Posted on 02/26/2014 7:49:29 PM PST by BunnySlippers
The mysterious haul of gold coins discovered by a Northern California couple while out walking their dog – and valued at $10 million – may well be a previously undiscovered bounty that an employee of the San Francisco Mint was convicted of stealing in 1901.
The couple, who haven’t been named, stumbled across the haul of 1,427 rare, mint-condition gold coins, nearly all dating from 1847 to 1894, buried in the shadow of an old tree on their Gold Country property in February 2013.
The face value of the Saddle Ridge Hoard, as they’ve called it, added up to about $27,000, but some of the coins are so rare that experts say they could fetch nearly $1million apiece.
The couple went public with their amazing discovery on Tuesday, and treasure enthusiasts have been quick to suggest that the coins could be the same ones stolen by Walter Dimmick, an employee of the San Francisco Mint in the late 1800′s, reports Altered Dimensions. Dimmick began working at the mint in 1898 and by 1901 was trusted with the keys to the vaults – until an audit revealed a $30,000 shortage in $20 Double Eagle coins, six bags in all.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Why would you ever report it on your taxes?
No, just because dates are old does not mean it was over decades.
Especially with banks or certainly MINTS. They store old things in “mint” condition for ages. Especially if the banks don’t exchange for them.
My mother foolishly spent a bunch of Morgan silver dollars left from her grandparents, who had many bank bags of them. They had stopped making them after 1921, period.
I’ve personally found 1 1901 $20. I have a friend that bagged 16 $20’s and a $10 on a grading site. Another guy I know got a spectacular key date $10 worth $30,000-$35,000 a few years back.
I found mine with the ole “Mark I Eyeball”, that irked my detecting buddies to no end...
They’re still out there! They usually end up being where you find them ;-)
‘cause you’re more likely than not going to have a nice little Form 1099 mailed to the IRS and yourself when you do it unless you do it FTF for cash...
Not clear on that. The article said “they match the denominations”. Also said Dimmick was audited and found to be missing Double Eagles - doesn’t mean he wasn’t missing others. He could have just mostly stolen those and had that denomination as the first audit - revealing a massive problem not needing further review to send to the slammer.
Am I the only 1 who sees some wrong math here?
“500 coins were stolen by Dimmick - only 73 coins less than the 1,427”
Huh? I’d say that’s a HUGE mismatch.
This is common practice. Indeed identifying the “pedigree” of the coin can add to its value.
This has been going on for a while.
Story says they were found last year, and clearly they’ve been busy. PCGS already graded and slabbed them. Already selling them. Wow.
I’d be very careful about the selling. When the gov comes down on them they will have to account for everything they had, and what they made. Easier to just present the stash than the cash made from it.
If it’s stolen property its evidence of a crime and will become “state property”. Mark my words this is the type of deception they will use to steal the coins and then divert them to whatever local politician pays the most so he can add it to his collection.
In the detecting world, we know that coins dug up in the pristine state circulated very little if at all, we call them a "fresh drop", i.e. it was dropped fairly close to the time it was minted and placed in circulation.
This dime below was a pretty "fresh drop" (the pennies don't do real well in the soil type the dime was found in, other places they come out nice though)
Memo to self:
If I ever find a hoard of gold coins, immediately charter a private jet to Switzerland.
When your net worth steadily climbs over ten million bucks the IRS will eventually take notice.
If you sell to reputable dealer he will keep records.
Selling to anything but will get you noticed by the wrong people who will show up at your house and the ensuing negotiation could end up with you and your family in a shallow grave.
Maybe Walter was selling them a few at a time and got caught when he had 1473 of them left.
You could trade them for Bitcoins.
Cool! I did some work at a site locating old tanks, debris, etc. out in New York. They dug one of the areas up and figured it was an old outhouse location with all sorts of stuff in it. They pulled up old bottles, coins and buttons from the Revolutionary War era. (I should have asked for a cut!).
I knew the state of California would figure out a way to get their hands on that treasure. Idiots should have kept their mouths shut and moved to Texas.
They could have then ‘dug up’ their treasure on their new ranch in the middle of nowhere, and no one would have been the wiser. Watch and see if they aren’t screwed out of the whole lot.
hopefully they “lost” a few coins.....
They should have kept their mouth shut.
++
Why would the San Francisco mint have any gold coins dated 1847? That does not pass the smell test.
It's quite possible Dimmick stole more than the SF Mint THOUGHT he stole, and that might account for the difference in quantity/type stolen vs. that found.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.