The Recovery of the DuPont Linderman 1804 Dollar
In another thread entitled "What has been your most memorable Numismatic experience," I cited the time in 1981 when I recovered the Linderman specimen of the 1804 Dollar, stolen from the DuPont Family in 1967. Some people have asked for details about the recovery, so I am going to reproduce below an article I wrote about it in COINage Magazine in April of 2000. My sincere thanks to the Newman Numismatic Portal for their help in locating a copy of it.
TD
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!
Copyright Tom DeLorey 2000
All Rights ReservedProfessional Numismatist, Retired. 55 year member ANA. Former ANA Senior Authenticator. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and ANA Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner of the PNG's 2026 Robert Friedberg Award for "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," Available now from Whitman or Amazon.30 -
When I get a chance I will add a few things that I could not write about at the time.
Professional Numismatist, Retired. 55 year member ANA. Former ANA Senior Authenticator. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and ANA Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner of the PNG's 2026 Robert Friedberg Award for "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," Available now from Whitman or Amazon.9 -
thank you so much for sharing this story - looking forward to the additonal details you'll share later
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Unreal!!
Such a fascinating story.
Seems like everyone (agents, dealers, perps..) were pretty darn chill back in those days… like out of an episode of Barney Miller2 -
Great story. I recall reading about the recovery when it made news in 1981 and probably read the detailed 2000 article at the time.
Re: the FBI agent "...I could see that he thought all of us coin people were crazy..", I don't think that can ever be proven wrong. But, it seems like all people have some areas of "crazy" in them in someone elses view.
"To Be Esteemed Be Useful" - 1792 Birch Cent --- "I personally think we developed language because of our deep need to complain." - Lily Tomlin
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Thank you for a great read and I very much look forward to reading a few things that you couldn’t write about at the time!
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
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Very interesting, thanks for posting it.
Other passions include golf, Moto Guzzi motorcycles, and Euro motorcycles in general.
Chris1 -
Good reading. Thanks for posting.
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Good story. Also wondering about the things you couldn’t write previously.
"Let me tell ya Bud, you can buy junk anytime!"2 -
Fascinating story indeed. Do you know if the 1876-CC twenty cent piece has been recovered?
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
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I love coins and coin collecting and have the utmost respect for other collectors.
But if there's any object in existence that inspires greed in people it is coins and money in any tangible form.
Everyone likes a a good ending.
tempus fugit extra philosophiam.0 -
@P0CKETCHANGE said:
Fascinating story indeed. Do you know if the 1876-CC twenty cent piece has been recovered?No idea.
Professional Numismatist, Retired. 55 year member ANA. Former ANA Senior Authenticator. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and ANA Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner of the PNG's 2026 Robert Friedberg Award for "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," Available now from Whitman or Amazon.0 -
What a great story. Thanks for resharing and look forward to the additional commentary
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@CaptHenway said:
When I get a chance I will add a few things that I could not write about at the time.Can't wait to hear!
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you" Matthew 6:33. Young fellow suffering from Bust Half fever.
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JRCS #16060 -
Okay, here's one bit of information I do not believe that I have ever seen in print. The day after the coin came in and the three of us gave our statements to an agent, the agent came back and showed us a picture of a man with numbers across his chest. He asked us if this was the man who had brought the coin in. We all said yes.
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He then showed us pictures of an older man with numbers across his chest, and asked if we had ever seen him. We all said no, and one of us asked who he was? The agent said that he was the father-in-law of this guy, pointing at the first picture, and that he's the number two man in the Las Vegas branch of (a certain fraternal group sometimes associated with a role played by Marlon Brando).I wonder if the guy that walked in with the piece did indeed get it from his grandfather?
Professional Numismatist, Retired. 55 year member ANA. Former ANA Senior Authenticator. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and ANA Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner of the PNG's 2026 Robert Friedberg Award for "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," Available now from Whitman or Amazon.12 -
The plot thickens!
So it seems that many of these coins have been accounted for.
And it seems like there are a few, or perhaps quite a few that have not been accounted for…
Does anyone have a rough idea of how many are still “out there”, waiting to be discovered?
How many, as a wild guess, have ended up in collections, but cannot be disclosed by the new owners??1 -
@jayPem said:
The plot thickens!
So it seems that many of these coins have been accounted for.
And it seems like there are a few, or perhaps quite a few that have not been accounted for…
Does anyone have a rough idea of how many are still “out there”, waiting to be discovered?
How many, as a wild guess, have ended up in collections, but cannot be disclosed by the new owners??A large number are still sitting at the West Point Mint. I’m not sure when they were recovered, why they ended up there, or why they’re still there.
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Love it.
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That was a great read. Thanks for posting it.
Student of numismatics and collector of Morgan dollars
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@CaptHenway said:
The agent said that he was the father-in-law of this guy, pointing at the first picture, and that he's the number two man in the Las Vegas branch of (a certain fraternal group sometimes associated with a role played by Marlon Brando).The military?
Kidding aside, the article was a fantastic read, thank you for posting it.
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
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@CaptHenway said:
Okay, here's one bit of information I do not believe that I have ever seen in print. The day after the coin came in and the three of us gave our statements to an agent, the agent came back and showed us a picture of a man with numbers across his chest. He asked us if this was the man who had brought the coin in. We all said yes.
.
He then showed us pictures of an older man with numbers across his chest, and asked if we had ever seen him. We all said no, and one of us asked who he was? The agent said that he was the father-in-law of this guy, pointing at the first picture, and that he's the number two man in the Las Vegas branch of (a certain fraternal group sometimes associated with a role played by Marlon Brando).I wonder if the guy that walked in with the piece did indeed get it from his grandfather?
Very interesting footnote! Definitely lends credence to who or whom may have been involved in the original heist.
Only thing popping the idea balloon of the submitter truly getting the piece from his grandfather is that the "affiliated" relative is his father-in-law, not his blood relation. Unless the submitter's grandfather was also "affiliated" or the submitted got the piece from his wife's grandfather (the father of the "affiliated" father-in-law), not sure if the possibility of the origin story being true holds up.
But then again, who knows? Thanks again for sharing this very cool numismatic story @CaptHenway!
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