Langbord-Switt 1933 Double Eagle Case

The gold was accounted for, if you steal a box of pens and leave another box of pens why would I care?

 

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Well now I beg to see what the u.s. government will do with them

 

Because you aren't in law enforcement?

Would you care if someone swaps all your collectible coins for the equivalent face value of pocket change and/or bullion value of PMs? If not, why are you reading here?

 

And yet the U.S. Attorney's staff lawyers are all salaried. Better this case than doing some other ill-advised prosecution for some victimless crime. Make no mistake - the passage of 80 years makes this no less a thing than it always has been - organized crime.

 

And there you go... a fine example of how "we" indeed "tolerate" criminal activity from "certain government employees".

You may want to rephrase... "the government's ability to steal hers"? Please... What's good for the goose... oh, wait, that went out of fashion years ago.

 

Ok so each coin being worth 10 million easy ,there being 10 coins 100 mil+

Sent from my C6740N using Tapatalk

 

A little switch up here, now that this case is closed, what could the government do to recover the aluminum cents and pattern coins that are owned by someone? Pattern coins were just that and not meant for circulation. Same with the aluminum cents, they were distributed for comments and were supposed to be returned.

 

Actually the Mint started melting the 1933 double eagles in August of 1934. It took them until sometime in 1937 to complete the melting of the 455,469 coins.

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCOURTS-paed-2_06-cv-05315/pdf/USCOURTS-paed-2_06-cv-05315-9.pdf

Page 8 starts the discussions of the melt.

 

Yawn.

 

Books, for civilians, murder is the only crime that is exempt from the statute of limitations. For the government, it is whatever they choose to be exempt.

Chris

 

From the text of the ruling:
'Not surprisingly, the jury in this case heard no testimony from anyone who was actually present at the Mint when the ‘33 Double Eagles first disappeared so many years ago – all the primary actors who might have told that tale have passed away. But that certainly does not doom the Government’s case because “explicit evidence is not required to support a finding of specific intent.” '

So the government does NOT need testimony to support their case (and in this case, "specific intent").

Interesting.

 

One cannot reasonably attach such lofty values to these coins. You cannot take what the Farouk specimen sold for, add a couple million for good measure, and assume there are no other factors to consider. Had this turned out differently, the coins certainly would've brought substantial money, but nowhere near your "$100 mil+" estimate.

 

If I was melting them down like they were I wouldn't care as long as I got the same value for it

 

Investigation fees aren't salaried and this is basically the definition of a victimless crime. Who was harmed by this?

 

And, the Secret Service determined that McCann was the likely inside source of the ‘33 Double Eagles; as Mint cashier, McCann had the opportunity to abscond with the coins, and McCann’s conviction for stealing other coins from the Mint shows that he knew how to pull it off.

Page 31 https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCOURTS-paed-2_06-cv-05315/pdf/USCOURTS-paed-2_06-cv-05315-9.pdf

If McCann "knew" how to pull it off, then why did he get convicted? If someone "knows" how to pull it off, wouldn't that mean they get away with the absconded loot? Most assuredly there was an investigation to find wrong doing by McCann. Yet, the investigation did not reveal the theft of 1933 Double Gold Eagles? Is that the sound of a goat I hear?

 

Kurt I agree with you 100% and have had this position on this case since the beginning . My father worked for the Federal Reserve for 47 years. And yes we were a coin collecting family ,that said I do understand the feelings of many whom post here.
However you are correct they were and are property of the US government and as tax payers ours as well.
The father /grandfather knew that these coins were worth money. He knew that in his lifetime he couldn't do anything with them.
I imagine that he thought that sometime down the road 80-100 year that all would be forgotten .
And at that time his family would benefit from them.
I don't want to see then melted but a crime is a crime and justice is blind.

 

Because in this case, it was not a question of simply exchanging gold for gold. The thief realized that the 1933s would eventually be worth a bonanza. Otherwise, why would he have bothered?

 

Another point of this matter is this......
My father had access to buying gold as he was working at the Federal Reserve at this time.
However the middle class at this time couldn't afford to buy such. Even at the price of gold in 1933 dollars the common man or woman couldn't afford such a luxury .
My dad always told me people turned in their gold as it was weighted . They kept their gold if they had any in a silk purse. The reason being coins rubbing together could mean loss of money. When a person came into the Federal Reserve their gold was weighted if it weighted correctly they got the amount on the coin. However if a $5 gold piece was weighted and it didn't weight they got the amount it weighted. So a $5 coin may only net $4.67 .
In today's money many may think 33 cents what the heck.
Well .33 cents went a long way in the 30's!
So the everyday person didn't own gold. Most lived a modest life style. Only those whom were wealthy could afford such.

 

One other thing from a historical perspective: 1933 was a period of widespread lawlessness in the US. It's not surprising that a Mint employee thought about dipping into the till. After all, bank robbers were heroes to some.

 

Bonnie and Clyde were as like Robin hood to many poor people who lost everything in the depression .