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 Replies: 40 / Views: 4,475 |
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Valued Member
United States
60 Posts |
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - July 20, 2011 (WPVI) -- A jury has decided that a set of rare gold coins found in a bank deposit box rightfully belongs to the U.S. government.
The decision Wednesday caps an unusual civil case that combined history, coin collecting and whether the set of rare $20 "double eagles" should have ever let the U.S. Mint in 1933.
Federal prosecutors had asserted that the coins never circulated when the country went off the gold standard. Most of the batch was instead melted down.
But Joan Langbord, the daughter of a Philadelphia jeweler, said she found the 10 coins in her father's bank deposit bank after he died. She said that her father could have acquired them legally, perhaps through a trade of gold scrap.
One 1933 double eagle sold for $7.6 million in 2002.
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Valued Member
United States
397 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
374 Posts |
i watched a tv special on this on the history channel. Not this story but the story behind the coins. Her father and his partner had bought the coins supposedly from a person at the mint. I belive there was 20 of the coins that were removed and replaced with a different year. Then those coins were melted. the goverment should sell them and put it towards the 300 trillion debt!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1080 Posts |
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the goverment should sell them and put it towards the 300 trillion debt! That's a better plan than I've heard from DC yet. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
Proper decision, crooks and their relatives have no right to stolen property. As for the coins, they should be loaned to the ANA and Federal Reserve museums for public display. They should definitely NOT go back to Fort Knox to collect dust. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2602 Posts |
I have to agree, I think this case was decided correctly. Switt was questioned by the Feds in the 1930s and claims he doesn't know anything about whereabouts of the 10 missing 1933 double eagles. Then, wow decades later they are in the family's safe deposit box and now they should legitimately own them? Ummm, I don't think so!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
860 Posts |
Yes, it was the best and most ethical decision.
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Valued Member
United States
335 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1348 Posts |
I wonder if the family got anyhting out of them. I would hope they would at least get paid the Melt Value of the coin
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Valued Member
United States
138 Posts |
This guy Switt was a slimey crook, end of story.
He lied and hustled and stole his whole life.
I live near Philly and had dealings with this creep and his family 30 years ago.
This may be a first, when I support the US Gov't against the "little guy"
Correct decision.
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Valued Member
United States
134 Posts |
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I wonder if the family got anyhting out of them. I would hope they would at least get paid the Melt Value of the coin Why, it's stolen property. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2651 Posts |
I do have faith in our justice system...it is the best in the world. In some nations the government would have just shot the owners of the coins...took them and then would just go about their business. Yeah...I kinda root for the underdog...but what is right is right. I think they will end up in the Smithsonian...its still a cool story and history.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7840 Posts |
I know of at least one person who is thrilled about the outcome of this...the only legal owner of the 1933 Double Eagle that went for what...7 something million. If the others do go public, his double eagle will plummet in value.
What else could the gov't do? Put them on display for the public to see? I agree to sell/auction them and apply the money towards the National Debt!
Edited by oih82w8
07/21/2011 12:34 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
509 Posts |
Switt was twice investigated for illegally possessing gold coins in the 1930s and 1940s. He surrendered many of the coins, but was never prosecuted because the statute of limitations had run out, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero said to Associated Press. So what has happened all of a sudden to this "statute of limitations" ? I guess that means you cannot be prosecuted but don't get to keep the goodies? But then again, if that applies today then it would have applied back in the 40's; confiscation sans prosecution.
I do not hold Switt's heirs accountable for any theft that may have occured. Switt's heirs openly and in good faith went to the Treasury Department to have the coins authenticated. Had they thought themselves guilty of criminal activity/intent or culpability I find it hard to believe they would have acted in such a manner. And by the way, theft has not yet been shown. Going to the link provided by zookr above you can see the jury's decision simply declared the Treasury Department had properly taken possession of the coins. Nothing more. Ownership is still yet to be determined by the presiding judge.
Take a look at some of the misdeeds of some of America's oldest and richest families. If the misdeeds of some of those patriarchs could be visited upon their heirs, most of them would today be penniless. To coin a phrase (pun intended), this bestirs my "reguritural proclivities" when I see the little guy getting stomped on. If the US Government is so concerned, let them first go after the 2.6 trillion gone missing in the Pentagon; unaccounted for and lost. Or the 6 trillion unaccounted for in Iraq. Meaningful sums.
Yes in my opinion (and all of you seem to disagree) they are stomping on the little guy. Why? Because they can. Not so easy stomping on the big guys or the patriarchs. I think the question of morality here needs to be looked at from BOTH sides.
Edited by Sidekick-CA
07/21/2011 12:54 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2335 Posts |
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I do not hold Switt's heirs accountable for any theft that may have occured. Neither do I, but if some dirtbag stole my car(or whatever) & died before I got it back that doesn't mean it suddenly becomes the heirs property. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3592 Posts |
By law, stolen property is just that....much as I distrust the government,I think they were right in taking the coins back and it has nothing to do with the little guy, it was a matter of opportunity.
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Replies: 40 / Views: 4,475 |
Posted 07/20/2011 4:33 pm
