Item number: A179

Year: AD 1945

Material: Gold

Size: 29.5 x 29.5 mm

Weight: 31.95 g

Manufactured by: U.S. Mint, Philadelphia

Provenance: Heritage Auctions 2024

This is a gold disk minted in AD 1945 by the United States Philadelphia Mint, weighing four pounds, and produced for the oil trade between the United States and Saudi Arabia. A total of 91,210 pieces were minted.

On the obverse side of the disk, the central motif features the bald eagle, the official emblem of the United States. Above and below the eagle are inscriptions indicating the minting authority “U.S.MINT” and location “PHILADELPHIA-U.S.A.”. On the reverse side of the disk, there are three lines of text describing its weight and purity: “GROSS WEIGHT-493.1 GRAINS,” “NET WEIGHT(of gold) 452.008333 GR.,” and “FITNENESS 916 2/3.”

The United States’ investment in Saudi Arabia’s oil industry began in AD 1932 when California Standard Oil Company (now Chevron) explored for oil in the kingdom. In AD 1933, a subsidiary of California Standard Oil Company called ARAMCO secured a concession agreement with the Saudi royal family, paying them three million dollars annually, to explore and extract oil in Saudi Arabia. Over time, as ownership changed hands, ARAMCO evolved into the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, the largest state-owned enterprise in Saudi Arabia in AD 2024.

In the first half of the 20th century, the oil trade in the Middle East relied on the British sovereign gold coin as the settlement currency, with one sovereign equivalent to 0.2354 ounces of gold. ARAMCO faced a significant challenge when Britain stopped minting sovereigns in AD 1917. The company had to seek assistance from the U.S. Treasury to purchase sovereigns from foreign central banks to fulfill its agreements with the Saudi royal family. With the outbreak of World War II, the Saudi royal family, coordinated by the U.S. government, allowed ARAMCO to settle directly in U.S. dollars.

As the war ended in AD 1945, international gold prices had risen to $70 per ounce, compared to the $35 per unit ARAMCO had been paying. Consequently, the Saudi royal family pressured the U.S. to restore settlement in gold. Due to these circumstances, the United States Mint produced two batches of gold disks for oil trade in AD 1945 and AD 1947, based on the sovereign standard. Many of these gold disks were sent by the Saudi government to Mumbai, India, where they were melted down into gold ingots, then sold to Macau or transported back to Saudi Arabia to serve as raw material for minting Saudi currency.

It is interesting that there was a discussion about who commissioned the United States Mint to produce the gold disks. The earliest such discussion occurred in AD 1959, led by the prominent American numismatist Harry X. Boosel. He wrote letters of inquiry to various entities involved, including the United States Department of State, the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in the United States, and the United States Mint, and compiled their responses. Based on this research, Boosel concluded, as published in “The Numismatist” magazine, that ARAMCO paid for the United States Mint to produce these gold disks, intended for trade settlements in Saudi Arabia. Despite the lack of archival evidence supporting this conclusion, Boosel’s theory gained wide acceptance and was even referenced in a column about the gold disks in “The New York Times” in AD 1991.

In AD 2018, the renowned economic historian John Paul Koning, after researching the documents from Federal Reserve Economic Research Archives (FRASER), overturned Bussel’s view and determined that the commissioning party should be the Saudi government rather than ARAMCO. The primary reason for this shift lies in the fact that after the restoration of the gold standard in AD 1934, the United States government did not allow private enterprises to exchange dollars for gold and even held gold as assets in U.S. territories. The Treasury Department only permitted the sale of gold to foreign governments, central banks, and international monetary organizations. According to Bussel’s theory, ARAMCO’s purchase of gold from the government would have violated this law.

Koning’s most crucial evidence came from the testimony presented on May 13, AD 1949, by the United States Senate Committee on Banking and Currency regarding the “Statement on ARAMCO Sovereigns” case. The testimony mentioned the aforementioned restrictions on gold transactions and, more importantly, stated that the government did not sell gold to ARAMCO. However, the text also mentioned that, to assist the company in avoiding default, the U.S. government had inquired about purchasing sovereigns from the Central Bank of Argentina.

物件編號: A179

年代: 公元 1945 年

材料: 黃金

尺寸: 29.5 x 29.5 mm

重量: 31.95 g

製造地: 美國鑄幣局，費城

來源: 海瑞德拍賣行 2024

這是一枚公元1945年，為了美國和沙烏地阿拉伯之間的石油貿易，由美國鑄幣局費城廠鑄造的四磅重金碟，總數量為91,210枚。

金碟的正面，中央是美國官方大紋章的老鷹圖騰，上下兩方各自以「美國鑄幣局」和「費城 美國」標示金碟的鑄造單位和地點。金碟背面則由上而下，依序以三行文字描述其重量和純度：「總重493.1格林」、「黃金淨重452.008333格林」和「純度916又2/3」。

美國對沙烏地阿拉伯的石油投資，始於公元1932年「加利福尼亞標準石油」(今 雪佛龍)在沙國探勘石油。公元1933年，加利福尼亞標準石油的子公司「阿拉伯-美國石油公司」(簡稱：ARAMCO)以每年支付沙國皇室三百萬美金的特許協議，獲許在沙國開採和提煉石油。ARAMCO隨著產權更迭，時至公元2024年已成為沙國最大的國營企業「沙烏地阿拉伯國家石油公司」。

公元20世紀上半葉，中東的石油貿易以英國發行的索維林金幣為結算貨幣，一索維林等同0.2354盎司的黃金。ARAMCO面臨最大的問題是，公元1917年英國停止鑄造索維林(sovereign)金幣，公司只能尋求美國財政部協助其向他國央行購買庫存的索維林，以履行和沙國皇室的協議。隨著第二次世界大戰爆發，沙國皇室在美國政府協調下，允許ARAMCO直接以美金為結算。戰爭於公元1945年結束之際，相比ARAMCO以每單位支付35美金，彼時國際金價已上揚為一盎司70美金，為此沙國皇室施壓美方恢復以黃金為結算。出於上述原因，美國鑄幣局於公元1945年和1947年，按照索維林的標準鑄造兩批石油貿易用金碟。這些金碟多半被沙國政府趁著國際金價大漲之際，送往印度孟買融鑄為金碇，再兜售至澳門或運回國成為鑄造沙國貨幣的原料。

有趣的是，關於誰委託美國鑄幣局生產金碟的議題討論。最早是公元1959年，由美國知名的錢幣收藏家哈里·布塞爾，他寫信詢問其中牽涉的美國國務院、沙烏地阿拉伯大使館和美國鑄幣局等單位，整理其回應和在《錢幣學家》雜誌上發表，判定是ARAMCO付費委託美國鑄幣局製作這批金碟，供公司在沙國進行貿易結算。即使結論缺乏檔案佐證，布塞爾的理論卻廣為世人接納，甚至被公元1991年《紐約時報》介紹該金碟的專欄引用。

公元2018年，知名的經濟史部落客約翰·科寧研究「聯邦儲備經濟研究檔案系統」(FRASER)的原始檔案後推翻布塞爾的看法，判定委託方應該是沙國政府而非ARAMCO。最主要的原因在於，公元1934年恢復金本位制度後，美國政府不允許私人企業以美金交換黃金，甚至在美國領地擁有黃金作為資產。財政部僅允許向外國政府、外國央行和國際貨幣組織出售黃金，按照布塞爾的理論，則ARAMCO向政府購買黃金便已經觸法。科寧最重要的證據是「參議院銀行和貨幣事務委員會」於公元1949年5月13日針對「關於ARAMCO的索維林聲明」一案提出的證詞。證詞提到前述的黃金交易限制外，更重要的是指名政府未向ARAMCO出售黃金。不過內文卻有提及為協助公司不會違約，美國政府有洽詢阿根廷央行購買後者手頭的索維林一事。