Product Description
It is one of America's treasures -- the most valuable ounce of gold in the world, the celebrated, the fabled, the infamous 1933 double eagle. It shouldn't even exist but it does, and its astonishing, true adventures read like "a composite of The Lord of the Rings and The Maltese Falcon" (The New York Times). Illegal to own and coveted all the more, it has been sought with passion by men of wealth and with steely persistence by the United States government for more t... More >>
Illegal Tender: Gold, Greed, and the Mystery of the Lost 1933 Double Eagle
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
This is magnificent! I couldn’t put it down! It is beautifully written a la McCullough and Kearns Goodwin, whose prose I prefer to Ambrose, Morris and Chernow; those works are thorough, but a bit pedantic to my mind! Mr. Tripp unweaves a tortured web in a most enlightening way. His background in Art and Architecture embellish visits to our historic buildings, with accurate descriptions.The tedious years of investigation by the FBI and the lack of laws and oversight by the government make this very timely, indeed! I shall keep my eye open for more ’33 double eagles, which might turn up in the future!
Rating: 5 / 5
Yes, I realize that this a non-fiction STORY and not supposed to be a reference book filled with page after page of dry, boring facts, but this book could have been cut by about 33%. The author drones on and on needlessly about unimportant, irrelevant details.
For example “The mercury flirted with ninety, while anvils in the sky built, waiting to crack and wash away the fetid air.” Ummm… how about these 5 words instead: “it was a hot day.” I know some of you are thinking that this is supposed to paint a picture, but trust me it isn’t even necessary to mention the weather as it did nothing to advance the story/plot.
Call me unimaginative but parts of the book read more like they belong in a 19th Century poem rather than a modern book. I agree with the other reviewer that this would have made a better magazine article or a much shorter book.
Rating: 3 / 5
I’m not a coin collector. There are one or two coins I’d love to own. And I do own a few lovely ones. I say this so you’ll know I’m not a member of the society of coin collectors — that closed society of people who have their own vocabulary and ways of doing business.
But I wanted to read this book because I became interested in why Roosevelt the second opted to steal gold from the American public, making it illegal. I also was enchanted with this coin that Roosevelt the First wanted so badly. He wanted it to not contain the motto, “In God We Trust” because he believed in separation of church and state. So the story begins in 1907.
Well, I got much more from this book than I bargained for. To begin with, it’s written wonderfully well. If you remember the old Dragnet radio and television shows, you’ll recall how Joe Friday always said, “It was Tuesday, March 1 in Los Angeles. It was raining. ETC.” It drew you in. You could picture it, get a feel for it. Well, Tripp does that in this book. He accurately tells the reader when the action takes place — sometimes including the exact time. He often tells what the weather was like that day.
The book is exceedingly well documented. It is a true historical drama and mystery that, even today, is not really solved. All but one of these lovely coins are illegal. Yet we have reason to believe others exist — somewhere.
You’ll enter the rather mysterious world of the true coin collector and dealer. You’ll be thrilled at what you find. You’ll meet people of greed. Just to hold this illegal coin, this beautiful, magnificent piece of history, must be the thrill of a lifetime. Yet few people have done so or ever will.
You’ll follow the coin from the mint to the final auction that makes this one coin legal (the others, if there are others, are illegal.)
This is a fascinating book and I recommend it highly.
-Susanna K. Hutcheson
Rating: 5 / 5
This book is about a 7.5 million dollar gold coin. Obviously, this cannot be a normal coin. The book explain how the 1933 gold double eagle came to be. It begins with Saint Guadens designing the design because Teddy Rosevelt wanted new and inspiring designs. From there heads into the depression and the recall of all gold. The book invesitigates the murky beginning of all the 1933 double eagles. From there, it gets interesting. The secret service has a major headache on their hands. The plot thickens as more people come into play with these rare coins. However, you will have to read the book to see how everything plays out!
I would reccomend this book to any numismatic interested in the history of these coins. However, some parts of the book can be slow. Do not stop reading it; keep going because the action picks up. Just remember, 10 more 1933 double eagles were just (2005) recently found which would add a new chapter to the book. That development makes the story even more interesting.
Rating: 4 / 5
This is not a great book, but it is a good book. Until a few years ago I would now and then visit a coin show and, of course, hear the occasional rumor of what had happened to those few 1933 St. Gaudens gold double eagles that had missed being melted down. This well researched and well written book gives the complete story. This book is not for everyone. If you have no interest in gold coins it might seem a bore, but if you do, then you might find yourself with that urge to hold some heavy yellow metal again.
Rating: 4 / 5