Posted on 07/06/2011 6:42:48 PM PDT by Kid Shelleen
A jeweler’s heirs with a cache of rare $20 gold coins will fight for the right to keep them when they square off in court this week against the U.S. Treasury.
Treasury officials charge that the never-circulated “double eagles” were stolen from the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia in 1933. They could be worth $80 million or more, given that one sold for nearly $7.6 million in 2002. The coins come from a batch that were struck but melted down after President Franklin D. Roosevelt took the country off the gold standard in 1933
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Even if they were stolen, isn’t there a statute of limitations?
“...after President Franklin D. Roosevelt took the country off the gold standard in 1933...”
Uh, nice try AP.
What the stinking, stupid, socialist bastard did was outlaw the private ownership of gold, orchestrate banking “holidays” to get control of deposit boxes, and then mandated that a banking officer be present whenever a deposit box was opened and to confiscate all gold.
Also, he did not take us off the gold standard. He cut back the gold reserve to dollar ratio. It was Nixon who finally took us off the gold standard completely.
The coins are being held in Fort Knox. They may actually represent the only gold currency of any worth in that place.
There may be a statute of limitations on prosecuting them for theft, but AFAIK there's no statute of limitations on seizing the stolen goods and returning them to their rightful owner.
“...went to the U.S. Treasury to authenticate the coins...”
Whatta’ya? Kidden’ me????
How stupid do you have to be???
Wasn't OJ operating under that theory, trying to recover his stolen memorabilia? He's in jail now.
Sounds like it the government’s case to prove they were stolen, i.e. that absolutely none of them were sent out for circulation. It will be the heir’s burden that the coins were obtained legally.
When the hyper greedy, rapacious federal government wants what you have, there is no statute of limitations or protection. That the country bequeathed to us by the Founders has been reduced to this by generations of disgusting politicians from across the political spectrum with barely a whimper from the people is beyond tragic.
Ping for later
And no one thinks they’re not capable of stealing everything you have—all they have to do is just saying “mine”.
Agree. The “government” needs the money - they have become like Hal in “2001 A Space Odyssey.” Created to “help” but ultimately see it in their own best interests to destroy and confiscate to continue their survival.
Sounds like an inside job.
This is a tough call, because the government doesn’t deserve to have them in light of their being evil gold stealing corrupt bastards, and the people don’t deserve to have them, because their actions demonstrate that they have to be the stupidest specimens of humanity to walk the planet...
That said, back in the day it was pretty common practice to let issues “slip’ out to employees and friends in exchange for cash value before the issuance. The books balanced, and a few folks got to hold new types before everyone else.
By outlawing the possession of gold, Roosevelt did take us off the gold standard domestically for all practical purposes.
Nixon simply closed the Gold exchange window to foreign governments. If he hadn't, Ft. Knox would have been cleaned out by European countries repatriating U.S. Marshall Plan dollars.
The challenge is proving they were legally acquired 80+ years ago. And if they’ve been held that long, how can it be illegal to hold them today?
If they were illegally acquired, then the rightful owner can reclaim them. It is the same way that heirs of Holocaust victims can reclaim the paintings and property stolen from them by the Nazis.
The 1894-S Barber Dime could be construed to be like this, it wasn’t authorized to be issued from the SF Mint, but the director had the dies on hand and polished them to make 24 specimens for visiting bankers. He gave 3 of them to his daughter, one she spent on ice cream (and this is one of the surviving known specimens). 15 are floating around out there, probably in uncurculated/proof condition, and the last sale of one was for 1.8 million dollars IIRC...
I would say so. I interviewed with the Mint and they are very tight on security.
Wonderful and very apt analogy. Government has indeed become like Hal. :)
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