Big Theft from the Mint Reported

[Mokiechan]

Does this explain the Washington Dollars without edge engraving?

 

Here is an extract from an article I read today:

 

"A North Wildwood, N.J., man who worked as a police officer at the U.S. Mint today admitted stealing $2.4 million worth of error coins from the U.S. Mint and selling them to a coin distributor in California, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced."

 

the story goes on with more deatil but suffice it to say, this is a big WTF. He apparenly was a major reason those Washington Dollars without edge engraving came to the marketplace. Was he also, along with others, the reason they were produced in the first place? How can a mint employee, even a police officer, manage to get away with stealing so many of the coins (enough to make over 2 Million Dollars) over a period of time and get away with it?

 

I have a feeling that there are more folks involved. This is really ugly.

 

See more journals by BeawChan

[Jeffrey Cardona]

Do you have a link to the news article?

 

Sounds like so very interesting reading!

 

Jeff

[Grabnar82]

here it is from the DOJ

 

http://www.justice.gov/usao/nj/Press/files/Gray,%20William%20News%20Release.html

[BruceTucson]

It will be interesting to see what happens to the price of these coins (Washington Dollars without edge engraving) now as well as the demand.

[noow]

Technically not "error" coins, the guy stole the coins off the press BEFORE they got into the room where the edge lettering was put on, making them look like errors.

[Chris1976]

But its not just the washington dollars that he had taken, todays email from Coin World that contained a link to their weekly edition says that the officer admited to taking coins starting in 2007 but had continued to do so up til the point that he had been caught. He would remove the coins from the coining room prior to them making it to the room where the edge lettering would have been placed onto the coins. In the begning he was being paid $20 for each coin he sent to the california dealer but later one would be paid between $70 and $75 for each coin he would sell.

 

Unfortunately there is no way of knowing which coins made it to the public under normal means and which ones were introduced due to his actions. With that being said, it would be hard to guess how the price of the missing edge lettering will react due to this guy being caught.

[Mokiechan]

I gotta believe there were others involved. And at 75 bucks a piece,we're talking about over 25,000 coins. That's what you call a market maker.

[jackson64]

If the government were going to be consistent--then they should issue a bulletin and confiscate all of the coins which were stolen from the mint--just like the 1933 Double Eagles.

 

All "no edge lettering" Washington dollars should immediately be turned into the government and ownership of such should be considered receiving stolen property....if they were consistent.

 

PS: I didn't know that the edge lettering was done seperately. I thought that the edge lettering was on the collar and that the striking of the dies on the obverse and reverse of the planchette sort of "squeezed" forced the incuse lettering on the edges as the planchette expanded within the collar --in one step. Learn something new everyday.....

[TD Henson]

Wonder how many "mint errors" are just like this one intentional, for profit overtime "work". I think specifically about the mules that are out there...

[Mokiechan]

If the government were going to be consistent--then they should issue a bulletin and confiscate all of the coins which were stolen from the mint--just like the 1933 Double Eagles. .

 

If the government had even a whiff of common sense, they would have let the Langbords auction the coins and then collect the nice tax on the purchase price. Instead the coins remain in limbo, lawyers made a ton of money, and the government spent a ton of money. watta way to run a country.

[synch]

where can i buy one of these coins from ? this is like pirate booty right here i tell ya

 

[Chris1976]

I'm sure it wouldnt be hard for you to find one They'er all over Ebay and have been sold by numerous online coin dealers.

 

Posting has been edited.

 

The picture of the coin has been removed due to a recent sale of the coin. While I didnt have much invested into the purchase of this coin, I felt it was a wise choice to sell it now while I could still regain the amount I spent to purchase the coin due to its unknown future. I based this choice off a recent article as noted in my posting below.

[noow]

Chris- AWESOME

[Chris1976]

Copied from a recent article by David Ganz for Numismatic News ( New Legal Standard in Mint Case ) :

 

"But the real story, which the daily media has yet to pick up on, is in the criminal “information” – a claim of criminal activity that is usually superseded by an indictment coming from a empaneled grand jury – is that the government believes that these error coins are illegal to own initially as well as in the secondary market.

 

Stripped of legal niceties, the viewpoint essentially is that there is no way that these coins could have left the Mint other than through illegal means, and hence lack the essential attribute of having been “monetized.”

 

This new theory smacks of the recent prosecution to retrieve 1933 double eagles, and could well go beyond Presidential error coins lacking the “In God we Trust” motto on its edge and include any coin with a questionable history, including rarities such as the 1913 Liberty nickel, the 1804 silver dollar and a host of other coins."

 

If I am reading that right, the mint is claiming that there is no way that the error coins that were missing the edge lettering could have possibly sliped by the inspectors and made it into distribution rolls and that even owning one of these coins could be considered illegal. After all, only "perfect" coins leave the mint by legal means. Maybe I am wrong, but thats how I read this article.

 

unfortunately, I dont see how the mint would be able to determine exactly which error coins were obtained due to Mr. Gray and which coins actually were found within bank issued rolls. But I am sure that wont stop them from making all error coins for that series illegal to own just as they did with the 1933 eagles.

 

Edited to add:

 

If by chance the courts determine that it is infact illegal to own one of these coins, it makes you wonder what kind of impact this action will have for those who obtained one by legal methods. Plus, with this coin listed in the 100 Greatest U.S. Coins book, will there need to be a reprint of this book to remove it from the listings of coins since it would no longer be considered "legal tender"? And what about all the collectors out there that have found other missing edge error coins by going through numerous rolls of coins? Will those also be considered "illegal" coins? And what about the other errors to this series such as the Grant coins that have the "smokey" liberty torch?

 

This could become a very interesting and possibly very agravating turn of events for the Presidentual Dollar coin series.

[Mokiechan]

The Mint has recently issued a press release that states Error Coins are legal to own if they left the Mint under normal circumstances. Now if these Washington Dollars are determined to have been illegally minted and subsequently stolen by the Mint then they would still be theoretically illegal to own. Betcha this is one that the government doesn't pursue due to the high volume and the low value.