Double Eagle: The Epic Story of the World's Most Valuable Coin
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"A thrilling page-turner....This is a great read."—Publishers Weekly, starred reviewPublishers WeeklyFrankel, senior writer at the American Lawyer, has produced a thrilling page-turner about the most common of objects-a coin. Granted, the coin in question is no ordinary piece of change. Produced at the Philadelphia Mint in 1933, the $20 Double Eagle was the last gold coin made in the United States and never officially placed in circulation. Still, in the sometimes shadowy world of numismatics, one of the coins surfaced and was chased around the globe for nearly 70 years. In hard-driving prose, Frankel chronicles the events and characters that orbit this small piece of precious metal. Acquired by shady gold dealer Israel Switt, "a squat, balding redhead who wore thick-rimmed glasses, cheap suits, and a perpetual sneer," the coin found its way into the collection of King Farouk of Egypt, a ruler described by Frankel as having an appetite for collecting "so unquenchable and undiscriminating that he seemed almost cartoonish." Frankel demonstrates her journalistic skill with sparkling accounts of deals, investigations and the arcane rituals of the coin world. This is a great read for the obsessed collector and general public alike. 8 pages of b&w photos. (May) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Prologue 1"Give Us a Coinage That Has Some Beauty!" 5"All Persons Are Hereby Required to Deliver All Gold Coin Now Owned by Them" 29The Mysterious Man at the Money Factory 49The "Gold Coin Bootlegger" and the Coin Dealers 65The First Investigation 81Seizure 101Farouk of Egypt 107Disappearing 125Surfacing 139The Deal 151"It's Not Okay Over Here" 165The Sting 181"I Was Just Selling a Coin" 193"All Right, Then. Let's Fight" 209Jack Moore's Last Stand 221Splitting the Baby 229Second Chances 243"Fair Warning" 251Only One Coin 259Epilogue 263Acknowledgments 277Notes 283Selected Bibliography 301Index 309
