Family wins back 1933 $20 Double Eagle gold coins worth $80 million seized by feds

AP via NY Daily News ^ | 04/18/2015

[rolling_stone]

innocent until proven guity

[kiryandil]

The family should simply send a bar of 20 ounces of gold to the US Mint and call it even.

"Mommy says that every time P-Marlowe posts something like this, another government bureaucrat's head explodes."

Hat-tip to It's A Wonderful Life.

[rigelkentaurus]

My limited understanding of the 1993 coins are that they were never released into circulation.

In my humble opinion, the law banning the possession of gold and gold coins was and would continue to be an illegal law. But in the case of the 1933 double eagles, they were never released into circulation. By definition, that would mean none could be legally held regardless of the gold ban law.

[Albion Wilde]

An older acquaintance of mine told me that in those days when armored cars were less available than today, the government appealed to extremely prominent businessmen to help them transport the gold to Fort Knox with their companies’ armored cars and guards. Her grandfather was an industrialist who was among those chosen. Her grandfather told her that the only truck that mysteriously went missing and never showed up at Fort Knox with its gold was the one proffered by Joseph P. Kennedy.

[ifinnegan]

“Brief articles never give you as much information as you want.”

Unfortunately true.

[Logical me]

Well what do you know. This corrupt Federal Government got its ars kicked. This communists run seizure grab is getting out of control.

[Kid Shelleen]

I am not sure where we disagree.
You summarized it elegantly but I think it is clear the coins were stolen by someone with connections at the mint.
According to the Court of Appeals:
"the Government opted to ignore” a federal law governing seized property."
were improperly confiscated by the government in 2004

[ifinnegan]

Thanks.

[Kid Shelleen]

This article gives some more details on the legal rational behind the decision.

The Langbords sued in 2006, claiming in part that the government failed to follow procedures set up in a 2000 law concerning property seized by the U.S. government.

In 2011, a federal jury in Philadelphia sided with the government, allowing the Mint to keep the coins. The government had argued that the coins were products of a crime—either stolen or otherwise concealed after they left the Mint illegally. A judge upheld the verdict in 2012.

But the appeals court overturned the lower court, ruling that the government missed a 90-day filing deadline set up under the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000.



Court Orders U.S. Mint to Return Famed Coins to Family

[Sasparilla]

The coins were returned because the government failed to follow legal procedures?
The government busted for not following the law?
That must not apply to the Oval Office.

[Flash Bazbeaux]

I haven’t heard anything about the SF find lately, but for a short time there were discussions about a possible link to an unsolved theft from the San Francisco mint ages ago. Last I heard at least some of the coins predated the theft and were worn, showing they’d been circulated (not aged in place?)and any link to the theft was discounted. Bottom line (and it’s a BIG bottom line) last I heard, they get to keep them.

[Yogafist]

So, if I say, steal your car. How long do I have to hold onto it before it becomes mine?

[Cowman]

Anybody know what happened to that couple in California who found like coffee cans buried near a tree on their yard FULL of gold coins? Not sure if the government tried to seize it or what...

This couple just showed the whole country that if you fine treasure buried in your back yard you should be forthright and honest and turn in the empty cans.

[skinkinthegrass]

i guess, the goons are goin’ to give back their bonuses on that caper.

[ifinnegan]

Thanks for this. It clarifies things.

[duffee]

Were they proven stolen? Is there a record of when they were stolen? Is there proof they were illegally obtained? Is there a date of when they went missing? Were any of the people who possessed the coins when they were confiscated alive when the coins went missing? Can the government prove they had legal possession of the coins when they went missing? Will the government come for my early half dollars?

[Excellence]

The Link goes to horse race results.

[woofie]

finders keepers

losers weepers

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

I too understood it as you say.

[hoosierham]

The federal government has STOLEN at least $25 million in recent years from persons never convicted and in many case,never even alleged to have committed a crime-it is called “assest forfeiture”.The government doesn’t return that money,either.

As also said, how many of us could prove today that everything we own was legally acquired? Do you keep the receipts for every purchase you every made? Do you document every gift ever received?