US coins that are illegal to own?

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by Magman, Nov 9, 2008.

  1. Magman

    Magman U.S. Money Collector

    I was thinking about it, but I realized, I only know of 2 coins that are illegal to own. The 1933 20$ gold, and the 1974 Aluminum Cent.

    Are there any others?
     
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  3. Conder101

    Conder101 Numismatist

    1964 D peace dollar, 1974 copper clad steel cent, 1975 aluminum cent, 1877 quintuple eagle in gold. At one time the government held that coins not conforming to the Act of 1873 were illegal which led to the confiscation of some error coins.
     
  4. mrbrklyn

    mrbrklyn New Member

    is there proof of there being any 64 Peace dollars?
     
  5. Mr. Coin Lover

    Mr. Coin Lover Supporter**

    Peace Dollar

    No there isn't. The way I understand it the mint employees that wanted to purchase them had already done so, and then had to turn them back in to the mint. The mint employees tossed them into a basket or something and the melt-down was done by weight, not an actual coin count. There are a lot of theories or stories that some employees tossed in a few Morgans instead. The same also applies that some congressmen or senators were given coins as often happens and they kept them. Obviously if there are any, there are speculated to be one of the most expensive coins ever minted. With that being said if there are any, it is surprising none have ever turned up in Europe or Asia in a collection where it would not be against the law to own.:eek:dd:
     
  6. RickieB

    RickieB Expert Plunger Sniper

    Any of the (12) .9167 Gold Sackies that went up in the Space Shuttle!

    RickieB
     
  7. Mr. Coin Lover

    Mr. Coin Lover Supporter**

    I know nothiing about currency except some of them are IMO works of art and you certainly have some. Looks good.:high5:
     
  8. scottishmoney

    scottishmoney Buh bye

    Should legalise them and auction them off to pay off the national debt. The government should start operating like a corporation and be responsible to it's stockholders - the American people. When they create treasures and tell you you cannot possibly own them, then something is wrong with the government and it is out of touch and needs to be flushed.
     
  9. kidromeo

    kidromeo I M LEGEND

    Can someone explain why the coins mentioned in this thread are illegal to own or post any link?
    All I know that the 1933 double eagle is illegal.
    Thanks
     
  10. RickieB

    RickieB Expert Plunger Sniper

    http://www.smalldollars.com/dollar/page20b.html

    Here ya go Kid..

    RickieB
     
  11. Magman

    Magman U.S. Money Collector

  12. Tallbassguy

    Tallbassguy Member


    yeah....what he said!
     
  13. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    For the most part because the coins were not released by the mint. In the case of the '74 aluminum cents, they were gievn to members Congress but the Congressmen were supposed to give them back. Same for the '64 Peace dollars, they were supposed to give them back.

    Now some would say what about patterns, the '94-S dime etc. They weren't released by the mint either. But in a way they were, somebody at the mint had to release/sell them to somebody else. So perhaps that is why there is no issue with these coins.
     
  14. De Orc

    De Orc Well-Known Member

    Why on earth were they given to someone, then they were suppose to give them back!! or am I missing something here?
     
  15. gxseries

    gxseries Coin Collector

    I'll be silly as I don't quite understand - why make so much fuss about the status of such coins? Is it because it undermine the mint policies?
     
  16. CamaroDMD

    CamaroDMD [Insert Clever Title] Supporter

    Isn't there one legal 1974 Aluminum cent out there slabbed and legal to own...sort of like there is one legal 1933 Double Eagle?

    Was the 1894-S dime a pattern? I know it had a very small mintage (24?) but I never knew the story behind it. You make it sound like it has a similar story behind it, sort of like the 1913 Liberty Nickel.
     
  17. Troodon

    Troodon Coin Collector

    There is proof that they did at one time exist; there isn't any verifiable proof that any still do (though it is a popular subject of speculation lol...)

    Probably wouldn't be legal to own if it did exist. As far as I know though, the legality of ownership of any coin has never actually been tested in court. Scenario usually goes like one of the following:

    1. Treasury says a coin someone has is not legal to own; holder of the coin voluntarily gives it to the Treasury to avoid the legal hassles. (Example: Most of the 1933 double eagles, save one that has been declared legal, and 10 that are in dispute).

    2. A coin that might not be legal to own the Treasury decides not to do anything about. (Example: The 1913 Liberty nickels.)

    3. A coin that the Treasury considers to generally be illegal to own, it declares there are specific exceptions for certain individual pieces (example, a single 1974 aluminum cent the Treasury declared legal to own, and the single 1933 double eagle it declared legal).

    It will be interesting to see how the legal fight over the 10 double eagles in dispute ends up. It will be the first time a legal precedent will be established on the matter.

    P.S. It is worth mentioning that patterns are still in a legal grey area... there has been much speculation on whether or not they are legal to own but the Treasury has made no firm statements on the matter. The Treasury has never confiscated any patterns as far as I know... but they also haven't explicitly delcared them legal to own (haven't declared them illegal either though.)
     
  18. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    Yes there is one slabbed and graded but no it is not legal to own it. And there have been reports of others seen at coin shows.



    As for the dime, read about it - HERE
     
  19. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    In regard to the '74 aluminum cents, at the time the mint was looking to replace copper as the metal used to mint the cents. So they minted a batch out of aluminum and gave some of them to members of Congress to examine and see if they were suitable. Afterwards the members were suppose to give the coins back. Not all did.

    The Peace dollars were different. Story has already been related.
     
  20. CamaroDMD

    CamaroDMD [Insert Clever Title] Supporter

    So, has the government just decided not to act on that then. Since one has been slabbed and is known to exist, it must be known who has it.

    Also, I found this image quite a while back and saved it. Is this a pic of the real slabbed 1974 aluminum cent or is this a photoshop fake?:
    [​IMG]
     
  21. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    Why ? To the best of my knowledge there is no one who knows who has that coin.


    The image is real. You can find it on ICG's web site.
     
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