Too bad there are not markers to identify thieves. You know, like they only have one hand. From @mlov43 ('s) linked article: On October 31st, Halloween Day 2014, a hearing was held in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. Mr. Miller pled guilty to the charges of felony theft. He was sentenced to a five year suspended sentence, a payment of $15,974 in restitution, and a FIVE year ban on attendance at ANY coin or currency show. I hope he has learned a lesson from this harsh punishment. Geez, maybe next time we can whip him with a wet noodle. Not to diminish Mr. Snow's loss(which I find despicable), I do see a business opportunity.
Have you ever been to a large national show? 100k coins are chump change compared to some dealers cases in which if you ask some will let you examine it knowing full well that you won't /can't afford it.
People forget there was a time before the Internet, lol. I imagine large shows and large auction houses were the norm for moving high dollar coins prior to the implementation of the interwebz
Sounds like a good way for Mr. Snow too get a lot of free advertisement. I wonder what happen with this story?
Assuming it was stolen; it was stolen for a collector's private collection, and not for the value of the coin. A collector would know the rarity of the coin, and would know that it could not be sold on the open market, and a thief would not know the value of the coin unless said thief specialized in stealing rare coins, and again know that it could not be sold. And, finally, the thief is a collector, if the coin was stolen.
It's understandable for folks to look at something like this from every angle. You have to. I'm sure Rick had to do the same. It would be tough trying to remember everything that went on at the table at a show this large. Rick is one of the good guys with no question of his honesty. The goal of this thread and those on other forums was simple. The coin needs to be spotted if it hits the market. With a loss this large, I'm happy if Rick gets a little advertisement out of it.
Sorry, Rick, to hear of a brazen thief, who thinks will get away with this. I hope they are caught. Bare with me on this. They did this, one, because they more than likely had a buyer looking for this type of coin or, they, themselves, wanted the coin for their collection. Two, they know to crack it open, at a later date and have it graded again, but this will be later down the road, probably years once the story dies down. I saw a comment by one of the others that there are around 20 of these known. Question, is that an exact number, or could there be more maybe less, and I assume these graded ones? Never a perfect science, everyone can guess the number of 1864 L's but do we all know ? My point, they will wait, time is on their side unless they are just plain stupid and try to sell it or have it re-appraised, then they are busted. Hope that does happen soon. In today's society I even thought, high value, slabbed pieces should have chips installed in the casing to protect against thief. Sounds like a lot but for valued items wouldn't you want to pay extra knowing your investment would always be safe ? I'm sure PCGS, NGC and the rest could create something that could fit inside the case. Anyway all the best and hope the little punks get caught.
The grading services would catch it if someone sent it in. Coins like this don't show up all that often.
I think 20 was just for the normal 1864 cent, the 1864 L IHC has less than that if I'm not mistaken. If the person who stole it was smart they would have an overseas buyer.
I still fail to believe how he "lost" that coin, if it were me, I'd have the Secret Service standing next to it.... a $135,000 dollar coin should have the utmost security
Don't know how many big shows like this you go to. $100k coins aren't common, but they are common enough that plenty of collectors and dealers will have coins in this range at a large show.
Never said they can't have these type of coins there, but I fail to see how security, let alone the dealers fail to keep an eye on a coin with that magnitude.... I offer no sympathy, that's his own fault.
Be careful. Your young age is showing. You don't have enough details to be blaming the victim of a crime. There is a good possibility that a member of the FBI was working the booth with Rick. Yes it's clear that security failed but the details are not clear and for good reason.
Regardless of who you choose to blame, for coins like that I think it would be prudent to get those cameras and use them. They are a lot cheaper than most any unc Indian.