In 1933 the US government made it a federal crime to own gold. Executive Order 6102.

Either hand it over at $20.67 an ounce or face 10 years in prison.
The Fed needed 40% gold backing to print money and the tank was empty. So they just took it.
Less than a year later they revalued it to $35. Bought it from you under threat of prison then marked it up 69% and pocketed $2.8 billion.
Americans couldn’t legally own gold again until 1974. 41 years. The government confiscated the hardest asset on earth from its own citizens because the balance sheet was underwater.
Your grandparents witnessed this.