Well, the guy should shift the venue to criminal, because they have probably said or alleged that it was stolen.
If it was a 44 steel, or a 43 copper, neither of those were “authorized” but you don’t see them trying to get the few loose ones of those. Same deal here, how can the government prove it wasn’t a loose planchet? Hell, there’s a guy on the web with one of the actual old presses from Denver and when he overhauled it, it was filled with planchets and misstrikes.
IIRC, there were some 43 coppers that were released. Likewise with the 44 steels. Also the government did not order a recall of those but just stopped the presses so to speak.
Regardless, the government wants this coin and they are going to end up with it. That’s the bottom line.