THE GREAT DU PONT COIN ROBBERY

It was the home of Mr. and Mrs. Willis H. du Pont, former head of General Motors and E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, the chemical giant. Willis was the youngest of 10 children and had left the family's homeland of Delaware for the relaxing sunshine of Florida. He had married a Spanish model, Miren de Amezola de Balboa, and they had two children, Victor, age four at the time of the robbery, and his baby brother Lammot, then just one.

Many of his neighbors had private security guards watching over them and their property. Willis du Pont felt that the technology of the day would better serve to protect his family. His home was protected by a state-of-the-art alarm system and a network of closed-circuit cameras. Never fully comfortable with being in the public eye due to his wealth and fame, du Pont at least felt protected here.

Shortly after midnight, Willis and Miren were awakened by the sound of their bedroom door exploding open. The lights came on and in came the five masked strangers with their guns drawn. One of the robbers yelled, “We want your money. Tell us where it is!” As scary as that must have been, at least they were looking only for money – not to hurt or kidnap the family; money was something Willis could easily surrender.

The gang had rounded up young Victor from his room as well as the maid and butler, still on duty there, leaving the baby, Lammot, asleep in his crib, and brought them all into Willis and Miren's bedroom. Two robbers stayed in the bedroom, forcing Miren to open the small bedroom safe. At one point, Miren panicked and couldn't remember the combination, only to have a gun shoved into her face. Meanwhile, Willis was escorted downstairs.

Linderman Specimen of 1804 Silver Dollar

In the bedroom safe were some $50,000 in cash and family jewelry, which would not have been a terrible haul on its own. But downstairs was a game-changer! Willis was forced to show them the walk-in safe next to his study. While the robbers were looking for more cash, inside the walk-in safe was one of the most impressive and valuable private coin collections in the country. The robbers realized that this was the haul of their dreams.

The robbers secured six suitcases from the du Pont attic and filled them with books and boxes full of rare coins, gold and silver pieces, and more than 1,000 silver dollars. After packing all of their loot, the family, the maid, and butler were tied up using a number of Willis's silk ties. The stolen car that had brought them to the du Pont home was abandoned, and they used Miren's brand new red Cadillac convertible to make their getaway.

The Haul
Stolen were approximately 7,000 coins in total. Some 250 Russian Ruble coins from the famed Mikhailovich collection were taken along with more than 1,000 United States silver dollars. But all of that paled against the value in the handful of great American rare coins that Willis owned. His rarities were legendary in that he owned the collection of 13 private and territorial United States gold coins that were some of the finest known, two specimens of the legendary 1804 Draped Bust Dollar, and the famous trio of coins including the 1866 No Motto Seated Liberty Quarter, Half Dollar, and Dollar – all thought to be unique. Another major rarity stolen was the finest-known 1787 Brasher Doubloon.

1866 Liberty Seated Dollar, No Motto

Also stolen were more than $4,000 in cash and nearly $50,000 in family jewelry. This was an amazing haul for this inexperienced group of hoodlums. The estimated value of all items stolen easily exceeds $10 million today. While the local and state police ran the investigation, du Pont hired his own investigators headed by Harold Gray, a du Pont family attorney who traveled the globe trying to recover many of the coins that were stolen that evening. Gray was on the case until 2011, when he passed on at age 85, but not without having had some successful recoveries of a number of important coins.

To read the complete article, see:
The Great du Pont Coin Robbery and Recovery (https://www.pcgs.com/news/great-du-pont-coin-robbery-and-recovery)

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