The E-Sylum:  Volume 5, Number 20, May 12, 2002, Article 4

1933 DOUBLE EAGLE TIMETABLE

  Regarding last week's mention of the U.S. Mint's timetable
  of events in the life of the soon-to-be-auctioned 1933
  Double Eagle (see http://usmint.gov/auction/), Tom DeLorey
  writes:

  "I had already noted this interesting document, which seems
  to indicate that the 1933 Double Eagles did not leave the
  Mint until 1937. If this is so, it would tend to support the
  Mint's often stated (but never, ever explained) claim that
  these coins were in some way "stolen" from the U.S. Mint.

  The next logical question is, if these coins were indeed stolen
  from the Mint  in 1937, who dunnit?  Was it an inside job?
  Was the Mint's indefatigable 50+  year campaign to seek
  these coins out and destroy them, reminiscent of the mindless
  pursuit of "Les Miserable," an attempt to cover up a theft
  by a Mint employee? If so, why bother?

  I do not understand the Timeline's reference to the Assay
  Commission coins.  Were the stolen coins taken from the
  regular coins, or the Assay coins? How  do others interpret
  this?"

  David Gladfelter adds: "I just received my copy of the
  "1933" catalogue.  What a change from Sotheby's (1954)
  to Sotheby's/Stack's (2002)!   In the former, the 1933
  double eagle appeared in a group lot of 17 pieces with no
  illustration; in the latter it is the sole piece in the entire
  auction and there are multiple full-color illustrations, with
  no "eclipses" (you know, where the obverse photo is
  tiddlywinked over the reverse photo).

  How many catalogued single-lot auction sales can you
  think of?  Only one comes immediately to my mind,
  Paul Cunningham's sale #56 (mail bid) of a previously
  unlisted Civil War merchant token.  Although I will
  definitely not be the new owner of "1933" it's nice to
  know that the piece will have a legal owner and not be
  forever lost, as are the 1964 silver dollars produced
  and then destroyed by our Mint.

  The tale of the "1933" is a very interesting one, not
  only to numismatic specialists. Wonder if the cataloguers
  could be persuaded to issue a hardcover edition?"

  [The photography isn't flattering to the coin.  It has
  apparently been knocked around a bit since it left the
  Mint.  Good thing for the owners that it's one of a kind.
  -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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