1. Never trust the gov’t. Ever. (Not with your healthcare, not with your gold, not with your taxes, not with your retirement, not with your air, water, environment, not with your energy, not with your education)

2. Ron Paul was right.

However, when the law was passed, the U.S. Mint had already minted over 400,000 1933 Double Eagles. So, with the new law in place, the coins never left the Mint and were later ordered to be melted down.

Some years later it was discovered that when the coins were to be melted down, the Mint’s chief cashier stole around 20 of the coins.

It’s believed that he got away with it by snatching the coins from a U.S. Mint bag and replacing them with earlier dated Double Eagles, so that the weight and currency count would check out.

Nine or 10 of the coins ended up in the hands of a jeweler named Israel Switt, who then sold them to individuals. 10 years after he sells them, suddenly another 10 are found … and who has them? Switts daughter!

They’re stolen property and Switt hid them from the government.

I am not an expert on the justice system but something is wrong when the United States has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. It’s a bit shocking to know that we lock up more of our citizens than countries such as North Korea, Russia, Cuba and other countries in which citizens lack many basic human liberties.

Coin Week’s investigative report raised many doubts about the government’s case, especially since record keeping regarding release of the 1933 Double Eagles was spotty or nonexistence. This case is not, in my mind, about who gets to keep coins worth $80 million – it’s about the ability of a private citizen to defend himself from the overwhelming power of the state.

Israel Switt was twice found in possession of gold coins (handful in mid-30s and early ’40s with 100 stolen gold coins) which were stolen form the US Mint in Philly. Both times he claimed he didn’t know where he got them from but acknowledged they were likely illegally obtained. 2 of Mr. Switt’s close friends (mint employees) were convicted of steeling gold coins during this period. Due to statute of limitations, Mr. Switt was never charged.

Only man had the key to access to the 1933 gold coins at the time and he eventually served prison time for a similar embezzlement in 1940: George McCann. Pretty easy to deduce, Mr. Switt likely obtained the stolen 1933 Double Eagles through a relationship with the Head Mint Cashier and his close personal friend.

Theft is theft is theft…no thief should profit $80 million. The 1933 coins were never authorized to ever be released to the general public. That is very clear. It appears pretty clear no one should have one that the mint can’t track. If you purchase stolen property and are caught, the property is seized and you’d be S.O.L.

I’m not a big fan of the Fed. gov’t, but I think this one they actually got right…for once.