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This coin and the circumstances around it are very interesting also. How can they make a claim it was never released if they "re-called" them! Also stating "gave some to U.S congressman"!? What a crock! Now anyone who posses' one is under scrutiny by the FBI and the likes. BS! These Experimental coins will soon have there own category among collectors. They are my favorite, and the rarest of the rare, given as gifts, miss-placed, taken as souveniers or found etc..... You would think the feds have more important issues than missplaced coins! I would have never gave them something that was mine, and far well beyond the statues of limitations, and possesion being 9/10 of the law. But the smithsonian is above the law I guess. I can't believe they stole a coin from an heir of a mint supervisor and a policeman! MEN IN BLACK lol
So many misconceptions in one paragraph.
"How can they make a claim it was never released if they "re-called" them!"
They weren't "released" they were distributed to the Legislators on the committee that was studying the proposed legislation that would have authorized them so that they could see what the proposed coin would look and feel like. This is common practice. After the legislation was tabled the Mint asked for them back (recalled them). Some were not returned.
"Also stating "gave some to U.S congressman"!?"
This is a mis-statement. They were shown/passed around to a group of congressmen for viewing, they were not GIVEN to any of them.
"These Experimental coins will soon have there own category among collectors."
They already do.
"I would have never gave them something that was mine, and far well beyond the statues of limitations, and possesion being 9/10 of the law."
They aren't YOURS, being past the statute of limitations only means that you can't be charged for stealing them, and as far as possession being 9/10 ths of the law, stolen property always remains the property of the person or organization it was stolen from. Valid title can not pass from one person to another on stolen goods. (If I stole your collection and 20 years from now they were discovered in the hands of my heirs, the statute of limitations would be long past. Do you think you would want your stolen coins returned to you? Or would you just say "Forget about it, it's been a long time."? )
"But the smithsonian is above the law I guess. "
The Smithsonian is owned by the government so the coins they have are in the hands of their legal owner.
"I can't believe they stole a coin from an heir of a mint supervisor and a policeman! "
They didn't steal it, it belonged to the government not the heir. And they didn't even physically take it, the heir gave it back to them.
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So how can the Authorities justify seizing one coin and not another from the public,
The same way a cop justifies stopping one speeder and not another. Laws have always been selectively and inconsistently enforced. You want them to stop and ticket EVERYONE on the Interstate?
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Or all the error coins and test strikes, or off-metal coins period, never authorizied to leave?
At one point in our history the Mint did precisely that, they held that ANY coin that did not conform to the standards set forth in the Coinage acts of 1873 and 74 (including mint errors and patterns) were illegal and they did do confiscations from collections put up for sale. There is also legislation that all pattern coins struck by the government since 1896 are the property of the US Government and my not be legally owned by private citizens. This law is also selectively enforced and there are some pattern coins after 1896 in private hands that have been publicly sold without the government going after them.
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Posted 02/26/2017 9:19 pm
