September 20, 2012 – A federal judge confirmed a 2011 verdict regarding ten 1933 Double Eagle gold coins. These coins had been illegally taken by a Philadelphia mint cashier who sold them to a local coin dealer. In 2003 the dealer’s family found ten of these coins – worth nowadays a fortune since one single coin of that last United States gold issue was sold for over $7.4m – and handed them over to the mint for authentication. However, the United States claimed rights over the coins since they were once unlawfully sold. In 2011 a federal jury decided against the family. Now a federal judge has upheld that verdict. Though, the family intends to appeal the judgment. This judgment raises many questions, anyway, regarding the government’s power to confiscate private property. In a similar case the government had shared equally the sum yielded by auction with the private proprietor.
You can read about the latest step in that continuous law suit here and here.
The whole story behind tells this article.