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The 1933 double eagle is a United States 20-dollar gold coin. Although 445,500 specimens of this Saint-Gaudens double eagle were minted in 1933, none were ever officially circulated and all but two were ordered melted down. However, 20 more are known to have been rescued from melting by being stolen, and found their way into the hands of collectors. 19 of these were subsequently recovered by the Secret Service, who destroyed nine of them, making this one of the world's rarest coins. The two intentionally spared coins are in the U.S. National Numismatic Collection, one is in the hands of a private owner who paid US$7.59 million for it in 2002–the second-highest price paid at auction for a single U.S. coin–and ten others are held in Fort Knox. == Production == In 1933, in an attempt to end the 1930s general bank crisis, U.S. president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, issued Executive Order 6102 whose provisions include: Congress additionally pass the Gold Reserve Act in 1934, which outlawed the circulation and private possession of United States gold coins for general circulation, with an exemption for collector coins. This act declared that gold coins were no longer legal tender in the United States, and people had to turn in their gold coins for other forms of currency. The 1933 gold double eagles were struck after this executive order, but because they were no longer legal tender, most of the 1933 gold coins were melted down in late 1934 and some were destroyed in tests. Two of the $20 double eagles were presented by the United States Mint to the U.S. National Numismatic Collection, and they were recently on display in the "Money and Medals Hall" on the third floor of the National Museum of American History. These two coins should have been the only 1933 double eagle coins in existence. However, unknown to the mint, a number of the coins (20 have been recovered so far) were stolen, possibly by the U.S. Mint cashier, and found their way via Philadelphia jeweler Israel Switt, into the hands of collectors. The coins circulated among collectors for several years before the Secret Service became aware of their existence. The matter came to the attention of mint officials when an investigative reporter looked into the history of the coins he had spotted in an upcoming Stack's Bowers coin auction and contacted the mint as part of his research, as a result of which an official investigation was begun by the Secret Service in March 1944. Prior to the investigation a Texas dealer sold one of the coins and it was on the way out of the country on February 29, 1944. During the first year of the investigation seven coins were seized or voluntarily turned in to the Secret Service and were subsequently destroyed at the Mint; an eighth coin was recovered the following year and met the same fate. In 1945 the investigation identified the alleged thief and his accomplice, Switt, who admitted to selling the nine (located) coins, but could not recall how he obtained them. The Justice Department tried to prosecute them, but the statute of limitations had passed. A tenth coin was recovered and destroyed in 1952. By contrast, the 1933 Eagle was issued before Roosevelt's withdrawal order and so may be legally owned by private citizens. However, it is estimated that no more than 40 exist, the rest having been melted. Thus they are exceptionally rare.〔(1933 TEN DOLLARS OR EAGLE )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1933 double eagle」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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