Could newly discovered gold coins be the haul stolen by SF Mint employee in 1901? [GOLD COINS]

DAILY MAIL UK ^ | 02/26/14 | STAFF

[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.

[Uncle Chip]

There is certainly compelling evidence to link the two bounties. According to 1901 reports, 500 coins were stolen by Dimmick - only 73 coins less than the 1,427 discovered at Saddle Ridge.

Somewhere there is a math major, or a numismatist, or a copy editor, or a detective who can make sense of this statement.

[upchuck]

The best and most accurate search is for word(s) from the article title:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/search?s=gold+coins+1901&ok=Search&q=quick&m=all&o=time

Searching for keywords is hit or miss. For example, I hardly ever add keywords to an article I post. And if I did, how would you know which keyword(s) I used?

[gr8eman]

If the state doesn’t claim the gold, they will be paying through the nose in state and federal taxes. I would have been tempted to only sell a few coins at a time and keep the rest hidden.

...in Switzerland!

[Uncle Chip]

And if I did, how would you know which keyword(s) I used?

Try using them and find out --

I put one keyword in the article that I posted -- without looking what do you think it was???

[Drango]

I put one keyword in the article that I posted -- without looking what do you think it was???

Gay?

[Little Ray]

That will teach ‘em to keep their mouths shut.
They should have “found” their cache someplace with less onerous laws, and released them slowly.

[upchuck]

Keywords have their uses. But if your goal is to see if an article is already posted, a search on title words will always be more accurate. Preventing duplicate posts is the main reason title word search exists.

[ops33]

“There is certainly compelling evidence to link the two bounties. According to 1901 reports, 500 coins were stolen by Dimmick - only 73 coins less than the 1,427 discovered at Saddle Ridge.”

Huh?

[the OlLine Rebel]

The article seems to indicate the vast majority were “mint state”. At least, they were apparently in damn good shape, and it is gold, which is basically impervious to corrosion. I don’t recall anything in the article indicating any coins were pretty worn or corroded.

[the OlLine Rebel]

1427-73 = 1354.

Don’t know how that is close to 500 reported stolen. That’s much more!

[the OlLine Rebel]

The hoarde supposedly included coins minted elsewhere. And ‘47 is only a few skips from ‘54.

[the OlLine Rebel]

No, there were many denominations in gold, starting at $5 IIRC. (I have one of those.)

[ErnBatavia]

Wifey is one that will pick up a "lucky penny" whenever she sees one on the ground.....several months ago, leaving a restaurant, she spied and snagged one and dropped it into her pocket.

When we got home, she discovered that it was an almost toally uncirculated 1901 Indian Head - musta been somebody's lucky charm or some such.

[glennaro]

I doubt the "thief's heirs" have a claim any court would consider as the thief never was the lawful owner. (Then again, goofy judges and even goofier juries abound.)

The state -- well, that's another matter entirely. It's a safe bet that the state, desperate for money, will do everything they can and will use all of their vast resources to confiscate it.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Are you sure they weren’t pattern coins? Not “real”, but test types.

[the OlLine Rebel]

I already asked this question, and got a curious reply, to boot.

[Uncle Chip]

what was the reply???

[the OlLine Rebel]

How do you know the word you want will be in titles?

FR is not very user-friendly. It’s the truth. It took me a long time to figure how to use it. Mostly I try my hardest, then give up after a certain amount of time. It’s no wonder so many duplicate articles are posted. Other posters attack original posters as being lazy and stupid, but I’m sure most of them just can’t find what they repeated and decided they weren’t doing anything wrong.

[the OlLine Rebel]

You know what, maybe this was a misprint (there are several in there) and should be 1500 - indeed 73 MORE than 1427.

What convoluted writing!

[the OlLine Rebel]

#53.

I now realize it’s probably all bad writing/editing. Now see #99.