 

What a country.

 

I think you might be refering to this guy, Link to Farly's Folly James (Jim) Aloysius Farley (May 30, 1888–June 9, 1976) was an American politician who served as head of the Democratic National Committee and Postmaster General. Farley was the campaign manager for Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936, scoring large landslides.

[BillJones]

Things were not all bad for collectors during FDR’s administration. He did restore the regular issuance of Proof sets and commemorative coins. Sadly the commemorative coin programs were riff with abuse, which only got worse as the 1930s wore on.

 

During the term of FDR’s predecessor, Herbert Hoover, all commemorative coins came to an end, and there was absolutely no chance that Proof coin production would have been resumed. Hoover’s treasury secretary, Andrew Mellon, was totally opposed to using mint facilities to produce collectors’ items. Mellon was easily the most anti-collector treasury secretary of all time.

[Conder101]

Well Roosevelt had a coin collection too. He just didn't collect coins as seriously as he did stamps. his stamp collection was a major collection, but his coin collection was just typical. But it might explain the coin collector friendly(?) actions that occurred during his administration.. Also Woodin, his first Sec of the Treasury, was a major coin collector. It was through Woodin's efforts that the gold recall order was amended to allow the holding of "rare and unusual" gold coins issued before March 5th 1933. The original order did not contain such a provision.

[MercP]

Wonderful and informational thread from the first post to the one before this.

Thanks

[Zoins]

Hoover’s treasury secretary, Andrew Mellon, was totally opposed to using mint facilities to produce collectors’ items. Mellon was easily the most anti-collector treasury secretary of all time.

He's not all bad, he did work on reducing taxes and lowering the national debt. I even used to have a bank account at Mellon Bank. Here he is on a stamp:

 

[okbustchaser]

Hoover’s treasury secretary, Andrew Mellon, was totally opposed to using mint facilities to produce collectors’ items. Mellon was easily the most anti-collector treasury secretary of all time.

 

Just as he (and all other government officials) should have been. The job of the US mint is to produce coinage as needed in everyday commerce...Period...Not to create collector items for the retail market.

[WoodenJefferson]

I did a bit of research on the photo I posted earlier of Roosevelt in his wheelchair taken at Hill Top Cottage in Hyde Park, N.Y. (date not avail 194?)

 

The Scottish Terrier in his lap was his dog Fala that he raised while in the White House. Fala lived from April 7th 1940 until April 5th 1952.

 

The little girl standing next to FDR is Ruthie Bie, a close friend's granddaughter.

 

Another interesting photo taken Feb. 13, 1945 shows Franklin D. Roosevelt and King Farouk of Egypt at Great Bitter Lake in Egypt.

 

Were they talking coin collecting? FDR died shortly after this photo was taken.

 

As the war drew to a close, Roosevelt's health deteriorated, and on April 12, 1945, while at Warm Springs, Georgia, he died of a cerebral hemorrhage.