US Mint - United States Mint (Mint) Director Paul Hollis today announced that the Mint will display all 11 of its 1933 Double Eagle gold coins together for the first time at the upcoming American Numismatic Association World's Fair of Money in Pittsburgh on August 28.
"Mint history is American history," said Director Hollis. "As America celebrates its Semiquincentennial, we reflect on our Nation's storied past. These 11 coins were minted during a time of hardship and strife, yet nearly a century later, they endure as treasured emblems of growth, resilience, and opportunity."
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In March 1933, as one of the many measures designed to address the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued a Proclamation (followed by subsequent Executive Orders, Regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury, and statutes) prohibiting payment of gold coins. This resulted in the subsequent melting of 445,500 1933-dated Double Eagles struck at the Philadelphia Mint but never issued or released to the public as legal tender. The only 1933-dated specimens to leave the Mint lawfully were two 1933 Double Eagles given to the Smithsonian Institution for preservation in the National Numismatics collection.
A Secret Service investigation in 1944 led to the discovery and recovery, over the next 10 years, of nine stolen pieces that had also been melted. A 10th piece was recovered in 1996, with that case ending in a unique settlement under which that single coin was monetized and issued by the United States Mint and sold at auction in 2002 for millions of dollars, with an additional $20 paid in cash to monetize the piece and render it legal to own. The anonymous purchaser sold the coin again at auction on June 8, 2021, establishing a new record for the world's most valuable coin.
Ten more specimens surfaced in 2004, this time in the possession of the family of the Philadelphia jeweler who had facilitated the distribution of the stolen Double Eagles in the 1930s. Litigation ensued, and in 2011, after a two-week trial, a jury unanimously found in favor of the government.
The judge subsequently issued a declaratory judgment that the 1933 Double Eagles were not lawfully removed from the United States Mint, and as a matter of law, remain the property of the United States.
The Mint's 11th 1933 Double Eagle, displayed here for the first time with the Mint's other 10 specimens, was voluntarily and unconditionally surrendered to the government following the 2011 jury trial by a private citizen who acquired the coin on the open market and, to the government's knowledge, was unaware at the time that private ownership of the piece was unlawful. Like all other 1933 Double Eagles recovered by the United States since 1944, this specimen traces its provenance to that same Philadelphia jeweler.
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