James "Jim" U. Blanchard III

James U. Blanchard III (November 10, 1943 – March 19, 1999) was an American dealer in rare coins and precious metals, active in the movement to legalize private gold holdings in the United States. He was the founder of Blanchard and Company, a precious metals investment firm.

Early life Blanchard was born on November 10, 1943, in Greenwood, Mississippi, and grew up in Houston, Texas. As a boy, he attended New Orleans Academy but was sent to Chamberlain-Hunt Academy, a historic Christian preparatory school, after misbehavior.

After a car accident that broke his back when he was a teenager, Blanchard was a paraplegic and used a wheelchair. He recuperated at Warm Springs, GA, the spa town President Franklin Roosevelt had often visited to treat his paraplegia. American citizens had not been able to privately own gold since 1933, when President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102.

Career Blanchard hired an airplane to fly over President Richard Nixon’s second inauguration with a banner that read "Legalize Gold." He also dared the Treasury Department to arrest him for owning a two-ounce bar of gold, Blanchard also successfully lobbied Congress for his cause. newsletter called Gold Newsletter, published a memoir titled Confessions of a Gold Bug, and founded the gold investment industry's longest-running conference, which has hosted speakers such as Margaret Thatcher, Milton Friedman, F.A. Hayek, Ayn Rand, and Ed Crane. Blanchard also served on the Cato Institute’s Board of Directors.

He died on March 19, 1999, age 55, in Metairie, Louisiana.