Hey everyone, this is Trustin. I recently read an article in COINage titled Sinners and "saints" ;the 1933 Double Eagle. It would be neat if as many people as poissible could place their opinion on this matter about the ones in court and stuff.Also does anyone think it would be better for it to go to auction so if you struck it rich it would be legal to own one? Or do you think that that person bought a one of a kind coin?
There was also a cool docudrama on the Smithsonian Channel called 'Search for the Double Eagle'... This is a tough one not being in that situation, but my morals say try to make it legal and share it, however my logic center says sale it overseas on the black market, and park the majority of the cash in a Swiss account...LOL
There is only one 1933 Saint that is legal to own, it was legalized when it was sold in auction back in 2002. The rest of the pop, is considered illegal to own, because the coins were never released, thus still being property of the US Goverment. So I want to say that any 1933 Saint that has been "found" is considered illegal, and US Secret agents would seize it, if it were to be exposed to the general public and not kept a secret.
There is a current lawsuit between an owner of 10 1933 double eagles (the Langbords) and the US government, who confiscated them. Here's an older article on the topic: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/us/16coin.html?hp IMO, the government is going to lose, and the Langbords are going to get their coins back.
