family finds rare gold coins. ask the treasury to authenticate them. MORONS!

[Zeze]

They should be sued for every possible detail in the case, from having stolen goods to hiding and helping a known criminal (their dad). And since it's a whole family try to get then convicted as a 'criminal organization' so they can be stripped of all belongings as 'criminal earnings'.

 

[OutHouse]

^ for update.

 

[wirednuts]

i would be fighting too if it was worth 80 million!

 

[Fenixgoon]

I have followed this story since the start, and actually the family has been pretty shrewd about handling it. There was no doubt the coins were real, but they would be seized by the government if there was any attempt to sell them. The one and only 1933 Double Eagle that IS blessed by the government to be in private hands was first seized in a sting operation when it was being sold in a private transaction. So the family had no opportunity to do anything unless the coins were ruled legal to own.

Handing them over for "authentication" provided a way to get a court to rule that the government could not prove they were stolen, and that would open the door to being able to sell them openly (realistically, they might go for $2-3 million each, not $8 million). They knew the government would not give the coins back, so they could go to court to force the return of the coins. If that happened, that would then resolve the "legal to own" issue.

The family has some very smart expert witnesses on their side, who have done extensive research in the National Archives. They believe they can show there was a window of time where the coins could have been legitimitely obtained from the Mint prior to FDR's order to stop issuing gold coins, and have government documents to back it up. They don't have documents that prove that the coins were obtained legitimitely, but they believe they can show it was possible. If they can create that reasonable doubt, they might win.

if they only had to convince a judge, i could see that being quite possible and obviously a very smart legal tactic.

but a jury of "your peers"..christ, they recently ruled apple could patent a rectangle with rounded edges. good luck having that make sense to them.

 

[Wreckem]

if they only had to convince a judge, i could see that being quite possible and obviously a very smart legal tactic.

but a jury of "your peers"..christ, they recently ruled apple could patent a rectangle with rounded edges. good luck having that make sense to them.

This wasn't a criminal case, it was a civil case. The govts burden of proof was only a preponderance of the evidence. Doesn't take much to meet that in a case like this. I mean its a more likely than not standard. With the plaintiffs not offering evidence they were legitimately obtained, only that they could be obtained, they stood no shot.

And on appeals nothing is going to happen. I doubt the 3rd will even take up the issue. Its not confiscation of property when they weren't the legal owner of said property. There doesn't appear to be an error of law, and the fact finder(the jury) found the US Govt to be the true owner. The judge then ruled a reasonable jury could find by the preponderance of the evidence the US Govt was the true owner. This case is over.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

haha that pic is great

 

[Bateluer]

but a jury of "your peers"..christ, they recently ruled apple could patent a rectangle with rounded edges. good luck having that make sense to them.

In California, the lands of fruits, nuts, and flakes.

 

[sandorski]

When I heard the suggestions to Sell to a Foreign Buyer and/or someone else whom, one would assume, would avoid the Government from knowing about it, I couldn't help but think of Office Space and how they asked the first Black guy they saw about Money Laundering. It's not like Black Marketers(no puns intended) advertise openly in the Yellow Pages.

 

[Markbnj]

Of all the possible ways to get coins authenticated they goto the government. They deserve this to happen to them for being sooooo stupid.

This was/is a famous case. Every coin buff and dealer in the world knows about it. Not saying you couldn't find a buyer, but it wouldn't be easy and you'd get a fraction of the value. The coins are just too notorious at this point.

 

[Soundmanred]

This was/is a famous case. Every coin buff and dealer in the world knows about it. Not saying you couldn't find a buyer, but it wouldn't be easy and you'd get a fraction of the value. The coins are just too notorious at this point.

And a fraction of $80,000,000 is...

 

[yhelothar]

$7.6mil for a coin.

It'd probably cost a fraction to make a perfect replica of it.

 

[Northern Lawn]

I agree with one of the comments that suggested they were idiots for giving the gov. all 10 coins for authentication when one would have sufficed.

As for what they could have done... Maybe go to France or Brazil and sell them. No extradition there. I don't know but it's gov. rip off imo.

 

[LTC8K6]

The coins were stolen from the mint. That's the end of the argument, and it always was. This was a fool's errand from the start. Stolen property is stolen property.

You don't own it because you happen to have it, and aren't the one who stole it.

 

[BrokenVisage]

I dunno, the government seems to be pretty in the right here.

Philadelphian Joan Langbord and her sons say they found the 10 coins in 2003 in a bank deposit box kept by Langbord's father, Israel Switt, a jeweler who died in 1990...

Well that settles it, the coins belong to Israel, USA is just playing the middle man for them.... once again.

 

[leper84]

I agree with one of the comments that suggested they were idiots for giving the gov. all 10 coins for authentication when one would have sufficed.

I'd say possession of stolen property would be enough for the government to give itself a search warrant. It sounds like the government already knew about the number stolen so if they didn't try to appraise all of them then they'd be asking the government to look through every little single tiny detail in their life (if the govt hadn't already....)

 

[LTC8K6]

I found an old Ferrari in my great grandpa's barn. It's listed as stolen, but hey, I didn't steal it...

 

[alkemyst]

The crime was committed in 1933... wouldn't the statute of limitations have already run out? I thought most states had a limit of about 10 years on theft?

government property unless decommissioned never stops being government property.

little loophole that's epic.

 

[Craig234]

lol wow that sucks. I would have melted them down and then try to get it valued by a company that gives cash for gold.

Then you are a thief.

Why do people think 'hey, stolen merchandise, it's ok to keep it' in this case?

 

[her209]

If u knowingly sell stolen (govt) property, then u go to FPMITA prison, I presume.

 

[Craig234]

lol wow that sucks. I would have melted them down and then try to get it valued by a company that gives cash for gold.

Then you are a thief.

Why do people think 'hey, stolen merchandise, it's ok to keep it' in this case?

Edit: it's easy to see why it's tempting, but it's stealing.

I wouldn't mind seeing a nice reward for turning them in though.

 

[Number1]

Well that settles it, the coins belong to Israel, USA is just playing the middle man for them.... once again.

Good observation but how does it connect to 911?

 

[waggy]

they lost? lol

sounds like they are going to appeal.

 

[LTC8K6]

they lost? lol

sounds like they are going to appeal.

That was the appeal, they already lost a year ago.

 

[LTC8K6]

The crime was committed in 1933... wouldn't the statute of limitations have already run out? I thought most states had a limit of about 10 years on theft?

That would only apply to prosecuting the thief.

The property still belongs to the person/entity it was taken from.

Items stolen in WW2 are still being returned to their proper owners.

 

[LTC8K6]

lol wow that sucks. I would have melted them down and then try to get it valued by a company that gives cash for gold.

That basically makes them comparatively worthless.

You went from $7.5M per coin to their bullion value, ~$1,600 per coin.