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There is a history of coins that were "not meant to
be release in circulation" that are now legal to own.
These coins also somehow found their ways out of the
mint and often under mysterious circumstances.

The 1856 Flying Eagle Cent. About 1500 are know to
exist and they where struck as prototypes for the
new coin that was released in 1857. Private owner-
ship at that time would have been illegal. It's
legal to own now a quite a valuable coin.

Same with the 1913 Liberty Head "nickle". Five are
know to exist and one of the most valuable pieces
on Earth. They were struck a a "dry run" production
test. But the Mint began the Buffalo 5 cent "nickle"
that year and the Liberty Heads was not released.

One thing to watch for in the future. In 1975, the
Philadelphia Mint struck hundreds of experimental
Lincoln Head cents that were made of Aluminum.
The soaring price of copper had the mint looking
for alternatives. The coins were distributed on
consignment to many of the prominent figures in
Washington D.C. . They were on loan for evaluation
and were to been returned promptly to the mint
after a set time period. Well many of these coins
were never returned and there has been little
"political" will to pursue the matter...JJ61