In an attempt to end the 1930s general bank crisis, U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 6102 in 1933 and also the Gold Reserve Act in 1934, that outlawed the circulation and non-public possession of United States gold coins for general circulation, with an exemption for collector coins. This act declared that gold coins were no longer legal tender within the United States, and individuals had to flip in their gold coins for different varieties of currency. The 1933 gold Double Eagles were struck when this government order, but because they were now not legal tender, most of the 1933 gold coins were melted down in late 1934 and a few were destroyed in tests. Two of the $20 Double Eagles were presented by the United States Mint to the U.S. National Numismatic Assortment, and that they were recently on display within the "Money and Medals Hall" on the third floor of the National Museum of American History.
These two coins ought to have been the only 1933 Double Eagle coins in existence. But, unbeknownst to the Mint, a range of the coins (twenty have been recovered so way) were stolen, presumably by the U.S. Mint Cashier, George McCann. At least 9 of these coins, that were illegal to possess, found their way via Philadelphia jeweler Israel Switt, into the hands of collectors.
The coins circulated amongst collectors for many years before the Secret Service became responsive to their existence. The matter came to the eye of Mint officials when an investigative reporter looked into the history of the coins and contacted the Mint as half of his analysis, as a results of which a political candidate investigation was begun by the Secret Service in 1944. Seven of the coins were discovered and brought by federal agents among the primary year of the investigation, with one coin remaining in public possession until 1952.
