ILLEGAL TENDER: Gold, Greed, and the Mystery of the Lost 1933 Double Eagle

In July 2002, a very rare U.S. 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. 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. off the gold standard soon after a million $20 Double Eagles were minted. Never circulated, the coins were melted into gold bricks —save for two sent to the Smithsonian. Or such was the belief. In fact, mint workers purloined several Double Eagles, which were eventually seized by the Secret Service—all except one. Over the next 60 years, it was illicitly traded by various shady coin merchants and finally retrieved in 1996 during a much publicized sting at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The coin later spent time in a vault at the World Trade Center, but was removed just a month before the September 11 attacks. 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 he paints in all their seediness. But covetous human nature—which always makes for an interesting read—stands center stage. B&w photos. Agent, Scott Waxman. (Sept. 9)