Good news this morning from the Numismatic Crime Information Center (NCIC). The contents of a United States Postal Service package that was stolen in August 2020 have been recovered. The coins appeared on a Canadian auction site and have now been recovered. USCoinNews first reported the theft in September 2020.
After the coins were discovered on the auction site, NCIC assisted in coordinating the investigation with the victim of the crime, Postal Inspectors, Canadian law enforcement and Homeland Security. Currently the investigation into the theft is still ongoing.
Here is the list of coins that were recovered:
- 1798 Draped Bust 1c PCGS AU54 S-185, 2nd Hair. Cert #320346002.
- 1864 Two Cent PCGS MS64 BN LM RPD FS-1304. Cert #40457393.
- 1853-O Seated 50c PCGS AU50 toned Cert #404517414.
- 1861-O Seated 50c W-15 Speared Olive, toned PCGS AU55 Cert #404517405.
- 1880-S Morgan Dollar PCGS MS65 rattler, toned Cert #20994896.
- 1883-O Morgan Dollar PCGS MS63 rattler, toned Cert# 2115330
- 1896 Morgan Dollar PCGS MS63 toned Cert# 11757818.
- 1923-D $20 Saint Gaudens gold NGC MS66 Light toning Cert# 266928-001
While it took several months after the coins were stolen to recover them, it shows that the work of the NCIC and the numismatic community can accomplish in recovering coins that have gone missing. As originally reported on this theft, the good news is that these coins were all graded by PCGS or NGC, making it far more difficult for the thief to simply dump them. That is exactly what happened in this case, even with the coins showing up in Canada and not here in the United States.
The Numismatic Crime Information Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation whose mission is to serve as a national and international resource for collectors, dealers and law enforcement in the education, prevention and investigation of crimes involving coins, paper money, tokens, medals and related numismatic items.