thanks oblomov.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102#The_myth_of_a_safe_deposit_box_seizures_order
According to a folk rumor on the internet, President Roosevelt ordered all the safe deposit boxes in the country seized and searched for gold by an I.R.S. official.... Examination of the actual Executive Order as issued shows that this text never appears in it. In fact, safe deposit boxes held by individuals were not forcibly searched or seized under the order, and the few prosecutions that occurred in the 1930s for gold hoarding were executed under different statutes. One of the few such cases occurred in 1936 when the safe deposit box of Zelik Josefowitz, who was not a U.S. citizen, containing over 10,000 troy ounces (310 kg) of gold was seized with a search warrant as part of a tax evasion prosecution.[10] In 1933 approximately 500 tonnes of gold were turned in to the Treasury “voluntarily” at the exchange rate of $20.67 per troy ounce.[11]
The U.S. Treasury came into possession of a large number of safe deposit boxes due to bank failures. During the 1930s over 3,000 banks failed and the contents of their safe deposit boxes were remanded to the custody of the Treasury. If no one claimed the box it remained in the possession of the Treasury. As of October, 1981, there were 1605 cardboard cartons in the basement of the Treasury each containing the contents of an unclaimed safe deposit box.[12]
>> “In fact, safe deposit boxes held by individuals were not forcibly searched or seized under the order, and the few prosecutions that occurred in the 1930s for gold hoarding were executed under different statutes.” <<
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What has to be understood is that executive orders have no effect on private parties; they are orders from the President to the employees of his administration.
Only statute law can effect individuals.
I don't allow my students to use wikipedia as a resource. However, I do recall getting such info from a colleague (fellow educator) some years ago. Not all verbiage that is in any EO is strictly enforced and much can be interpreted in a number of ways by any executing authority. I think that it's parsing words a bit to say that no deposit boxes were forced or seized. IIRC from the research I have done is that an IRS official was present at the voluntary opening of many boxes and what's to say that something like this can't happen in the present, anyway? Also, boxes are frequently drilled by banks for nonpayment of fees or death of the box holder. Contraband discovered inside would be turned over to the "proper authorities."