PHILADELPHIA – A Philadelphia family has been awarded the rights to 10 rare gold coins possibly worth $80 million or more after a U.S. appeals court overturned a jury verdict.
U.S. Department of the Treasury officials insist the $20 Double Eagles were stolen from the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia before the 1933 series was melted down when the country went off the gold standard.
Prosecutors say Joan Langbord and her sons cannot lawfully own the coins she says she found in a family bank deposit box in 2003. A jury in 2012 agreed.
But the appeals court ruling Friday returns the coins to the Langbords because U.S. officials didn't respond in time to the family's claim for the seized property.
A Treasury spokeswoman has no immediate comment on the ruling.
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