Family in ‘double eagle’ coin fight vows appeal

A Philadelphia family plans to appeal the 2004 seizure of 10 rare gold coins a jury said couldn’t have been legally obtained.

The attorney for Joan Langbord and two of her sons says Monday the family wants its case heard by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The government seized ten rare $20 “double eagles” from the family after Joan Langbord said she found them in a safe deposit box once owned by her father, jeweler Israel Switt.

The coins are worth millions. A single one sold for $7.59 million in 2002.

Last year, a jury agreed with the government’s claim the seizure was lawful because the coins had never been circulated and must therefore have been stolen.

Trial judge Legrome Davis last month agreed the coins belong to the government, no matter how they were acquired.