A new found treasure has raised many questions on whether it was stolen many years ago or not. A safe deposit box that was lying around the house of an American family was discovered to be a long lost treasure. It seems that their grandfather, a jeweler form Philadelphia managed to put aside 9 Double Eagle gold coins.

The Double Eagle Coins are so valuable because they were minted in 1933. The coins that were minted in that year were never officially released by the government. It is known that very few coins managed to make their way out of the federal vault. There has been only one other Double Eagle coin that has been sold at an auction for the amount of 7.6 million dollars.

In 2004 the family took the coins to the United States Mint in order to be authenticated but they had no idea what was in store for them. The Mint told them that the coins are genuine and then refused to give them back. The reason they gave was based on the assumption that the grandfather had stolen the coins from the Mint back in 1930s.

After hearing the unpleasant news the family decided to go to court and there they have actually won an important ruling. The judge that presided the case ruled that they should be given the Double Eagles back or the Mint should come with hard evidence that the coins were stolen.

In 1933 almost half-million Double Eagles were minted before Franklin Roosevelt decided to ban owning large amounts of gold coins or gold bullion. The vast majority of these coins ended up being melted and only two of them made their way in the Smithsonian Institution. Apparently these were not the only ones that escaped the meltdown.

The police are now trying to trying to figure out whether the coins were indeed stolen or whether the old Philadelphia jeweler was their legal owner. Investing in gold or purchasing gold coins is no longer an issue these days. Economists advise us to diversify our portfolio and start investing in the precious metal.

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