Posted on 04/18/2015 7:29:36 AM PDT by Kid Shelleen
A family was awarded the rights to 10 rare gold coins possibly worth $80 million or more on Friday after a U.S. appeals court overturned a jury verdict.
U.S. Department of the Treasury officials insist the $20 Double Eagles were stolen from the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia before the 1933 series was melted down when the country went off the gold standard. They argued that Joan Langbord and her sons cannot lawfully own the coins, which she said she found in a family bank deposit box in 2003.
Langbord's father, jeweler Israel Switt, had dealings with the Mint in the 1930s and was twice investigated over his coin holdings. A jury in 2012 sided with the governmen
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
innocent until proven guity
"Mommy says that every time P-Marlowe posts something like this, another government bureaucrat's head explodes."
Hat-tip to It's A Wonderful Life.
My limited understanding of the 1993 coins are that they were never released into circulation.
In my humble opinion, the law banning the possession of gold and gold coins was and would continue to be an illegal law. But in the case of the 1933 double eagles, they were never released into circulation. By definition, that would mean none could be legally held regardless of the gold ban law.
An older acquaintance of mine told me that in those days when armored cars were less available than today, the government appealed to extremely prominent businessmen to help them transport the gold to Fort Knox with their companies’ armored cars and guards. Her grandfather was an industrialist who was among those chosen. Her grandfather told her that the only truck that mysteriously went missing and never showed up at Fort Knox with its gold was the one proffered by Joseph P. Kennedy.
“Brief articles never give you as much information as you want.”
Unfortunately true.
Thanks.
The coins were returned because the government failed to follow legal procedures?
The government busted for not following the law?
That must not apply to the Oval Office.
I haven’t heard anything about the SF find lately, but for a short time there were discussions about a possible link to an unsolved theft from the San Francisco mint ages ago. Last I heard at least some of the coins predated the theft and were worn, showing they’d been circulated (not aged in place?)and any link to the theft was discounted. Bottom line (and it’s a BIG bottom line) last I heard, they get to keep them.
So, if I say, steal your car. How long do I have to hold onto it before it becomes mine?
This couple just showed the whole country that if you fine treasure buried in your back yard you should be forthright and honest and turn in the empty cans.
i guess, the goons are goin’ to give back their bonuses on that caper.
Thanks for this. It clarifies things.
Were they proven stolen? Is there a record of when they were stolen? Is there proof they were illegally obtained? Is there a date of when they went missing? Were any of the people who possessed the coins when they were confiscated alive when the coins went missing? Can the government prove they had legal possession of the coins when they went missing? Will the government come for my early half dollars?
The Link goes to horse race results.
finders keepers
losers weepers
I too understood it as you say.
The federal government has STOLEN at least $25 million in recent years from persons never convicted and in many case,never even alleged to have committed a crime-it is called “assest forfeiture”.The government doesn’t return that money,either.
As also said, how many of us could prove today that everything we own was legally acquired? Do you keep the receipts for every purchase you every made? Do you document every gift ever received?
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.