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Feds seize $10M in coins, owner to sue
CNN Money ^ | Aug. 27, 2005 | Reuters

Posted on 08/28/2005 9:32:13 PM PDT by FairOpinion

After a family asks U.S. Mint to authenticate 10 old coins, gov't grabs them. Potential value: $10M.

A Philadelphia antiques dealer plans to sue the U.S. Mint to recover rare gold coins worth millions of dollars that the federal government has seized because it says they were illegally obtained.

Ten "Double Eagle" $20 coins minted in 1933 were discovered in September in a Philadelphia antiques and jewelry store and voluntarily handed by its owners, the Langbord family, to the Mint for authentication.

In June, the Mint confirmed they were the coveted Double Eagles but informed the Langbords that the coins were being sent for safe-keeping to the U.S. Bullion Depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky, because the family had no right to them.

the 10 recently discovered were obtained in 1937 by Israel Switt, an antiques dealer and ancestor of the Langbord family, in whose store the coins were found. Switt died in the 1980s.

Mint officials believe Switt got at least 20 of the coins from a cashier at the Philadelphia Mint who was later convicted of a crime relating to his work there.

A Mint official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said no such proof is needed because the coins were never issued and so always remained government property.

(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: coins; doubleeagle; fedsseizecoins; lawsuit; minttheft; stlengold; stolengoods; stolenmoney; thief; thieves; usmint
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To: Cougar66

Hey Cougar, I ordered one! I have a soft spot in my heart for the Marines. Those boys look damn sharp in dress uniforms! =)


21 posted on 08/28/2005 10:13:33 PM PDT by Just Lori (Trying to reason with a liberal is like sucking spaghetti through a straw.)
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To: FairOpinion

Confiscations of this kind should occur only by court order.


22 posted on 08/28/2005 10:24:04 PM PDT by Tax Government (Put down the judicial insurrection. Contribute to FR.)
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To: Tax Government

Would opinions change if they were your grandfather's coins of a private mint, never released, stolen decades ago and now somebody wanted you to verify that your grandfather minted them?

I need to work on my sentence structure among other things. I can see the government's case if they know that they were stolen.


23 posted on 08/28/2005 10:33:41 PM PDT by Milton Friedman (Free The People!)
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To: Tax Government

When it comes to the parasites in govt, possession is the law.


24 posted on 08/28/2005 10:39:36 PM PDT by agitator (...And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark)
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To: Spanaway Lori

You will love the coin I am sure


25 posted on 08/28/2005 10:42:54 PM PDT by Cougar66 (The only liberal movement is what's in their diapers. .)
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To: FairOpinion

Hmmm...they should have given the gov't only 1 of the coins to evaluate...


26 posted on 08/28/2005 10:43:49 PM PDT by krb (ad hominem arguments are for stupid people)
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To: ColdSteelTalon
And the law must be obeyed even if it is unconstitutional.Think about the capitol punishment of Shadrack, Meshack & Abedigo, the treasonous Rahab, David on the run from his government, Moses & the Israelites against "I said come back here, NOW!" Pharoah, Paul in prison for violations of law etc..

Isn't God Almighty that tells me I've got to obey bad law.

27 posted on 08/28/2005 11:00:02 PM PDT by Lester Moore (islam's allah is Satan and is NOT the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.)
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To: FairOpinion
"After a family asks U.S. Mint to authenticate 10 old coins ..."

Well, that answers the question -- yes, they were authentic.

28 posted on 08/28/2005 11:35:05 PM PDT by robertpaulsen
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To: FairOpinion

Well that's just one plank in the Communist platform: private ownership is outlawed...
actually two...
and laws change according to the wishes of the bureaucrats.


29 posted on 08/28/2005 11:39:07 PM PDT by henderson field
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To: FairOpinion
Well this is more complicated...

These coins were never in circulation. They were stolen from the government Mint. It is stolen property.

What if this was your very valuable property that was stolen 80 years ago.

If your property was found, wouldn't you want it back? And if so, does it really matter who had them prior? It is your property.
30 posted on 08/29/2005 12:20:56 AM PDT by DB (©)
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To: henderson field

These coins were never in circulation. They were stolen directly from the government Mint. They are stolen property. Hardly a "private ownership" issue.


31 posted on 08/29/2005 12:22:43 AM PDT by DB (©)
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To: henderson field

These coins were never in circulation. They were stolen directly from the government Mint. They are stolen property. Hardly a "private ownership" issue.


32 posted on 08/29/2005 12:23:52 AM PDT by DB (©)
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To: henderson field

Sorry for the double post... Computer browser cache glitch...


33 posted on 08/29/2005 12:25:10 AM PDT by DB (©)
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To: FairOpinion

"Seize that antique dealer's store and build a hotel on it! You'll get more taxes."

34 posted on 08/29/2005 2:30:49 AM PDT by SkyPilot
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To: FairOpinion

Technically, the mint doesn't have to give them a dime. Which is sad.


35 posted on 08/29/2005 4:07:40 AM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: Drammach

> But the government admits that "some" coins were, in fact, issued.. and "reclaimed"..

According to what I have read in the coin collectors newspapers, the coins were sent to some regional banks, but were never issued to the public. They were reclaimed from the regional banks.

From what I have read, there was no way for the coins to legally enter circulation. The fact that they exist indicates something illegal happened. We will never know what exactly happened, but someone originally stole them.

The person should hang their defense on the fact that the Feds allowed a previous sale -- as long as they kept half. That sets a precedent. Half of something is better than all of nothing.


36 posted on 08/29/2005 7:47:10 AM PDT by jim_trent
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To: robertpaulsen

There is a lesson in what happened...don't trust government...And carry a big lawyer.


37 posted on 08/29/2005 9:49:31 PM PDT by Tax Government (Put down the judicial insurrection. Contribute to FR.)
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To: ColdSteelTalon
Of course if you believe that the above statement is wrong then the only recourse is resistance.

See tagline.

38 posted on 08/30/2005 3:56:19 PM PDT by softengine (The revolution will be televised.)
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To: FairOpinion

To all you scholarly people that belive the coins are the ownership of the govt. I seem to remember that if a crime was commited you are entitled to due process and innocent until proven guilty.

It's seem the govt. likes to twist and bend the laws to their liking. Was there a crime as the US Mint says. Well let them prove it.


39 posted on 09/07/2005 9:31:09 AM PDT by innocent-one
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