Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Mint Displays 1933 Double Eagles
DENVER, CO - The U.S. Mint unveiled ten recently recovered 1933 Double Eagles at the Opening Ceremony of the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money in Denver. The Mint has secured the rare gold pieces at Fort Knox until now.
The 1933 Double Eagles are fascinating because they should not exist, These gold pieces were never issued as coinage and should never have left the Mint at Philadelphia, because the Mint was were ordered to melt them down. But these ten gold pieces were stolen.
About 445,500 Double Eagle gold pieces were minted in 1933. However, President Franklin Roosevelt took the United States off the gold standard that year in an effort to help the struggling American economy recover from the Great Depression. As a result, all but two of the 1933 Double Eagles were ordered destroyed. Those two specimens were transferred to the Smithsonian Institution. None of the Double Eagles was issued at that time.
The United States Government has now recovered a total of twenty 1933 Double Eagles that were stolen from the United States Mint at Philadelphia. Nine of the 20 Double Eagles were seized by, or relinquished to, the Secret Service in the 1940s and 1950s, and were subsequently returned to the United States Mint and destroyed.
One 1933 Double Eagle surfaced in 1996 and was recovered by the United States Secret Service. Following a legal settlement, that gold piece was returned to the Mint and was subsequently issued and auctioned in New York City to an anonymous buyer for $7.5 million on July 30, 2002. The United States Department of the Treasury has said that it does not intend to monetize, issue, auction, or destroy the 10 recently recovered 1933 Double Eagles.
The gold Eagle coin was first produced in 1795 with a $10 denomination. When they where first struck, $20 gold pieces were popularly called "Double Eagles."
The 1933 Double Eagle obverse features "Liberty," a figure reminiscent of a Greek goddess. The image was designed by famed sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The reverse features a majestic eagle.
The 1933 Double Eagles are fascinating because they should not exist, These gold pieces were never issued as coinage and should never have left the Mint at Philadelphia, because the Mint was were ordered to melt them down. But these ten gold pieces were stolen.
About 445,500 Double Eagle gold pieces were minted in 1933. However, President Franklin Roosevelt took the United States off the gold standard that year in an effort to help the struggling American economy recover from the Great Depression. As a result, all but two of the 1933 Double Eagles were ordered destroyed. Those two specimens were transferred to the Smithsonian Institution. None of the Double Eagles was issued at that time.
The United States Government has now recovered a total of twenty 1933 Double Eagles that were stolen from the United States Mint at Philadelphia. Nine of the 20 Double Eagles were seized by, or relinquished to, the Secret Service in the 1940s and 1950s, and were subsequently returned to the United States Mint and destroyed.
One 1933 Double Eagle surfaced in 1996 and was recovered by the United States Secret Service. Following a legal settlement, that gold piece was returned to the Mint and was subsequently issued and auctioned in New York City to an anonymous buyer for $7.5 million on July 30, 2002. The United States Department of the Treasury has said that it does not intend to monetize, issue, auction, or destroy the 10 recently recovered 1933 Double Eagles.
The gold Eagle coin was first produced in 1795 with a $10 denomination. When they where first struck, $20 gold pieces were popularly called "Double Eagles."
The 1933 Double Eagle obverse features "Liberty," a figure reminiscent of a Greek goddess. The image was designed by famed sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The reverse features a majestic eagle.
Labels: Gold
