Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;jimmy_goodfella, post: 15167, member: 919&quot;]i couldnt believe it but its true</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://images.forbes.com/images/2002/04/10/pow_415x214.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>A $20 double eagle gold coin minted in 1933 could fetch as much as $6 million when it is brought to auction by Sotheby&#039;s and rare coin dealer Stack&#039;s July 30 in New York. This would make it easily the most expensive coin in history.</p><p><br /></p><p>What could make a coin worth so much? Before you start rummaging through your coin jar, it is important to know that this coin is the only one of its kind in the world. Not only is it unique, it has never even been officially issued. Not to put too fine a point on it, it&#039;s stolen.</p><p><br /></p><p>When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt took the U.S. off the gold standard in 1933, he ordered all new $20 double eagle gold coins to be destroyed. Somehow, ten of the coins &quot;disappeared&quot; from the United States Mint. Over the years, nine of the coins were recovered and subsequently destroyed by the U.S. Secret Service. One slipped through the government&#039;s fingers and is believed to have ended up in the collection of Egypt&#039;s King Farouk, a passionate numismatist who amassed a collection of more than 8,500 gold coins. It is believed that the coin being offered by Sotheby&#039;s is the same coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, no one can be certain. When Farouk was deposed in 1954, a 1933 double eagle was among the lots offered at the new regime&#039;s sale of the royal possessions. But the U.S. Treasury successfully had the coin withdrawn from the sale, only to have it disappear again.</p><p><br /></p><p>What is known is that the present coin reappeared in 1996 when a British coin dealer was arrested at New York&#039;s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel attempting to sell it to Secret Service agents posing as coin buyers. With the double eagle once again in the government&#039;s hands, the courts reached a settlement that the coin could be privately owned, paving the way for the upcoming auction. Upon auction, according to the U.S. Mint, the coin will be officially made legal tender. The new owner will be presented with a certificate of transfer, enabling it to be privately owned. Of course, the final purchase price will be increased by $20, which will go the United States Treasury General Fund.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>wow[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in