{"id":4010,"date":"2011-07-09T18:34:52","date_gmt":"2011-07-09T22:34:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/?p=4010"},"modified":"2011-07-09T20:13:03","modified_gmt":"2011-07-10T00:13:03","slug":"feds-and-family-battle-over-10-coins-worth-millions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/07\/feds-and-family-battle-over-10-coins-worth-millions","title":{"rendered":"Feds and family battle over 10 coins worth millions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The last time a\u00a01933 gold “double eagle” sold, it went for $7.6 million.<\/p>\n

That was nine years ago. Now the heirs of late coin dealer Israel Switt want to sell ten of the coins they found in a Wanamakers department store bag after Switt died.<\/p>\n

The U.S. government,\u00a0asked by the family to verify the coins’ authenticity, instead\u00a0seized them — saying\u00a0they were never supposed to have been released. All were\u00a0ordered melted down on the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the height of the Great Depression.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>So, argues the government, these ones\u00a0must have been stolen.<\/p>\n

The family indignantly disputes the claim. They want their coins back.<\/p>\n

“In a case that began on Thursday, jurors are getting an unusual lesson in Depression-era history,” writes John Schwartz in the New York Times.<\/em> “Each side explained in opening arguments that, for all of the history and complexities of 1930s Mint procedures and records to come, the case is quite simple.<\/p>\n

“They disagreed, however, about what the simple point of the case was.”<\/p>\n

Schwartz writes:<\/p>\n

Assistant United States Attorney Jacqueline Romero, presenting the government\u2019s case, told jurors, \u201cYou are going to hear a remarkable and intriguing story about gold coins that were stolen from the U.S. Mint.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael Switt was somehow involved\u201d in the theft, she said, probably with the help of a corrupt cashier at the Philadelphia Mint. The government will prove, she pledged, that the heirs knew that the goods were not legitimately theirs, and so the jury should return the coins \u201cto their rightful owner, the people of the United States of America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barry Berke, a lawyer arguing on behalf of Mr. Switt\u2019s heirs, the Langbord family, told the jury that the case was, simply, about power and government overreach. Washington should not be able to seize property from citizens \u201cunless it can prove it is entitled to \u2014 and not just powerful enough to take it,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 2004, Joan Langbord, Mr. Switt\u2019s daughter, and her sons contacted the United States Mint to say they had discovered the 10 coins tucked away in a safe deposit box, within a folded Wanamaker\u2019s department store bag, and asked for help in authenticating them. Instead, the government seized the double eagles.<\/p>\n

Treasury agents said\u00a0that since the coins\u00a0had never been circulated, they\u00a0undoubtedly were\u00a0stolen.<\/p>\n

The Langbords say that’s ridiculous. They want their coins back.<\/p>\n

The 10\u00a0double eagles are estimated to be worth somewhere between\u00a0$72 million\u00a0and $150 million.<\/p>\n

\n

CLICK HERE to read more<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The last time a\u00a01933 gold “double eagle” sold, it went for $7.6 million. That was nine years ago. Now the heirs of late coin dealer Israel Switt want to sell ten of the coins they found in a Wanamakers department store bag after Switt died. The U.S. government,\u00a0asked by the family to verify the coins’…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1057,2201],"class_list":["post-4010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-coins","tag-news"],"yoast_head":"\nFeds and family battle over 10 coins worth millions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/07\/feds-and-family-battle-over-10-coins-worth-millions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Feds and family battle over 10 coins worth millions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The last time a\u00a01933 gold “double eagle” sold, it went for $7.6 million. That was nine years ago. Now the heirs of late coin dealer Israel Switt want to sell ten of the coins they found in a Wanamakers department store bag after Switt died. 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