Posted on 03/04/2014 11:01:21 AM PST by GrandJediMasterYoda
$10M Gold Coin Hoard Found in Yard May Have Been Stolen From Mint
A California couple who found a stash of buried gold coins valued at $10 million may not be so lucky after all. The coins may have been stolen from the US Mint in 1900 and thus be the property of the government, according to a published report.
The San Francisco Chronicle's website reported that a search of the Haithi Trust Digital Library provided by Northern California fishing guide Jack Trout, who is also a historian and collector of rare coins, turned up the news of the theft.
The California couple, who have not been identified, spotted the edge of an old can on a path they had hiked many times before several months ago. Poking at the can was the first step in uncovering a buried treasure of rare coins estimated to be worth $10 million.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Yes it was. So let the law play out.
Statute of Limitations, BTW, refers to criminal liability, not transfer of property rights. I believe that even if I hide my ill-gotten gains till after the SoL runs out, I still don’t have a legal right to the property I stole.
The relevant law here is probably that regarding “treasure trove,” which goes in the common law all the way back to pre-Norman times in England. Under common law the sovereign owned the rights to ALL treasure trove in the land.
Sovereign rights transferred to each state at independence, so in some states common law still applies. Most have, however, modified common law by statute. Various states assign property rights in treasure trove to the finder, the landowner, the state, the county, or the township. Or split it up among these various entities in different ways.
No idea how CA law applies specifically, or whether federal law trumps if the coins were originally federal property, which is likely.
I specifically direct you to the words, "if it is true."
They would have already paid taxes to have those coins in hand.
I don’t by the stolen coin theory. To rob that from the military and then just bury it? Makes no sense except to the US government that wants the coin.
Yes, on the crime. But stolen property is stolen and it belongs to the original owner.
Example: Art work stolen during WWII. Still being returned to the rightful owner after 70 years.
But I never would have told anyone I had it.
I believe the weight of the gold was worth only 27,000 it was the rarity of
the coins that brought the REAL value!!
I responded to the sum of your comment, not a portion of it.
[ there are statutes of limitations ]
Only for crimes concerning the pitiful little sheep citizens, for FedGov, the only statue of limitations is the end of time itself...
Fairly often a thief hides the stuff, then never makes it back to collect it. Most often because he’s either in clink or dead.
After 115 years I would HARDLY call it stealing this was written off by the
bank and I am sure insurance was PAID! At this point the GOVERNMENT
has NO business taking this from them!!! You want to call it stealing then
YES it’s OK!!!”
Yep. I could find great ranch location with plenty of water and good hunting for that kind of loot.
I think and person legally owned that and buried it. Later died from a disease quickly or were old when they died and forgot to tell relatives about it.
I think and person legally owned that and buried it. Later died from a disease quickly or were old when they died and forgot to tell relatives about it.
When you find gold, you need to melt it down. I don’t care how old the coins are. They may have enormous historical value (especially in europe or the middle east) but if they are distinguishable in any way, you’ll lose them.
This has happened before.
I would appreciate you or anybody on this forum explaining why two rational people who had the foresight to line up a broker to sell the coins would announce their find before selling them — even announcing the exact number of coins they found that matched the exact number of coins that were stolen.
The easiest way I can describe the status of stolen property is, even if the insurance company paid out (probably not the case here, if the facts as presented are correct), the insurance company owns the property.
Maybe they'll find another stash . . . Lessons Learned
Perhaps these people should have done the same. Unfortunately the loss to history would be immense but then the US will probably melt these coins down anyway.
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.