Thursday, September 6, 2012

Judge rules unearthed coins belong to Uncle Sam

[Courthouse News Service]  The 1933 Saint-Gaudens double eagle, named after its designer Augustus St. Gaudens, is "one of the most sought-after rarities in history," according to the U.S. Mint. Though the double eagle was originally valued at $20, one such coin that belonged to King Farouk of Egypt sold for more than $7.5 million at a Sotheby's auction in the summer of 2002, making it the most valuable coins ever auctioned at the time. The Philadelphia Mint struck 445,500 double eagles at the height of the Great Depression, but it pulled them back weeks later as President Theodore Roosevelt ordered U.S. banks to abandon the gold standard.