1933 Gold Double Eagle
Of all rare gold coins in existence, there's one that stands out from the crowd; The United States 1933 Gold Double Eagle. This exclusive gold coin netted 7.5 million dollar in an auction in 2002.
What Was It That Made This Coin So Rare?
In 1933, the US Mint made over 400,000 of this coin but before any of them were circulated to the public. During the Great Depression, President Roosevelt changed currency laws and took America off of the gold standard in an effort to stabilize the economy. Gold coins stopped being produced and were also taken out of circulation. People that already had gold coins were being asked to turn them in to be melted down and it became illegal to own a gold coin unless they were strictly for collectible reasons. At the time the government felt that if private citizens were able to own gold, that they would hoard it causing gold to become scarce thus causing even greater economic uncertainty.
Once all the 1933 Gold Double Eagles were melted down and made into gold bars, the US Mint thought that they had succeeded in destroying all the 1933 Gold Double Eagles. Only two of these coins were thought to be left and were given to the Smithsonian to put on display. It became so important to the US government to destroy all of these coins that the Secret Service was enlisted to hunt down any possible coins left in existence. They succeeded by finding 8 more by 1952. A savvy Mint cashier was responsible for switching the gold coins that were to be melted down and saved them from destruction.
Somehow another collector came into possession of another 19 1933 Double Eagle coins and sold 9 of them to King Farouk of Egypt. The US Secret Service tried to get these coins back, but the King had legally brought them into the country and was therefore allowed to keep them. In 1952 these coins were again brought to market and the Secret Service was still on their trail. The coins mysteriously vanished again!
Fast forward over 4 decades and the gold coins became available on the market in New York. The Secret Service, still after these coins setup a sting operation and were able to seize the coins. During the seizure the coins were stored in the World Trade Center vault and after a long legal battle and just a few months before 9/11, the coins were moved to Fort Knox. Continued legal battles ensued and finally the Secret Service made a compromise, allowing the collector to sell the coins and split the money with the US Mint.