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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;calcol, post: 2904931, member: 77639&quot;]There are 14 of the 1933 double eagles known to exist: 2 in the Smithsonian; the 10 Langbord coins, which are now firmly in the grasp of the U.S. Treasury Dept.; the Farouk coin, which is legally and privately held; and one coin known to exist in private hands, but the government doesn&#039;t appear to know whose hands.&nbsp; There are rumors of others in private hands, but at least there are pictures of the one.</p><p><br /></p><p>The government undoubtedly knows the name of the person who acquired the Farouk coin in the Stacks auction.&nbsp; Fast forward 20 or more years though, and this coin could exchange hands multiple times without the government knowing the ownership trail.&nbsp; Possibly there could be no traceable documents of the coin changing hands.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, at some distant date, suppose two 1933 DEs surface in separate private hands and both owners claim it&#039;s the Farouk coin.&nbsp; Would the government be able to prove one is and one isn&#039;t the Farouk coin?&nbsp; There are high resolution photos of the Farouk coin, but would they be good enough to distinguish it from the non-Farouk coin?&nbsp; This could be difficult if there are decades of toning and new nicks or even wear on both coins.&nbsp; After decades, the provenance and originally of the photos of the Farouk coin could be challenged too.&nbsp; The old film and paper photos could have degenerated or disappeared, or were low resolution from the outset.&nbsp; Digital photos are easy to alter.</p><p><br /></p><p>Maybe the government would take the Solomon approach and demand one-half of each coin. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Legal ownership was established for the Farouk coin, and the government may eventually have to allow it for more than one coin if it can&#039;t clearly distinguish newly appearing coins from the Farouk coin.&nbsp; They won&#039;t have the advantage they had with the Langbord coins in that those coins could not be confused with the Farouk coin.&nbsp; Suppose a single coin surfaces and the government doesn&#039;t think it looks quite like the Farouk coin, but the owner claims it is the Farouk coin.&nbsp; What then?&nbsp; Who would have the burden of proof, and would a judge and jury be able to decide?</p><p><br /></p><p>Of course if the Farouk coin remains in the public eye by being displayed frequently or gets donated or sold to a museum fairly soon while its provenance is still traceable, then the whole issue of future identity is put to rest.</p><p><br /></p><p>Cal[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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