by emad » Sat Aug 27, 2005 11:59 am
<br>The US Mint has seized 10 Double Eagle gold coins - some of the rarest and most valuable in the world - from a woman checking their authenticity. <br><br>The Mint says the coins, which never entered circulation, are public property and is holding them at a fort. <br><br>Joan Langbord, who says she inherited the coins from her father, a jeweller, has vowed to fight to get them back. <br><br>The gold Double Eagle is so rare that in 2002 a single coin reached a price of $7.59m at auction. <br><br>But the US Mint says that Mrs Langbord's coins could only have been originally obtained in an "unlawful manner" in the 1930s. <br><br>Melted <br><br>After the US abandoned the gold standard in 1933, the government ordered all Double Eagles to be melted. <br><br>A number of coins disappeared from the Mint in 1937, when nearly 500,000 coins were recalled and destroyed. <br><br>Ms Langbord, 75, now runs her father's business and says she discovered the coins among his possessions. <br><br>Israel Switt admitted to selling nine of the gold coins in the 1940s but he was never charged with those sales. <br><br>She says she merely sent the coins to the Mint to check that they were genuine and never agreed to give up her right to them. <br><br>The profits of the last Double Eagle to be auctioned were split between the US treasury and the seller, Stephen Fenton. <br><br>Mr Fenton was arrested by Secret Service agents when he tried to sell the coin in a New York hotel. <br><br>The Mint says it will not auction the coins but is still deciding what to do with them. <br><br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4190298.stm">news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world...190298.stm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><br> <br> <p></p><i></i>
