Illegal Tender: Gold, Greed, and the Mystery of the Lost 1933 Double Eagle
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.98 (818 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0743245741 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 384 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-10-05 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
But one was beyond their reach, in a king's collection in Egypt, where it survived a world war, a revolution, and a coup, only to be lost again. It is one of America's treasures -- the most valuable ounce of gold in the world, the celebrated, the fabled, the infamous 1933 double eagle. With its cast of kings, presidents, government agents, shadowy dealers, and crooks, Illegal Tender will keep readers guessing about this incomparable disk of gold -- the coin that shouldn't be and almost wasn't -- until the very end.. Then, the fugitive 1933 double eagles became the focus of a relentless Secret Service investigation spearheaded by the man who had put away Al Capone. In 1937, along with countless millions of other gold coins, they were melted down into faceless gold bars and sent to Fort Knox. In 1933 the hopes of America dimmed in the darkness of the Great Depression, and gold -- the nation's lifeblood -- hemorrhaged from the financial system. Illegal to own and coveted all the more, it has been sought with passion by men of wealth and with steely persistence by the United States government for mo
gold Double Eagle coin sold for a record $7,590,020 at Sotheby's, making it by far the most valuable coin in the world. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. . off the gold standard soon after a million $20 Double Eagles were minted. From Publishers Weekly In July 2002, a very rare U.S. But covetous human nature—which always makes for an interesting read—stands center stage. Never circulated, the coins were melted into gold bricks —save for two sent to the Smithsonian. First-time author Tripp, former head of Sotheby's coin department, traces the peripatetic career of this Double Eagle, minted in 1933. FDR took the U.S. Several courtroom skirmishes later, the federal government finally allowed the gold coin to be auctioned at Sotheby's. Tripp's entertaining narrative is made more so by the many dramatic, sometimes nefarious characters of the coin trade, whom
Susanna Hutcheson said A riveting, well written adventure. I'm not a coin collector. There are one or two coins I'd love to own. And I do own a few lovely ones. I say this so you'll know I'm not a member of the society of coin collectors --- that closed society of people who have their own vocabulary and ways of doing business.But I wanted to read this book because I became interested in why Roosevelt the second opted to steal gold from the American public, making it illegal. I also was enchanted with this coin that Roosevelt the First wanted so badly. He wanted it to not contain the motto, "In God We Trust" because he believed in separation of church a. Scott Barman said A Prosaic Tome That is a Very Interesting Read. As with any thriller, the book opens with the background and history of the our protagonist, in this case, the Saint-Gaudens $"A Prosaic Tome That is a Very Interesting Read" according to Scott Barman. As with any thriller, the book opens with the background and history of the our protagonist, in this case, the Saint-Gaudens $20 Double Eagle. Tripp repeats the well known history of how President Theodore Roosevelt wanted to extend the gilded age and update the design of US coinage. Roosevelt thought the design of the Mint's Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber's were bland and not fitting of a great nation. Tripp reproduces reports of conversations and letters from Roosevelt to Barber and other US Mint officials demanding they follow the instructions of sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, as to how . 0 Double Eagle. Tripp repeats the well known history of how President Theodore Roosevelt wanted to extend the gilded age and update the design of US coinage. Roosevelt thought the design of the Mint's Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber's were bland and not fitting of a great nation. Tripp reproduces reports of conversations and letters from Roosevelt to Barber and other US Mint officials demanding they follow the instructions of sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, as to how . Reads like a novel but this one is a true story!!! If you are a fan of novels like "Topaz" and "The Maltese Falcon" then you are bound to enjoy David Tripp's "Illegal Tender: Gold, Greed and the Mystery of the Lost 1933 Double Eagle". But this is not fiction. Rather it is a true story spanning more than 70 years and starring of all things a $20 gold coin!!!You see when Franklin Roosevelt took the country off the gold standard immediately after his inauguration in 1933, he ordered that all gold coins in circulation be returned to the government. It was a monumental task of course but most patriotic Americans voluntarily complied. Likewise, any go