1933 St Gaudens Double Eagles

hard to say who is in the right here as the coins may have been stolen, purchased, or swapped for previous year double eagles; with or without the knowledge of the person in authority.

i can see either side ending with the coins as a benefit to the coin community, and certainly the advertisment of the case from news sites has helped to spread interest and awareness. just another notch in the belt of the most controversial coin

These coins have always been a fascinating story. A much better book in my opinion on the whole 1933 Double Eagle fiasco is titled "Illegal Tender, Gold Greed and the Mystery of the Lost 1933 Double Eagle." Author is David Tripp. It lays out a very well documented and convincing argument based on mint records of the production, storage, distribution for assay testing (in which 9 of the 446 sent were destroyed in testing the remaining 437 returned and accounted for) and subsequent melting of the entire 1933 $20 production run. At no point were any released to the public. The King Farouk specimen is unique in that it was issued an export permit by the US government by an agency that was unaware of the special circumstances of the coin. It was on this ground that the court case for the one example sold in 2002 was based.

FWIW, the order to return the coins was vacated and the case is back before the 3rd circuit for an en banc hearing

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
________
No. 12-4574
_________
ROY LANGBORD; DAVID LANGBORD; JOAN LANGBORD
Plaintiffs-Appellants
v.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY; UNITED STATES
BUREAU OF THE MINT; SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT
OF THE TREASURY; ACTING GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY; DIRECTOR OF THE UNITED STATES
MINT; CHIEF COUNSEL UNITED STATES MINT; DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE
UNITED STATES MINT; JOHN DOE NOS. 1 TO 10 "JOHN DOE" BEING
FICTIONAL FIRST AND LAST NAMES; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Defendants-Appellees
_________
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Third Party Plaintiff
v.
TEN 1933 DOUBLE EAGLE GOLD PIECES; ROY LANGBORD; DAVID
LANGBORD; JOAN LANGBORD
Third Party Defendants
ROY LANGBORD, DAVID LANGBORD, JOAN LANGBORD
Appellants

On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
(District Court No. 2:06-cv-05315)
District Judge: Honorable Legrome D. Davis

PRESENT: McKEE, Chief Judge, AMBRO, FUENTES, SMITH, FISHER,
CHAGARES, JORDAN, HARDIMAN, VANASKIE, SHWARTZ,
KRAUSE, SLOVITER1 and RENDELL2 Circuit Judges

ORDER
A majority of the active judges having voted for rehearing en banc in the above
captioned case, it is ordered that the petition for rehearing is GRANTED. The Clerk of this Court shall list the case for rehearing en banc at the convenience of the Court. The opinion and judgment entered April 17, 2015 are hereby vacated.

By the Court,
s/ Theodore A. McKee
Chief Circuit Judge
Date: July 28, 2015

https://goccf.com/t/236672

If I had remembered this topic was here I would have linked back to it from the new one.