[BradyLS]

About the Saddle Ridge find, from Wikipedia:

“Following the initial discovery of the coins, there was widespread speculation that the hoard represented the discovery of the 1901 theft of $30,000 from the San Francisco Mint by employee Walter Dimmick. Kagin’s and the U.S. Mint ruled out this theory, stating that the Saddle Ridge Hoard is unlikely to be part of the mint heist, due to the diversity in the face value and condition of the coins. On March 4, 2014, The U.S. Mint stated that “[they] do not have any information linking the Saddle Ridge Hoard coins to any thefts at any United States Mint facility”, and “[they’ve] done quite a bit of research, and we’ve got a crack team of lawyers, and trust me, if this was U.S. government property we’d be going after it.”

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

Thanks for posting.

In my post, I called the discovery of the coins the “Saddleback” hoard.....LOL. The Saddleback Valley is in Orange County, Calif. The Saddle Ridge find was in the California Gold Rush Country hours east from the San Francisco area. As a former Californian, I should have known this. That’s what I get for posting late at night!

Anyway, I never believed those coins were from the 1901 theft of $30,000 face value coins from the San Francisco Mint. The guy who stole the coins went to prison....I think at Alcatraz....and if the Saddle Ridge coins were the ones stolen from the Mint, it stand to reason that the thief would have made a bee-line to his hiding place and recovered the coins when he was released from prison.

Also, the Saddle Ridge hoard had several coins minted in the 1830’s at the mint in Dahlonega, Georgia. (Gold was discovered in that area in 1828). It seems unlikely that coins from the San Francisco Mint would have included coins minted at Dahlonega.

Also, I believe the coins stolen from the San Francisco Mint in 1901 were all twenty dollar gold pieces. The Saddle Ridge hoard included gold eagles....$10 coins....as well as $5 gold coins, in addition to the many double eagles....$20 gold coins.

Quite an amazing find overall, with a numismatic value of $10 million.

[SunkenCiv]

• The Saddle Ridge Treasure of U.S. Gold Coins
• According to Donald Kagin, Kagin's has an exclusive arrangement with Amazon.com to sell the coins through their collectibles store. This arrangement is the first major sale of coins made through Amazon. John and Mary have also chosen to use the funds to cover their personal debt and donate to several local charities. They have additionally chosen to retain some of the coins for family heirlooms and keepsakes.
  
  Following the initial discovery of the coins, there was widespread speculation that the hoard represented the discovery of the 1901 theft of $30,000 from the San Francisco Mint by employee Walter Dimmick. Kagin's and the U.S. Mint ruled out this theory, stating that the Saddle Ridge Hoard is unlikely to be part of the mint heist, due to the diversity in the face value and condition of the coins. On March 4, 2014, The U.S. Mint stated that " do not have any information linking the Saddle Ridge Hoard coins to any thefts at any United States Mint facility", and " done quite a bit of research, and we've got a crack team of lawyers, and trust me, if this was U.S. government property we'd be going after it."
  
  Other disregarded theories contend that the hoard is a hidden stash of gold buried by Jesse James, or loot taken by Black Bart, who was known for robbing stagecoaches. A theory has also been advanced that the hoard was part of a treasure supposedly hidden by the Knights of the Golden Circle, to be used to fund a second Civil War. The predominant theory attributes the cache to an unknown individual who chose to bury the coins rather than trust the banks to protect his wealth. While the couple who found the coins have remained anonymous and the location of the find is undisclosed, several individuals have attempted to claim the gold coins or a share of the profits, asserting that the money belonged to one of their relatives or associates. -- WikiPedia
• Keyword: saddleridgehoard