Court Reclaims 10 1933 St Gaudens Double Eagles

When the Swift family notified the government about the existence of the coins they made their first big mistake. I wonder if they talked to a good lawyer first? Maybe they should have put them in a Swiss bank vault first and then done their research? I feel for the family because they did have the coins for 80 years and what will the government do with them? The family was honest and look what they got. That is like being pulled over for a traffic violation by the police and informing them you have a concealed weapon and a permit and you get shot for your troubles. If the Swift family had never informed the government of the existence of the coins the value would be irrelevant since they would officially not exist. But could they have been sold overseas or anywhere outside the US? I think the coins should be sold at auction and the family get some portion of the proceeds IMO. This is splitting the baby, but that is more just than the USA just keeping the coins they never knew about in the first place.

If I may voice my opinion, the Switt family and by extension the Langford family were never honest about the coins. Israel Switt repeatedly denied to federal investigators that he had, or had had, or knew of any 1933 double eagles but in the ongoing investigations in the 1940's and 50's, all the known coins were linked back to him as the original source. The heirs claim they found these coins in a safe deposit box but the box had been opened by the Langford's years after Israel died. No reasonable person can believe they had a pouch with 10 $20 gold pieces in it and didn't know they had put it in the box. I believe, my opinion, that they felt they could strike a deal with the feds and get at least some of the coins legalized as a result of the favorable King Farouk specimen ruling. At $7mil apiece they took their chances.
For anyone interested in further research, may I suggest the book "Illegal Tender" by David Tripp. Well researched, well documented and really interesting.

maybe someone in the government is a coin collector and really wanted one of these badly for himself. Imo these coins only exist because of the safe keeping of the owner for so many years and if they have to forget them because of the court ruling.( which seems highly unfair. ) they should be ordered by the courts to be melted as by law they were originally suppose to be , before being returned as a lump of gold to the government.

Put em in the Smitty along with a story of the robbery and eventual recovery.

That would work !

You remember the story of a T-Rex named SUE. The guys that discovered the fossil ended up in prison and government got the bones.

That is the government case indeed. PBS must have been lying. What fossil did this guy Larson steal? PBS had a show about this case on "NOVA" I think. Who resolved this case. I understood from the show that a Native American gave Larson permission to dig fossils on what he said was his property. The feds said is was government property. You are saying all the fuss about SUE was just a civil matter? I don't believe that. Isn't Sue at Smithsonian today, so government got the bones and the guy who found SUE got prison. Which facts are not correct?

For one, it is at the Field Museum in Chicago which is either a private nonprofit or is owned by the city of Chicago (I'm having a hard time figuring this out). Even if owned by the city, that is very different than being owned by the US government. Regardless, the vast majority of its funding comes from non-governmental sources. They paid over $8 million at auction for it. Any private buyer could have done the same thing.

The government got involved because the land was held in trust by the US government. A lengthy court battle determined it belonged to the Native American man that claimed ownership. I find it HIGHLY unlikely that anyone would sell an $8 million dollar fossil for $5000. Maybe Larson should have written up a clear bill of sale if he really thought he was paying $5000 for the skeleton. Given that a court didn't believe him and that he was convicted of other fraudulent fossil dealings I find his story highly suspect.

You are asking me to tell you what facts are not correct but you haven't bothered to look this up yourself. You are going by what you remember of some documentary, parts of which you have clearly remembered incorrectly. I'm not trying to be mean, just asking that if you are challenging my assertions please take the time to verify what you can on your own.