Can you believe this crap??? Unbelievable.

sky355

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Judge says ten rare gold coins worth $80 million belong to the U.S. and not family who obtained them decades ago in 'uncertain circumstances' | Mail Online

A judge has ruled that ten rare gold coins worth $80 million belong to the U.S. government and not to a family that had sued the U.S. Treasury, claiming it had illegally seized them.

The disputed coins are among the rarest and most valuable in the world. Known as Double Eagles, each coin was originally worth $20 when they were minted in 1933, although one sold for $7.6 million at a Sotheby's auction in 2002.
The most value gold coin in the world: The famed 1933 Double Eagle $20 gold coin, one sold for $7.6 million at a Sotheby's auction in 2002

The most value gold coin in the world: The famed 1933 Double Eagle $20 gold coin, one sold for $7.6 million at a Sotheby's auction in 2002

The coins were originally commissioned by then President Theodore Roosevelt because who wanted American coins to be more beautiful.

More than 445,000 Double Eagles were minted, but the President then banned the payout of gold coins to combat a financial crisis. Most of the coins were melted into gold bars before they entered circulation, although some have surfaced over the years.


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The Justice Department argued that a cashier at the Philadelphia Mint in the 1930s was the likely source of coins that left the Mint under uncertain circumstances and ended up in the hands of local coin dealer Israel Switt, who died in 1990.

In 2003, Switt's family, his daughter, Joan Langbord, and two grandsons drilled open a safety deposit box that had belonged to him and found the ten coins.
Mystery: The coins left the Philadelphia Mint in uncertain circumstances and ended up in the hands of local coin dealer Israel Switt, seen here in 1944

Mystery: The coins left the Philadelphia Mint in uncertain circumstances and ended up in the hands of local coin dealer Israel Switt, seen here in 1944

When the Langbords gave the coins to the Philadelphia Mint to get them authenticated, the government seized them without compensating the family.

The Langbords sued, saying the coins belonged to them.

In 2011, a jury decided that the coins belonged to the government, but the family appealed.
The Double Eagle $20 gold coin originates from the days of the Great Depression, but never entered circulation

The Double Eagle $20 gold coin originates from the days of the Great Depression, but never entered circulation

Last week, Judge Legrome Davis of the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania, affirmed that decision, saying 'the coins in question were not lawfully removed from the United States Mint.'

Barry Berke, an attorney for the Langbords, told ABCNews.com, 'This is a case that raises many novel legal questions, including the limits on the government's power to confiscate property. The Langbord family will be filing an appeal and looks forward to addressing these important issues before the 3rd Circuit.'
President Theodore Roosevelt commissioned the Double Eagle because he wanted American coins to be more beautiful

President Theodore Roosevelt commissioned the Double Eagle because he wanted American coins to be more beautiful

The family said in its suit that in another seizure of the 1933 double eagle, the government split the proceeds with the owner after the coin sold for $7.59 million in 2002.

The ruling could clear the way for the Mint to now decide where to store or possibly display the coins, which have been kept at the U.S. Bullion Depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky, since being confiscated several years ago.

The Mint is assessing the best way to securely exhibit the coins and expects to announce plans in the near future, a spokesman said.

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Judge Says $80M Coins Belong to US

Sorry if this is posted in wrong place I felt like this was definitely something Treasurenet would want to see. This has to be 1 of the biggest robbery's of all times.
 

Why did you even tell the government about your find?!?
They don't tell us about all the money that they find!


Sent via: iPhone 4gS (all pics as well) "keep on swingin'!"
 

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Wasnt my find I was just reading up on the news and found this article. I didnt think Double eagles were worth that much? Last I saw on American Diggers I thought he let that double eagle go for 25k. Maybe that was a different coin.
 

yeah i heard this story today. bummer
 

These double eagles are very rare. Almost all of the coins in this series were ordered destroyed, that is why they are so valuble and so contested. Their mistake was actually sending them to the US mint to be validated, and the mint seized them. Yes, there are others out there, but this family happened to come into coins that they couldn't prove were purchased legally. By the same token, the US government could throw out circumstantial evidence that they were stolen. That's why they will keep losing this case.
 

sky355 said:
Wasnt my find I was just reading up on the news and found this article. I didnt think Double eagles were worth that much? Last I saw on American Diggers I thought he let that double eagle go for 25k. Maybe that was a different coin.

Oohhhh. I see said the blind man!

Sent via: iPhone 4gS (all pics as well) "keep on swingin'!"
 

Gotta spread the wealth.
 

80 million dollars. Now that is enough to feed 16 children in Africa or 12 in Israel* depending on the exchange rate. Could adopt 3 dogs and one turtle from the shelter. Or finance a Presidential Campaign.

*the 12 Israel children are not related to Isreal Switt the local coin dealer mentioned in the article.
 

Hey, lighten up everyone. The government is going to need that money to pay my social security, my medicare, my medicaid and my food stamps so I can go treasure hunting or mall walking when I retire.
 

Now you see why i never tell or show pictures of any thing i find.......... I do not need problems or to feed my ego......
 

Keppy, ya gotta show a pic of your finds someday man. But only the normal stuff, dont show pics of the gold coin cache you found buried in the stone fence in the back forty, that probably would not be a good idea. Just try to sell those piecemeal on ebay, that should be safe.
 

That story is several months old already :laughing7:
 

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