Cool Story

[birdman42]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

If I made a find like that, I wouldn't tell anyone and just sell a few at a time, making sure I stayed under the radar. Why did these people go public with it?

A couple of the coins might go for more than a million each at auction. Kind of hard to stay under the radar with items like that.

Originally Posted by edjs

Because these coins were possibly stolen from the US mint in San Francisco, so they still belong to the Government.

Hooray for social media! A spokesperson for the Mint says they have no records of such a theft. (It's possible those records were destroyed in the 1906 earthquake.) And, as the article says, the items in the hoard don't match up with what was supposedly stolen. A "mint-sealed bag" would have contained all newly-minted coins. I've owned both mint-sealed bags of coins and coins in a bag that came from the mint. Not the same thing.

Bill

[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by birdman42

A couple of the coins might go for more than a million each at auction. Kind of hard to stay under the radar with items like that.


Hooray for social media! A spokesperson for the Mint says they have no records of such a theft. (It's possible those records were destroyed in the 1906 earthquake.) And, as the article says, the items in the hoard don't match up with what was supposedly stolen. A "mint-sealed bag" would have contained all newly-minted coins. I've owned both mint-sealed bags of coins and coins in a bag that came from the mint. Not the same thing.

Bill

I wouldn't sell the million dollar ones ( I wasn't aware there were rarities in the collection) for a very long time. I would start from the bottom up.

Regarding why nobody ever came back to claim them, there could be a simple answer: he died before he had a chance to return.

[frankbmd]

Regarding why nobody ever came back to claim them, there could be a simple answer: he died before he had a chance to return.

Maybe it was Charley, Barry. He could have used one of those coins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg33Q1aV1wQ

[jhs5120]

Even if the couple was able to spread out the sale of these coins over a span of 30 years, it would be hard to account for an extra $10 million in earnings without raising any questions (especially if your regular income is <$100k).

It's much safer to legally earn $6 million than illegally earn $10 million. When you become a millionaire overnight, it's petty to nickel and dime the IRS.

[barrysloate]

Frank- since I went to Boston University, I am actually well aware of that song. You have to pay the MTA fare as you exit the train, which is unusual.

Jason- not suggesting one should avoid paying taxes, but simply sell a little at a time not to raise eyebrows. Imagine if you bought an original shoebox of T206's and there were six Wagners in it. You wouldn't sell all six on the first day. You would devise a better strategy, and sell them off over time. That's all. And you wouldn't run to the media and ask them to do a story about your find. You would recognize it's better to keep it private. No big deal either way, but that's how I would do it.

[jhs5120]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Jason- not suggesting one should avoid paying taxes, but simply sell a little at a time not to raise eyebrows. Imagine if you bought an original shoebox of T206's and there were six Wagners in it. You wouldn't sell all six on the first day. You would devise a better strategy, and sell them off over time. That's all. And you wouldn't run to the media and ask them to do a story about your find. You would recognize it's better to keep it private. No big deal either way, but that's how I would do it.

If we want to get technical, the couple owes the taxes regardless of whether they sell the coins or not. If the coins are valued at $10 million, the couple will still need to pay taxes based on those earnings. Just as if I found 6 Wagners, I would owe the government around $2 million come tax day so I would be forced to sell at least two of them immediately to pay what is owed.

If we're strictly talking about the selling strategy I have no opinion (I do not know the coin market).

I will however, compare this to the Black Swamp Find. The family went to the media, it was a great story and created a lot of buzz in the card community. All-in-all, I think it helped their sales a bit.

I would imagine these coins will reach record prices (I don't know why they are using amazon as their venue though).

[Peter_Spaeth]

Right, that's what happened to the woman who won the T206 Wagner in the Walmart sweepstakes, she had to sell to afford the taxes.

[ctownboy]

1) I saw the story last week and also thought it was cool.

2) As far as who the original owner was, I think it was either a store owner or some other business owner who, over a period of years, took their excess profits and went to the bank periodically and bought gold and hoarded it.

3) Selling the coins on Amazon, imho, is not the right way to do it. Heritage Auctions has major coin sales during the year and they get high prices. I am pretty sure if the couple had went to them and said they want zero commission on the sale of coins that might be valued at $10 million they would have gotten it.

David

[packs]

I remember not too long ago there was a guy who claimed to have dug up buried treasure in his back yard only for it to turn out that he had stolen the items and came up with the story to explain how he'd come into possession of them.

Hope this is not one of those stories.

Here it is: http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/04...find-treasure/

[thehoodedcoder]

Originally Posted by jhs5120

If we want to get technical, the couple owes the taxes regardless of whether they sell the coins or not. If the coins are valued at $10 million, the couple will still need to pay taxes based on those earnings. Just as if I found 6 Wagners, I would owe the government around $2 million come tax day so I would be forced to sell at least two of them immediately to pay what is owed.

If we're strictly talking about the selling strategy I have no opinion (I do not know the coin market).

I will however, compare this to the Black Swamp Find. The family went to the media, it was a great story and created a lot of buzz in the card community. All-in-all, I think it helped their sales a bit.

I would imagine these coins will reach record prices (I don't know why they are using amazon as their venue though).

well, technically they didn't have to pay taxes on it when it was in the ground on their land. now they have to pay taxes on it since it was removed from their land?

what happens if put it back in the ground where it was? if you pulled an antique arrow head out of the ground and never sold it, you would have to pay taxes on it? I don't really think so if it came from the land that you already bought and paid taxes on.

kevin

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Frank- since I went to Boston University, I am actually well aware of that song. You have to pay the MTA fare as you exit the train, which is unusual.

Not since I have lived here (1981).

[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Not since I have lived here (1981).

I lived in Boston 1969-1972, and that's how it worked then. I guess they changed the way you pay.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

i lived in boston 1969-1972, and that's how it worked then. I guess they changed the way you pay.

lol.