The E-Sylum:  Volume 5, Number 25, June 16, 2002, Article 3

MINT EMPLOYEES ARRESTED

  An article in the Friday, June 14, 2002 issue of The
  Philadelphia Inquirer describes the latest events in the
  saga of error coin shenanigans at the Philadelphia Mint:

  "It is one of the most sought-after mistakes in mint history:
  a golden "Sacagawea" dollar coin with the soaring eagle
  on one side and the head of George Washington from the
  quarter on the other.

  Ten of these coins, all made in 2000 at the U.S. Mint in
  Philadelphia, are known to exist, and one sold last month
  for $75,000.

  Yesterday, federal prosecutors said they knew how five
  of those coins got past mint inspectors and into circulation -
  they were smuggled out and resold by two mint machine
  operators.

  The two - James Watkins, 41, of the 5400 block of North
  Fifth Street in Olney, and Raymond Jackson, 54, of the 1700
  block of North Stillman Street in North Philadelphia - were
  indicted individually on charges of conversion of government
  property and witness tampering.

  Watkins, the indictment alleges, took four of the defective
  coins - called "mules" by collectors because they combine
  the sides of two different coins on one planchet, or blank -
  between February and June 2000.  He then allegedly sold
  the coins to dealers and a "novice coin collector" for a total
  of $9,200, and the coins were subsequently resold for a
  total of $96,000.

  Jackson allegedly took one defective Sacagawea mule in
  June 2000 and sold it to a dealer-collector for $5,000. That
  dealer sold it on eBay for $41,395.

  The witness-tampering charges allege attempts made in
  early 2001 to persuade unnamed persons not to talk to
  federal agents investigating the coins.

  Neither man could be reached for comment."

  For the full text of the story, see
  http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/3468064.htm

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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