The AM/DM podcast: When the feds came to Memphis for one of the world’s most valuable coins
The AM/DM is The Daily Memphian’s weekday podcast. Listen in every morning around 6:30 a.m. to get the news you need for the day, as well as a critical — but quick — interview on a larger story.
In 1933, just as Franklin D. Roosevelt was about to assume the presidency for the first time, the U.S. economy was in shambles. There were fears of an economic collapse and that panicked citizens would pull all their gold from banks — the same gold that, at the time, underpinned our monetary system.
So Roosevelt took the U.S. off the gold standard and mandated that all gold in private hands be returned to the federal government in exchange for cash.
But just before Roosevelt’s proclamation, the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia crafted almost 500,000 1933 Double Eagle $20 gold coins.
That is where today’s story starts.
Reporter Jody Callahan tells us about the time one of the world’s most valuable coins found a home in Memphis … and how it ended up leaving in the hands of the federal government.
Listen in.
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AM/DMMary Cashiola
Mary Cashiola has been a Memphis journalist for nearly two decades, beginning her career covering city government and local neighborhoods at the Memphis Flyer before being hired by Memphis Mayor A C Wharton’s administration.
Before joining The Daily Memphian, she was the managing editor of the Memphis Business Journal, which was named one of the top 10 Best Designed Newspapers in the world by the Society of News Design while she was there.
She also has a background in advertising, with a focus on higher education and the hospitality industry.
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