Philadelphia: Family wins back rare Double Eagle gold coins that could be worth $80m

Government had claimed the coins were obtained illegally

In 2002 a 1933 Double Eagle coin sold for $7.6m

A family has won a legal battle over 10 exceptionally rare gold coins that could be worth $80m, after a US federal court overturned a decision made by a jury.

For more than a decade, officials from the US Department of the Treasury had claimed the $20 Double Eagles were stolen from the US Mint in Philadelphia before the 1933 coin series was melted down when it left the gold standard.

As a result, said officials, Joan Langbord and her sons could not lawfully own the coins, which were found in a family bank deposit box in 2003. Mrs Langford’s father, jeweller Israel Switt, dealt with the Mint in the 1930s and was investigated twice.

A report in the Philadelphia Enquirer said that in the latest twist in the saga, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that the government had failed to file a forfeiture action within the appropriate timescale. As a result, it had waived its right to keep the rare coins, one similar to which was sold at auction in 2002 for $7.6m.

“The government's delay was not minor,” Judge Marjorie Rendell, who was joined in her opinion by Chief Judge Theodore McKee, wrote on Friday.

Following the decision, the US Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia, which is representing the Treasury Department, said it had not decided whether it will appeal.

A total of 455,500 double eagle coins were minted in Philadelphia in the 1930s, but were ordered melted down and converted to gold bullion as part of President Franklin D Roosevelt’s plan to shore up the nation's banking and currency system.

A small number of the coins ended up in the possession of a Mr Switt, the jeweller. His family found them and took them to the Treasury Department in order to authenticate them, only to be told they were government property.

Mrs Langbord and her sons, Roy and David, sued. In 2011, a jury agreed with Justice Department lawyers who argued that Mr Switt had stolen the coins with the help of a corrupt Mint employee. Last week’s decision overturned that verdict.

“The Langbords are thrilled to receive their property back after fighting to vindicate their rights for over a decade,” the family's lawyer, Barry Berke, told reporters.