Henri Charriere

As soon as the RICO act was passed l, 1970 (and the penalties for drug trafficking were exponentially increased) these guys should have seen the writing on the wall. Michael Franzese made it out (it didn't hurt to have a famous father) but unfortunately this was the only life they knew.

Suspect: You've got it all wrong officer!. I am working on a medieval suit of chain armor. I got the hole punch and links right here... Officer: C'mon along with me. You have a right to remain silent...

Hey wait, what's Mithradates doing... Just kidding! I am confident every light source expert on the Forum will agree these are very nice photos. I see 1622 in Arabic numbers on one and 1970 rendered in Roman numerals on another. Very interesting. Good job!

I suspect the one person who knows the whole story is Bruce Mouw who was the FBI Supervisor of C-16, the squad assigned to investigate the illegal activities of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Just think, the difference between being allowed to go about your business and being held at an undisclosed location as a material witness can sometimes be measured in just minutes. The lady of Good Luck smiled on you that night.

I guess we will never know now.

But why? It's never just one thing. What did the seller say? Did you state your concerns? I am very curious about the nature of deal-breakers. We can all learn from each other.

Why not call it Variety 2?

I have two observations to make about that, both off the top of my head. 1. Extensive wiretaps, electronic surveillance, confidential informants, etc. disclosed Cutler was more than just an attorney. Judge Glasser famously described him as "house counsel," based on information we, the public, are not privy to. [I believe the wiretap placed upstairs over the Ravenite Social Club, where Gotti reigned King picked up a negative comment directly from his lips, complaining, in substance, ...this isn't just the Gambino family. This is the Gotti, Gravano, Cutler, etc crime family.] 2. I am really going out on a limb here but my gut feeling is Bruce Cutler probably felt relieved (in spite of the courtroom antics and show for the press). Any one of the many charges Gotti was charged with carried life and he had a significant informant, his right-hand man, who had made a plea deal and was ready, able, and willing to testify against him. The jig was up and Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano blinked first and reaped the benefit: all told no more than 5 years for 19 murders. Cutler, as bombastic as ever, objected but deep down inside "quit" with government assistance, while he was still ahead, record intact. He was more than pleased. VKurtB may correct me if I am wrong but unlike the juvenile courts, all trials in Federal Court are held publicly and jurors' names are made known. The jury in Gotti's trial was sequestered and the defendants' families, news reporters and courthouse employees occupied most of the seats in the "open" courtroom. (The only real head-scratcher to come out of the Eastern District in Brooklyn was the wholly unanticipated (and possibly unprecedented) extradition recently of Salvador Cienfuegos, described variously as Mexico's defense secretary who had been charged, much like el Chapo, with facilitating the transportation of narcotics for a violent drug cartel.) The FBI, DEA, USA's and the entire federal judicial system was livid. [My thanks to VKurtB for permitting me to speak.]

I guess it depends on your motive. If it is to find out as much as possible about what's yours, why not? As long as they've got nothing to do with King Farouk or Ratzie33 (private joke) go for it. If it's to make a selling point, all the more reason why. The television series Antique Roadshow and Pawn Stars wouldn't be complete without the obvious questions, including, "So how did you come by this?" Have you managed to locate anyone knowledgeable about this series and its various appraised values? Surely a large, well-known, high profile and reputable auction house such as Heritage Auctions must have come across similar offerings at one time or another. I know you are still at the beginning of your inquiry. I wish you all the best of luck on your endeavors!

This is neither here nor there but me feels -- the copper content and value of wheaties having long been spoken for -- all pennies minted hereinafter ought to be re-engraved 2-1/2 cents. All in favor, say Aye!

There is an undeniably sensitive aspect to this. I suspect that the sale was contingent on confidentiality with the unverbalized understanding that any pertinent details, if determined, would not be released until all the principals involved were gone, out of simple decency and respect. Perhaps not analogous but how would you feel as an author if a reviewer's copy of a book you had written and inscribed with a personal message to a friend wound up downstairs in the Review Section of New York's Strand Book Store well ahead if its release date, unopened and unread (bought at a quarter of list price, and sold at half)? Unseemly, right? Same thing.

Judging by your resume and deeply-held beliefs, I think it safe to say that if you had sat on John J. Gotti's trial jury, the one in which a juror was compromised with a $60,000 bribe to throw the verdict, you likely would have been the first to be eliminated as a suspect. In my eyes, you can do no wrong and have more than the lares and penalties to back that up. Or as the Philly underworld would put it: "Dis guy here, Kurt, is a thoroughbred. Fuhgeddaboudit! He's off-limits to everyone." Said, of course, as a compliment!

[These are classic lines which will long be remembered in the annals of chatboard history.]😉

True, but you, the Great Zadok, wielder of moot points, do.

I wish I could summon the courage to settle this once and for all but could we not say the same for George Metesky, the Shah of Iran, Pol Pot, el Chapo, Stalin in Russia, the Duvaliers in Haiti, Imelda Marcos in the Philippines, Pablo Escobar and the Sinaloa Cartel, Leona Helmsley, -- even Richard Nixon? I am partial to the theory that water seeks it's own level. The Good Book says all will be held to account. In comparison to Hutus vs Tutsis in Rwanda, the murders of 100,000 civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- acts all of which have their supporters, the death camps in Germany and Poland, Red Army retaliation, the Rape of Nanking and the handiwork of William Calley in the premediatated massacre of half a million unarmed civilians in My Lai in '68? Does the name Phan Thi Kim Phuc, the Nalalm Girl ring a bell? How about the Letelier car bombing in Washington, D.C.? And what was Dan Mitrione doing in Uruguay? The ice break from Atarctica's Brunt Ice Shelf, reportedly the size of Manhattan, has greater consequences for the world's inhabitants than whether any group of people stole a roll or bag of gold dollars from the Mint. Saddam Hussein had three tractor trailer loads of largely United States currency transferred i.e., stolen in broad daylight from the central Bank in Baghdad simply on his say so and the $500,000 in gold reserves expropropriated to the United States by the U.S. Marines from Haiti in 1915 has far greater consequences than some gold pieces which may or may not have been stolen. As my favorite commentator, VKURTB once urged, proportion, people, proportion. I concur. P.S. Overriding question: How does one profit from the "theft" of something he cannot talk about, cannot display and cannot sell openly? As the president's mouth piece once observed: Nobody cares about his tax returns anymore. Bottom line, dirty or not, was Izzy found guilty of anything at all? No further questions. (I better go; I hear the Mods outside the door...)

You, sir, are remarkably prescient! (In fact, the first and only time I heard the word sovereign pronounced was by Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady.")

[madam = ma'am] The Big Four: correct spelling, grammar, punctuation and good penmanship. 😉

[I think I will just wait for the cable television version to come out, HOW IT REALLY HAPPENED. When I was just a kid and first heard about the Titanic, I thought no problem. They'll refloat the thing and that'll be the end of that. Who really knew the ship broke in half and was beyond salvage? No one expects the missing and/or stolen Saints to be marching back in. Case closed. Now, about those three Alcatraz escapees, any theories? Anyone think Dan B. Cooper is alive?

[I loved the PayPal angle but our colleague loves to get to the bottom of things.]

P.S. All of my Lincolns come in at just under 2.00 mm.

Grams or grains? And we are using an AVOIRDUPOIS weight scale right? How about a profile shot of that edge? Is there such a thing as a genuine piefort (sometimes spelled piedfort) Lincoln Cent?

I believe the entire membership knows I have the utmost regard for VKurtB's observations even when off-hand, off-color or perhaps ill-advised and unhelpful, but the OP has specifically addressed his query to the Universe and how it feels about grading (to me, it remains as labelled) keeping it in original Mint packaging (I say, yes) and value beyond its issue price (made problematic by the distraction). Surely there are on-lookers with both the experience and expertise who can offer insight into this matter. Where do my most ardent fans, my Army of Ignorers -- reduced by one to 21 by Idhair's recent reply to my comment on his thread -- stand on this? Where are all the people who've encountered this type of intrusion before. And where, oh where is MAULEMALL?

It is much more than cool. I'd rather have a classic design in my pocket than a Washington who is already honored on the one-dollar bill. That is why I am pushing for revisiting classic designs such as this truly magnificent example in time for our nation's 250th anniversary, or sestercentennial.

Ask Alexa.

Nice detective work! Gotta give you that!