Issued from 1863-1933, Gold Certificates were a certificate of ownership that gold owners held instead of storing the physical gold bullion. Each certificate gave its holder a corresponding amount of gold based on the face-value of the certificate at a rate of $20.67 per troy ounce of gold. In 1933, the federal government ended the practice of redeeming gold certificates for their equivalent in gold coins, which resulted in the majority of these certificates being retired from circulation. Today, they are rare and valuable to collectors.