Rare Coins: Family Treasure or Ill-Gotten Goods?[1933 Double Eagle]

The New York Times ^ | 15 Sep 2009 | JOHN SCHWARTZ

[BGHater]

Roy Langbord had guessed that someone in his family might have hidden away a great treasure decades before, but not until his mother had him check a long-neglected safe-deposit box did he realize just how great it was.

Inside the box, opened in 2003, he found an incredibly rare coin, wrapped in a delicate paper sleeve. It was a gold $20 piece with Lady Liberty on one side, a bald eagle flying across the other and, at Liberty’s left, the four digits that made it so valuable: 1933.

The famous “double eagles” from that year were never officially released by the government. Only a few had ever made their way out of federal vaults, and only one had ever been sold publicly, in 2002. The price: $7.6 million.

And there were nine more of them in the safe-deposit box.

But after the Langbord family took the coins to the United States Mint to be authenticated in 2004, they got a rude surprise. The Mint said the coins were genuine and kept them.

The government claims that they are government property stolen from the Mint, most likely in the 1930s, by Mr. Langbord’s grandfather, Israel Switt, a Philadelphia jewelry dealer.

The Langbords went to court and recently won an important ruling. A United States District Court judge has given the government until the end of the month either to give back the coins or go back to court to prove that they were in fact stolen by Mr. Switt, a daunting task after three-quarters of a century.

[RegulatorCountry]

If no one has a legitimate claim upon them other than you, they’re unquestionably yours.

[Polynikes]

“False. The Statute of Limitations is not in play here. If you are in possession of stolen property (again, if that is the case here), there is no time limit. Stolen property is stolen property, one, seven, or a hundred years into the fututre. “

So why didn't the governments of Colombia and Mexico go after Mel Fisher when he found the treasure of the Atocha. I am sure the Spanish didn't have a receipt for the gold and jewels they looted from the from the indigenous population.

[1rudeboy]

Are they stolen?

[1rudeboy]

So why didn't the governments of Colombia and Mexico go after Mel Fisher when he found the treasure of the Atocha. I am sure the Spanish didn't have a receipt for the gold and jewels they looted from the from the indigenous population.

You should inform yourself about those cases. You'd be surprised how many times they end up in court.

[Polynikes]

I know Fisher went to court vs Florida but he won albeit after a long fight to the Supreme Court. When did Fisher go up against Mexico or Colombia, the source of the treasure.

[SunkenCiv]

One of my ancestors was a good doobie and turned in his small golden nest egg when FDR called in all the gold. All those old gold pieces are worth a lot (probably not millions though).