-OT-So much for the golden opportunity….

[wonkaticket]

Thought this was interesting.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/family-fights-government-over-rare-double-eagle-gold-151853030.html

[atx840]

$80 Million :eek: that's crazy......

Looks like the oddities and errors are also hot items in the coin world, interesting.

[ctownboy]

To me, this is dumb.

When the first 1933 was discovered a few years ago there was a fight and then there was a compromise; the coin would be graded and sold and the government and the owner would split the proceeds. Neither side got all they wanted but neither side had to fight in court about it either.

Now, here is another fight in court which is going to drag on for years and cost a LOT of money.

The simple solution, at lest for me, is to do what was done the first time (since there is a precedent which has been set). Get the coins graded and sell them at a special auction, one each for the next 10 years.

This way, both the government and the family gets some cash and there isn't a lengthy and expensive legal battle.

David

Oh yeah, I would also make it a requirement that whenever one of these coins were sold or otherwise traded hands that the transaction had to be either approved or at least noted by the Treasury. This way there would be a record of where the 11 coins were at all times and who owned them.

[bn2cardz]

The case is over (just this past week), the government won the coins. Claiming they were stolen.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/09/07/rare-double-eagle-coins-should-be-forfeited-to-us-judge/

[botn]

The government has long believed that Switt schemed with a corrupt cashier at the Mint to swipe the coins. They note that the deposit box in which the coins were found was rented six years after Switt's death, and that the family never paid inheritance tax on the coins.

This Switt fella could have benefited from a Lichtman and the family would not have had to go through this. :eek:

[packs]

A smart man knows the coins are stolen and melts them for their gold weight.

[ctownboy]

Now, after reading the link from bn2cardz, I am even more sick.

These rare and valuable coins are now going to be held in Fort Knox for who knows how long, or worse, they are going to be melted down. So, millions of dollars worth of coins are going to be 1) stored away or 2) melted down and their value goes from millions of dollars to whatever an ounce of gold is going for.

The government is in debt and looking to decrease it but then does something like this.

Porsche 959's were illegal to own in this country but people like Bill Gates finally helped to get the law changed and now they can be imported, driven, enjoyed sold and taxed.

The first 1933 Double Eagle was illegal to own but the law was changed and it was sold and the government made a HUGE profit off of it.

Why can't they do it again?

David

[4815162342]

smart ≠ honest

[Ronnie73]

I remember in 1996 coin dealer Jay Parrino was arrested by the fbi for trying to sell one of these coins on the black market. I guess the people in this recent find either didn't know or didn't think the government would take ownership of theirs. It's best to keep any 1933 twenty dollar double eagle finds to yourself.

[Texxxx]

All of the Double Eagles where stolen from the mint. It doesn't really matter how they got out. There are none in private hands that are legal. The only two legal DE's are at the Smithsonian.