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1933 $20 GOLD CASE: ENOUGH ALREADY
Numismatic News editor Dave Harper published a blog article on October 15, 2015 about the lengthy legal proceedings surrounding
the Izzy Switt hoard of 1933 $20 gold pieces. -Editor
The latest round has begun in the legal drama deciding the fate of the 10 1933 $20 gold pieces in the possession of the family of the late Israel Switt, a Philadelphia jeweler who obtained them in the 1930s. A federal appeals court is being asked to reverse its April decision that ordered the government to return the coins to the family, which has not had possession of them since 2005. They had sent the rare coins to the Mint to be authenticated, and the government kept them, saying they had been stolen as none of them had been legally issued before President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued his gold recall order in March 1933. Will the decision be different this time? It might be. Should we bet on a different outcome? Probably not. If this were a courtroom drama TV show there would be clever argument followed by the triumphant return of the coins to the family – all wrapped up in the course of an hour, or a two-hour special at most. We collectors have been waiting for this to play out for 10 years right along with the family. My hair has gone gray. This has nothing to do with the trial and everything to do with the passing of a decade’s worth of time at my stage of life. How much further this legal battle can be drawn out, I will leave it to the legal scholars to determine. There is still the Supreme Court. That would allow even more years to pass. Legal drama, this may be, but popular entertainment it ain’t.
I've grown weary of this case myself. It moves in fits and starts, yet never seems much closer to an actual resolution. Maybe it will
end up in the Supreme Court. That would be great publicity for numismatics, and at last lead to a final resolution. -Editor
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Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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