PCGS $10,000 Bounty

There has been a lot of discussion about oddities and not-so-accidental errors “improperly” leaving the U.S. Mint and the government subsequently reclaiming these coins. PCGS has announced a “bounty” of $10,000 for the opportunity to examine and grade 5 different coins, including some coins that were never supposed to leave the mint, like the storied 1964-D Peace Dollar. It seems to me, however, that anyone who publicly admits to having such a coin is pretty much begging the federal government to seek its return. I wonder if the $10,000 bounty being offered to examine and grade some of these coins is intended to be (and should be recognized as) compensation for the coin that I’m assuming will be seized by the government at its first opportunity. Am I over-thinking this or am I missing something?

 

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And no one in their right mind would unveil their possession of a 1964 D dollar for a measly $10,000. If I wanted to get rid of it, there is always the black market.

 

Who is going to verify the that the 1964-D is not a fake?
And then not be able to tell anyone?

 

I seem to recall PCGS authenticating an aluminum 1974-D Lincoln Cent that apparently should never have left the mint a few years back . . . and I'm pretty sure its owners don't own it any more.

 

What is the coin is out of the country and beyond the grasp of the US government? Would it be worth it then?

 

So, I shouldn't send in my 1964 D Peace $?

 

Assuming that the coin is U.S. Mint property, would it ever truly be beyond the "grasp" of the government? Generally speaking, one can never obtain good title to stolen property, even if it's purchased in good faith by an innocent third-party. So the government would always have a claim to the coin. So, at best, it could never publicly return to the U.S. without the ever-present threat of seizure. I also presume that the moment it appeared in a foreign auction house catalog, the government would intervene to stop the auction and have the foreign country seize it. Then again, I suppose the government could simply subpoena PCGS to determine where the coin came from and where it went to and start using phrases like "trafficking in stolen government property" and "possession of stolen government property" to see how quickly the coin was surrendered. I guess like stolen masterpieces that can never be legitimately owned or sold, one could "own" it secretly, take it from its hiding place in the floor boards to marvel at it occasionally, and then put it back without ever telling anyone you have it -- and leave it you your heirs to deal with the government when they go to sell it.

 

Although if you could do it at the Hong Kong or China office then there is a slight chance, not sure if the Paris office would be risky or not.

It was going to be auctioned (I think by Heritage) then was pulled and confiscated.

 

Absolutely. There are plenty of countries that they have little to no power in. Things far more important end up in certain places where the ability to recover it is very limited or non-existent. Seal Team 6 isn't going to be kicking down a door over a coin.

 

Michael K, posted: "Who is going to verify the that the 1964-D is not a fake? And then not be able to tell anyone?"

Just about any long-time experienced PCGS authenticator. I'll bet at least 5% of the members here could do it too. Who cares if they tell.
Rumors of ANA Certification Service authenticators in DC actually having a 1964-D Peace dollar in hand have been around since the 1970's. I've been told there were no deceptive counterfeit Peace dollars back then. Two keep secret if one is dead.

 

This subject been beaten, more then a red headed step child ..

 

The Mint has working 1964-D Peace dollar dies that have been closely studied to the extent that it will be possible to authenticate such a coin.

The $10K bounty on this coin that was established several years ago was in part so that an authentic specimen could be studied. This is not as necessary since the discovery of the dies at the mint a couple years ago. Now it serves purely as a promotion that will probably never be paid out.

 

A grading service wouldn't have access to those dies though?
Since no authentic coins exist, how can they verify a 90% silver coin
that "looks" like a 1964-D Peace? From a brilliant forgery, which is possible to create.

 

The dies, no, but detailed photos of the dies and hubs.

TPGs have authenticated forgeries in the past, so I would expect that authentication of a 64-D Peace dollar would have a similar margin of error. The thing is, authentic or counterfeit, the outcome for the "owner" is the same. The coin is illegal to own without winning a lengthy, costly battle with the gummint, but we all know how that would turn out.

 

If the mint decides to use those dies to create official restrikes, they would make a killing.

 

The mint makes the money . . . and the rules.

 

There has always been a bounty on 1964-D Peace Dollar since 2013 when they announced PCGS wanted to see a genuine specimen. PCGS always puts up bounties on certain things every few years also usually and most times U.S Mint/U.S Treasury has rights to take back stolen property, not the government itself . Example of this would be couple of found 10 million dollars worth of gold coins while hiking and the coins were thought to be stolen to the San Francisco Mint but the U.S Mint said "We do not have any information linking the Saddle Ridge Hoard coins to any thefts at any United States Mint facility. Surviving agency records from the San Francisco Mint have been retired to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), under Record Group 104. Access to the records is under NARA's jurisdiction: http://www.archives.gov/." and they never pressed for the coins return. One of the gold coins was a 1866-S $20 Double Eagle/No Motto which is now thought to have been made by one of the mint managers in revenge of the assassination of Lincoln, all coins graded by PCGS with special 'Saddle Ridge Hoard' labels. I honestly think the U.S Mint could care less unless it is a special coin such the 1964-D Peace Dollar or Mint employee made errors.

Links: http://abcnews.go.com/US/10m-calif-gold-coin-hoard-found-yard-stolen/story?id=22764360

 

PCGS or someone did the same years ago for the 1913 V-Nickel, and look what happened.