The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 35, August 14, 2005, Article 14

OLD HARVE BAILEY CAPTURED

On this week in 1933, lawmen accidentally captured "Old Harve"
Bailey, who was implicated, but never tried, for a robbing the U.S.
Mint in Denver in 1922. Bailey, a notorious bank robber, was
hiding at the same Paradise, Texas ranch as "Machine Gun" Kelly
and his gang, who had kidnapped businessman Charles Urschel.

Although it is now believed that Bailey had nothing to do with
the kidnapping, he spent more than 30 years in Leavenworth for
the crime. Also of interest is the fact that it was not coin or bullion
stolen from the Mint, but U.S. paper currency!

The following excerpt is from an article on the U.S. Coin
Values Advisor web site. References include:
Eitemiller, David J. Historic Tours: The Denver Mint.
Frederic, CO: Jende-Hagan Corporation, 1983, and
Helmers, Dow. "The Denver Mint Robbery, 1922."
Denver Post, December 7, 1975.

"The nearby undersized Federal Reserve Bank frequently
utilized the Mint's vaults to store overflow currency. On the
morning of December 18, 1922, a total of $200,000 in new
five dollar bills was ready for transfer from the Mint to the
Federal Reserve. Just as the bank's truck was loaded with
the bundles of cash, a car pulled up and out jumped three men
with guns blazing. A bank guard was mortally wounded before
Mint security could return fire. Under a withering rain of bullets,
one of the thieves grabbed the loot and hopped into the getaway
car where he was joined by his companions.

A massive dragnet ensued, but it took 18 days to find the
bandit's shot up vehicle inside a rented Denver garage. Sitting
in the front seat was the frozen body of one of the men, who
apparently died of gunshot wounds inflicted during the robbery.

The investigation linked the dead man to several gangsters who
had been on a terrifying rampage throughout the central region
of the nation."

More on the Story and More

The following excerpt about Bailey was found on the Amazon
web site, in the book "Conquering Deception" by Jef Nance,
a former police interrogator.

"Considered the dean of American bank robbers by crime
historians, Bailey had a reputation for meticulously planning
the jobs his group undertook. In selecting his prospective
targets, he would assess the financial worth of a town,
determine the locations of traffic policemen, calculate the
precise time allowable inside the bank, and make certain
to strike when the stores of money were at their maximum.
In his book "John Dillinger Slept Here", crime historian
Paul Maccabee writes, "Who else but Harvey Bailey would
think to obtain road maps from the county surveyor's office
to ensure that the roads were adequate for a perfect getaway?"

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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