Featured Law & Order Episode "Survivor" with Karen Allen, about ancient coin collectors

Law & Order Episode "Survivor" with Karen Allen, about ancient coin collectors,
and "Roman Cleopatras".

This episode is one of the best episodes of the 20-year run of the American
television series "Law & Order".

I posted this writeup originally on a board for fans of the Indiana Jones films.

I was originally interested in it because it involved a treasure hunt for rare
coins. The story also involves coin collectors and historical references to
World War II.

Besides that, another interest to Indiana Jones fans is an uncommon television
appearance by actress Karen Allen.

The broadcast details:
Law & Order, Season 7 Episode 4, Originally aired October 23, 1996

The story:

While investigating the murder of a coin collector, detectives discover the
existence of extremely rare coins that belonged to a Holocaust survivor.

Mr. Stephen Campbell runs an antiques and rare coins gallery in New York City.
Two people passing the store notice something wrong and call the police. The
police detectives, Briscoe and Curtis, look around the store and at some of the
coins on display, Briscoe facetiously asks an employee whether he has a
"56 Willie Mays".

The detectives talk to Mrs. Campbell who tells them
"He dealt with coin people, not murderers".


Detective Briscoe

They find out that some Wiemar Commemorative coins are missing, but that they
weren't worth very much compared to what was left in the store. They also find
out that Mr. Campbell had a girlfriend that he shared with Richard Peterson, a
millionaire building and airline owner.

Peterson is an avid coin collector and has been one since he was a kid.


Richard Peterson

He tells the detectives "I was the fat kid at the coin show at the Hilton".


Peterson's coins

He shows some ancient Greek coins to the detectives and asks "Plato might have
bought lettuce with that coin" "With this coin, Pericles might have had his
sandals fixed, hired a prostitute, bought a slave" Det. Briscoe interjects
"Bribed a cop" Peterson continues that he used rare coins to buy his first
building, "Cleopatras, Alexanders, ..".

The detective tells Peterson "At least you're insured", and Peterson replies
"These coins, they're like my children"

It is noted that Homage Magazine did a profile on Peterson when he launched his
airline, and stated that banks vied to loan him money The article had details
about his coin collection.

The detectives question several people who tried to see the coins at Campbell's
store, he gave them all excuses for not showing them the coins, and the excuses
differed.

The detectives visit Judith Sandler, an art restorer.


Judith Sandler, art restorer

Judith says that she asked Campbell about some other coins, then asked to see
the Peterson collection, Campbell said that the coins were out with a potential
buyer, Mark Lehmann.


Judith unmasked

Lehmann meets the detectives at his yacht, he tells the detectives that he buys
rare coins to have "bragging rights". "Those coins are classics, they're works
of art and antiques and rare". "Peterson sold them to a Korean who wanted to rub
it in the nose of the Japanese".

At another interview, Peterson tells the detectives that the coins were
collateral for his new airline.

The detectives discover that Campbell was short of money because he paid for
some rare coins, then couldn't sell them when more were found on a sunken ship.

Campbell had put together a syndicate to purchase rare coins as an investment
and Peterson was a member. The detectives search Peterson's apartment and find
the Wiemar commemoratives. Peterson says he won the Wiemars from Campbell in a
bet. Detectives ask Peterson if he killed Campbell for stealing his coins,
Peterson says the coins were only 3% of his net worth. The detectives arrest
Peterson for the murder.

The detectives talk to Peterson's secretary who says that all of his telephone
calls were logged, and that a woman called three times about the Homage article,
saying that some of the coins "six Roman Cleopatras" belonged to her family. She
called again on the day of the murder. The woman was "hot to see the coins" and
Peterson passed her to Campbell.

The detectives go to the "Numismatics Society" and ask an officer about the
coins. The officer tells them that there are three sets of Cleopatras known, one
in a Dutch museum, one with the Rothschilds, and one sold in London in 1931 and
not seen since. The museum and the Rothschilds still have theirs.

The coins sold in 1931 went to an Isador Schoenberg, a wealthy Jew living in
Munich, Germany. The detectives find from the Immigration office that Isador
survived Auschwitz and emigrated to America in 1948, where he later died. They
talk to his wife Ann who tells them that Isador bought the coins at the London
auction in 1931, and when the Nazis took power, he put them in a Swiss bank box.
After World War II, he went to Switzerland but without documents, the bank would
not return the coins.

Isador and Ann have a daughter Judith who uses her married name of Sandler. She
is, of course, the art restorer. The detectives and Jamie Ross, a prosecutor, go
to Judith's apartment and ask to look around. Judith stalls them, then lets them
in, and they find a Homage magazine copy.

The detectives interview Judith's manager who tells them that Judith is a good
worker but has some problems; she doesn't like tight spaces and becomes
extremely emotional about news stories about suffering. Judith usually works at
night but was not at work on the night of the murder.

The police visit Judith again, find some green glass similar to the window glass
at the coin gallery, and arrest her.

The head prosecutor District Attorney Schiff chews out his two assistants McCoy
and Ross about having two suspects with different motives.

The prosecutor's psychologist Olivet interviews Judith, she then tells the
prosecutors that Judith has mental problems common to children of Holocaust
survivors, including claustrophobia and depression. She also relays that
Judith's father was obsessed with getting back the coins because he had lost
everything to the Nazis, including his dog. The Psychologist states that Judith
equated the coin dealer who had her father's coins with the Nazis.

At his office, DA Schiff drops the murder charge against Peterson but the
prosecutor argue that "Peterson hasn't been straight with us since this began".
Peterson and his lawyer leave the office and Jamie Ross wonders "Funny, he
didn't ask about his coins".

Schiff, McCoy, Ross have a meeting, Schiff asks "Has anybody ever seen these
famous coins?" "No", "no", "no"

Jamie Ross interviews a bank official of the bank who loaned Peterson the money,
he says he never saw the coins, every time he asked he got a different excuse,
first "being appraised", then "took to Europe". The banker admits that he never
saw the collection, but that if his bank had turned Peterson down for a loan,
other banks would have loaned him the money. Jamie asks "Nobody ever saw the
collateral for a $20 million loan?", then says that she is going to move her
bank account out of that bank. McCoy then finds that Peterson's list of coins
matches the coins in the 1931 London auction catalog.

At a meeting of Peterson, the prosecutors, and Judith, McCoy asks Peterson why
never told the police that a woman called him on the day of the murder, and why
is he covering for her?.

Peterson claims Judith has the coins, she denies it. McCoy asks "Where did you
buy those coins, Mr. Peterson?" Peterson replies "From a collector in Austria,
he must have gotten them from that Swiss bank" McCoy asks "And the rest of the
special collection" Peterson replies "From various sales" McCoy shows the 1931
auction catalog which Judith's mother gave him It has 20 auction lots which went
to 20 different buyers scattered all over Europe. McCoy asks "What are the odds
of reassembling all those lots 65 years later in a single collection?"

Judith looks at the catalog and realizes that Peterson said that he had all
those coins, she says "It was all a lie, you never had my father's coins". McCoy
tells Peterson that he committed a fraud (in getting the loan from the bank).
Judith says "That's why Campbell wouldn't show them to me, he was lying for you"

Peterson confesses "It was just an old auction catalog I found at the library, I
never meant for anyone to get hurt". Judith replies "You b..d". Peterson
confesses that he covered up his talk with Judith because he was worried that
she would expose his fraud to the bank.

Judith cries "I killed a man for nothing!".


Karen Allen

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Yes I kind of remember this one.
Dean 295

 

What I remember most about this episode was Carey Lowell (Jaime Ross) wearing a short skirt. Actually it was a good episode. The better writing for this show was in the beginning episodes.

 

I remember seeing this episode, they ran it not too long ago.

 

My post with pictures is on my website under "Coins on Television".

 

Just like Perry Mason, the murderer is usually the most famous celebrity in the suspects.

 

I like the Hawaii Five-O episode with the 1913 nickel.

I enjoyed your breakdown of that one.
You can always expect a good show from H50.

 

A writeup of this episode (with pictures) is on my website under "Coins on Television" along with the Hawaii 5-0 episode about "The $100,000 nickel".