What Does 'GSA' Mean on Silver?

History of the GSA

• President Harry Truman created the GSA in 1949 in order to "streamline the administrative work of the federal government," combining six different government agencies into one. Initially, the GSA was responsible for selling off war-surplus goods, storing government records, creating plans for emergency preparedness and maintaining reserves of strategic supplies during war time.

History of GSA Silver

• In 1970, President Nixon authorized the U.S. Treasury to liquidate its holdings of almost 3 million Morgan silver dollars. Morgan silver dollars were designed by George T. Morgan and minted from 1878 to 1904 and then once more in 1921. The Treasury had stockpiles of these coins and utilized the GSA to hold mail-bid auctions for the rare coins over the next two decades, thus the term "GSA silver."

Fun Facts

• For a brief time, the GSA actually managed hemp farms in South America. Also, only 1 percent of the GSA's budget comes from taxes; the rest comes from revenue created by sales and acquisitions done by the GSA.