The June 2021 Sotheby’s sale of the 1933 $20 gold piece brings to mind the many illegal and clandestine coins struck at the Philadelphia Mint over the years. Because of the special conditions surrounding this particular 1933 double eagle, the government agreed to make it legal, although from 1944 to 2001 it was the Treasury’s contention that all such coins were illegal to possess. Several collectors had their coins seized and melted as a result of this government ban on ownership.
The 1933 double eagle is far from being the only United States coin carrying the weight of dubious legality. In the early days of the Mint, there were few collectors and therefore only occasional requests to mint officials for old and rare coins. It was not until the mid-1850s, and the rise of coin collecting as a national hobby, that individuals began to actively seek out rare coins and medals on a systematic basis.
Restriking coins and medals prior to the Civil War was relatively easy because there was on hand a collection of old hubs and dies, some dating back to the early 1800s. After 1839, when he became chief coiner, Franklin Peale in particular went to great lengths to see that such items were retained. It is also worth noting that after about 1820, workmen in the chief coiner’s department
