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Message:: [QUOTE="jolumoga, post: 26811170, member: 41780"]The memo mentions that the Treasury has consulted with expert numismatists. It doesn't say whom or where - surely experts may have differing opinions. Moreover, the question of law would not be a matter for numismatists alone to decide. How laws would be applied would involve an interplay between numismatic experts and the courts. We see more uncertainty in the wording: The fact that a coin is sold at a price well in excess of its bullion value would appear to be some evidence of its special value as a collector's item. [...] a court would quite possibly give weight to such a factor [...] What the memo shows us is that the government was somewhat benevolent to coin dealers, giving them the benefit of the doubt. Legal certainty as to what constitutes a numismatic coin did not come about precisely because the Treasury did not wantonly confiscate the gold coins as the Secret Service requested. Had the Treasury given a directive to the Secret Service to confiscate the gold coins mentioned in the memo, perhaps then, through the courts, given that a legal challenge would have been likely, could the precise definition of what constitutes a numismatic coin been ascertained. This is not something that the bureaucrats at the Treasury alone decide.[/QUOTE]