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Executive Orders Historical Archive
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Executive Order 6111 ⚖️⚠️ Zone 3: Lowest Ebb Constitutional Friction / Overreach (-0.19) 📜 Art. I §8: Legislative Prerogative Tension (Purse & Commerce)

Executive Order 6111—Relating to Foreign Exchange and the Earmarking and Export of Gold Coin or Bullion or Currency

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Thursday, April 20, 1933
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3 min read (676 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (676 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do declare that said national emergency still continues to exist and pursuant to said section and by virtue of all other authority vested in me, do hereby issue the following executive order: 1.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️⚠️ Zone 3: Lowest Ebb
Incompatible with Expressed Will of Congress or High Friction
📜 Art. I §8: Legislative Prerogative Tension (Purse & Commerce)
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Private Citizens & Property Owners Foreign Nations & International Entities Public Health & Medical Institutions

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 20, 1933, this order concerns Relating to Foreign Exchange and the Earmarking and Export of Gold Coin or Bullion or Currency. I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do declare that said national emergency still continues to exist and pursuant to said section and by virtue of all other authority vested in me, do hereby issue the following executive order: 1.

Constitutional Assessment: An early statesman would subject this decree to rigorous scrutiny under Article I, Section 8. The Framers deliberately committed commerce, taxation, tariffs, and revenue to Congress alone. To the extent this order imposes duties or financial burdens without explicit statutory pre-authorization, it creates friction with the separation of powers.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do declare that said national emergency still continues to exist and pursuant to said section and by virtue of all other authority vested in me, do hereby issue the following executive order: 1.

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Until further order, the earmarking for foreign account and the export of gold coin, gold bullion or gold certificates from the United States or any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof 'are hereby prohibited, except that the Secretary of the Treasury, in his discretion and subject to such regulations as he may prescribe, may issue licenses authorizing the export of gold coin and bullion (a) earmarked or held in trust for a recognized foreign government or foreign central bank or the Bank for International Settlements, (b) imported for reexport or gold in reasonable amounts for usual trade requirements of refiners importing gold bearing materials under agreement to export gold, (c) actually required for the fulfillment of any…

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Until further order, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized, through any agency that he may designate, to investigate, regulate, or prohibit, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, by means of licenses or otherwise, any transactions in foreign exchange, transfers of credit from any banking institution within the United States or any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof to any foreign branch or office of such banking institution or to any foreign bank or banker, and the export or withdrawal of currency from the United States or any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, by any individual, partnership, association, or corporation within the United States or any place subject to the jurisdiction…

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The provisions relating to foreign exchange transactions contained in the Executive Order of March 10, 1933, shall remain in full force and effect except as amended or supplemented by this order and by regulations issued hereunder. 4.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities 🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

⚖️⚠️ Zone 3 (Lowest Ebb)
§

"When the President takes measures incompatible with the expressed or implied will of Congress, his power is at its lowest ebb."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Incompatible with Expressed Will of Congress or High Friction
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands... may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." — Federalist No. 47 (1788)

Madison would express grave alarm over this order. By asserting independent authority in tension with legislative limits or the Bill of Rights, the Executive risks collapsing the separation of powers into unilateral rule. Under the Madisonian model, no emergency justifies the Executive substituting its decree for a deliberative Act of Congress.

Madisonian Stance: Strict Dissent (Overreach)
AH

Alexander Hamilton

The Energetic Executive & Unified Command

"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)

Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.

Hamiltonian Stance: Qualified Caution
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The purse and the sword ought never to be in the same hands... nor the liberties of the citizen placed at the pleasure of a single magistrate." — Virginia Ratifying Convention (1788)

George Mason and the Anti-Federalists would sound a fierce warning. They feared that Article II would inevitably evolve into an elective monarchy. When an executive order impacts private rights, property, or civil liberties without individualized judicial process, Mason would see their darkest predictions verified.

Anti-Federalist Stance: Vehement Objection
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Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions

An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.

⚠️ Elevated Constitutional Friction
72 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

High Friction

Touches upon core congressional prerogatives: raises appropriations reallocation, tariff imposition, or statutory preemption questions.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

High Friction

Invokes broad unilateral or emergency executive authorities that test the constitutional boundary of the Take Care Clause.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

Moderate Friction

Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.

Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments

Due Process & Individual Rights

Moderate Friction

Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.

Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

High Friction

The order asserts independent Article II prerogative against statutory constraints, reallocates funds without explicit appropriation, or stretches executive power into realms constitutionally reserved to the legislature or judiciary.

Benchmark: Incompatible with Expressed Will of Congress or High Friction
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This directive engages significant constitutional friction across statutory authorization, legislative prerogatives, or individual liberties.

Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
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How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
676
4,158 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
31.6
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
-0.19
Constitutional Friction / Overreach
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 5 (b) of the Act of October 6, 1917, as amended by Section 2 of the Act of March 9, 1933, entitled "An Act to provide relief in the existing national emergency in banking, and for other purposes," in which amendatory Act Congress declared that a serious emergency exists, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do declare that said national emergency still continues to exist and pursuant to said section and by virtue of all other authority vested in me, do hereby issue the following executive order: 1. Until further order, the earmarking for foreign account and the export of gold coin, gold bullion or gold certificates from the United States or any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof 'are hereby prohibited, except that the Secretary of the Treasury, in his discretion and subject to such regulations as he may prescribe, may issue licenses authorizing the export of gold coin and bullion (a) earmarked or held in trust for a recognized foreign government or foreign central bank or the Bank for International Settlements, (b) imported for reexport or gold in reasonable amounts for usual trade requirements of refiners importing gold bearing materials under agreement to export gold, (c) actually required for the fulfillment of any contract entered into prior to the date of this order, by an applicant who in obedience to the Executive Order of April 5, 1933, has delivered gold coin, gold bullion or gold certificates, and (d) with the approval of the President, for transactions which he may deem necessary to promote the public interest. 2. Until further order, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized, through any agency that he may designate, to investigate, regulate, or prohibit, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, by means of licenses or otherwise, any transactions in foreign exchange, transfers of credit from any banking institution within the United States or any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof to any foreign branch or office of such banking institution or to any foreign bank or banker, and the export or withdrawal of currency from the United States or any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, by any individual, partnership, association, or corporation within the United States or any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof; and the Secretary of the Treasury may require any individual, partnership, association, or corporation engaged in any transaction referred to herein to furnish under oath, complete information relative thereto, including the production of any books of account, contracts, letters or other papers, in connection therewith in the custody or control of such individual, partnership, association, or corporation either before or after such transaction is completed. 3. The provisions relating to foreign exchange transactions contained in the Executive Order of March 10, 1933, shall remain in full force and effect except as amended or supplemented by this order and by regulations issued hereunder. 4. Applicants who have gold coin, gold bullion or gold certificates in their possession, or who in obedience to the Executive Order of April 5, 1933, have delivered gold coin, gold bullion or gold certificates shall be entitled to licenses as provided in Section 8 of said Executive Order for amounts not exceeding the equivalent of such coin, bullion or certificates held or delivered. The Secretary may in his discretion issue or decline to issue any other licenses under said Executive Order, which shall in all other respects remain in full force and effect. 5. Whoever willfully violates any provision of this Executive Order or of any rule, regulation or license issued thereunder may be fined not more than $10,000, or, if a natural person, may be imprisoned for not more than ten years, or both; and any officer, director, or agent of any corporation who knowingly participates in any such violation may be punished by a like fine, imprisonment, or both. This order may be modified or revoked at any time. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, April 20, 1933.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 6111 (Apr. 20, 1933), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6111-relating-foreign-exchange-and-the-earmarking-and-export-gold-coin-or.