The Story
The Forbidden Fruit of Coins: The Fabulous 1933 Double Eagle
By David Tripp
They shouldn't have been made in the first place.
The 1933 Double Eagles, nearly a half a million, were struck after President Franklin Roosevelt started to wean America off the Gold Standard, and after he had ordered the recall of all gold coins. But even though they were struck they were never money. Instead, they lay in storage deep within the vaults of the United States Mint, until they were all ordered destroyed in 1937. But somehow a few escaped - they were stolen.
It had been an inside job - that was what the Secret Service determined. But the theft hadn't even been noticed until 1944, when a keen-eyed newspaperman asked the Treasury Department some questions about a 1933 Double Eagle he had spotted in an upcoming Stack's coin auction. The ensuing investigation quickly identified the alleged thief and his confederates, but the statute of limitations had passed, and they were beyond the reach of the law.
The coins however, were not. They were stolen property - chattel - belonging to the United States Government. Nine coins and their "owners" were identified during the Secret Service investigation: all were seized or surrendered - all but one - a half world away.
King Farouk of Egypt was a playboy and a spendthrift. He was also a voracious collector of many things, among them: Imperial Faberge eggs, antique aspirin bottles, stamps - and coins. In 1944 he bought a 1933 Double Eagle, and in strict adherence with the law, applied to the Treasury Department for an export license. Mistakenly, just days before the Mint theft was discovered, the license was granted. And so stolen property "legally" left the country.
The Government's efforts to retrieve the coin were slowed by a World War and subsequent diplomatic niceties - until 1954. The deposed King's collection was offered at auction, in Cairo, by Sotheby's. The United States government requested of the Egyptian government the removal of the coin from the auction and its return. It's withdrawal was effected, but not its return - it disappeared into the mists of time.
Nearly a half century later a leading English coin dealer was arrested while trying to sell a 1933 Double Eagle to undercover Secret Service agents - the coin was seized. In sworn depositions that followed it was said that this was Farouk's coin - but we will never really know for sure. In January, 2001 after five years of litigation, a singular settlement was reached. It acknowledged the United States right of ownership, but provided that this single example could be sold, and the title legally passed making it effectively unique.
The 1933 Double Eagle has, since the year of its creation, been the stuff of legend. Made quite legally, it was illegal to own as soon as it was made. It is the coin that shouldn't exist: but it does, and it has been tantalizing generations of collectors with no hopes of ownership - until now!
Timeline for the 1933 Double Eagle
| Date | Event |
| March 4, 1933 | Franklin Roosevelt Inaugurated |
| March 5, 1933 | Last shipment of gold coin from the Mint |
| March 6, 1933 | Presidential Proclamation 2039 Declares Bank Holiday - Payment of Gold Coin Prohibited) |
| March 15, 1933 - March 24, 1933 |
First 100,000 1933 Double Eagles struck |
| April 5, 1933 | Executive Order 6102 (Requires return of all gold coin with specific exceptions) |
| April 7, 1933 - April 27, 1933 |
200,000 1933 Double Eagles struck |
| May 8,1933 - May 19, 1933 |
145,500 1933 Double Eagles struck |
| January 30, 1934 | Congressional Passage of Gold Reserve Act of 1934 |
| February 2, 1934 | 34 1933 Double Eagles extracted from Assay Holding: added to Vault F, cage 1 holding; or kept in Cashier's vault. |
| February, 1934 | 20 1933 Double Eagles segregated for US Mint laboratory testing (Melted during testing) |
| February 14-15, 1934 | Assay Commission meets: examines and tests 446 1933 Double Eagles (9 Destroyed in testing) |
| February 20, 1934 | 437 1933 Double Eagles returned to Mint from United States Assay Commission - stored in Cashier's vault |
| March 20, 1934 | George McCann assumes position of Mint Cashier |
| October 2, 1934 | 2 1933 Double Eagles sent to Smithsonian Collection by George McCann |
| February 6, 1937 - March 18, 1937 |
1933 Double Eagles sent to refinery for melting |
| "Early February 1937" | Israel Switt purchases unknown number of 1933 Double Eagles |
| February 15, 1937 | Israel Switt sells first 1933 Double Eagle to James Macallister |
| February 1941 | Smith & Son advertise 1933 Double Eagle in The Numismatist |
| February, 1944 | Stack's advertisement in The Numismatist announcing sale at auction of Col. James W. Flanagan Collection. |
| February 23, 1944 | B. Max Mehl sells 1933 Double Eagle to King Farouk of Egypt |
| February 25, 1944 | Royal Legation delivers 1933 Double Eagle to United States Mint with request for Export License |
| February 29, 1944 | United States Treasury issues Egyptian Royal Legation Export License TGL-170 for 1933 Double Eagle |
| March 6, 1944 | Letter from Associate Director of Smithsonian Institution to Mint Director Ross confirming that coin was shown to T. Belote who answered affirmatively that coin was of special interest to collectors prior to April 5, 1933 and December 28, 1933. |
| March 22, 1944 | United States Secret Service first became aware of 1933 Double Eagles being advertised for sale. Investigation begins. |
| March 23-25, 1944 | Stack's auction of Col. James W. Flanagan Collection, containing 1933 Double Eagle (lot 1681) |
| March 24, 1944 | Secret Service Agents Jack Haley and Harry W. Strang seize 1933 Double Eagle (#1) from Stack's. Secret Service agents Haley and Strang seize a second 1933 Double Eagle (#2) from coin dealer Max Berenstein |
| March 25, 1944 | Agents Haley and Strang interview Messrs. J.F. Bell, F.C.C. Boyd and Ira Reed in New York City. Bell immediately surrenders a 1933 Double Eagle (#3) to special agents |
| March 29, 1944 | Philadelphia. Secret Services Agents conduct follow-up interviews with Ira Reed and James Macallister. Macallister informs agents he purchased 5 1933 Double Eagles from Israel Switt (Gold Dealer -with history of violations of 1934 Gold Reserve Act) |
| March 30, 1944 | Secret Service Agents Harry Strang and George Drescher interview Israel Switt. Switt admits to one time possession of 9 1933 Double Eagles. Told agents he had sold 5 to James Macallister; 2 to Ira Reed; 2 to Abe Kosoff. Switt professed no recollection of his source for the coins; but admitted had been to Philadelphia Mint frequently in capacity as gold dealer |
| March 30, 1944 | Leland Howard, Acting director of US Mint sent memo to Chief of United States Secret Service recounting events leading to granting of Export License to King Farouk. Explains awareness of illicit removal of 1933 Double Eagles from Mint in response to "routine inquiry regarding the number of such coins that had been placed *in circulation." Acting Mint Director recounts first realization that no 193 3 Double Eagles had ever been placed into circulation. Mint understood situation only after the export license had been issued |
| April 6,1944 | Chief of United States Secret Service receives written confirmation from the Treasury Department that their records "do not show that any payments of 1933 Double Eagles were authorized to be made by the United States Mint, Philadelphia, to any Federal Reserve Bank or Branch." |
| May 4, 1944 | General Counsel to Treasury, re Farouk coin, "it would be proper to attempt by diplomatic representations to have the coin returned to the United States." |
| June 18, 1944 | F.C.C. Boyd surrenders 1933 Double eagle to Special Agent Strang (#4) |
| June 19, 1945 | Secret Service seize 1933 Double Eagle from T. James Clarke through his attorney (#5) |
| June 20, 1945 | Secret Service seize 1933 Double Eagle from James A. Stack (#6) Charles M. Williams, surrenders his example to Secret Service (#7) |
| August 12, 1947 | United States recovers 1933 Double Eagle (# 8) from L.G. Barnard at conclusion of litigation |
| September 1949 | Treasury Department drafts letter to King Farouk demanding return of 1933 Double Eagle; submitted to State Department for review. State Department advises politically inadvisable to raise the subject with Egypt. Letter not sent. |
| 1952 | Louis Eliasberg surrenders 1933 Double Eagle to United States (#9). [when] "I heard there was a cloud to the title I surrendered the coin." |
| July 23, 1952 | Coup d'Etat ousts King Farouk of Egypt |
| February 26, 1953 | Sotheby's appointed official advisors to Egyptian Government's sale of property belonging to deposed King Farouk. |
| December 1953 | United States Department of State instructs United States Embassy in Cairo to request return of 1933 Double Eagle |
| January 27, 1954 | United States Department of State instructs US Embassy, Cairo to, "request that coin be withheld from sale and that it be returned to the United States Department of Treasury." |
| February 24, 1954 | Sotheby's auction of "Palace Collections of Egypt" (King Farouk Collection). Session 1, lot 185 contains 17 Double Eagles including 1933 Double Eagle. Coin withdrawn at behest of US Government |
| March 31, 1954 | US Embassy, Cairo, reports return of Farouk 1933 Double Eagle is "under consideration" by Egyptian Government |
| Late summer 1995 | Stephen Fenton purchases 1933 Double Eagle, with other US gold coins in London, England. |
| February 8, 1996 | Federal Agents arrest Stephen Fenton and Jasper Parrino at Waldorf Astoria, New York, attempting consummate sale of 1933 Double Eagle. Coin seized. |
| January 25, 2001 | Out of court settlement with United States Government and Stephen Fenton. Government retains ownership. Sale of this 1933 this Double Eagle authorized. |
| July 30, 2002 | Only 1933 Double Eagle "issued and monetized" by United States Government. Sold at public auction conducted by Sotheby's/Stack's in New York City |