Numismatic Crime Information Crime Bulletin/Alert

The South St. Paul Minnesota Police Department is investigating the September 26, 2010 vehicle burglary of coin dealer Lee Orr. At approximately 2:10pm in the afternoon the victim was loading his vehicle preparing to leave a local coin show in South St. Paul.

When the victim walked back inside the show to retrieve the last of his inventory two white male suspects smashed the windows in his vehicle and removed two cases of coins.

The following is a partial list of coins;
GOLD COINS: 2 1895 $20 Lib Au/Bu Raw 1 1896 $20 Lib Au/Bu Raw 2 1897-S $20 Lib Au/Bu Raw 1 1900 $20 Lib Au/Bu Raw 1 1901 $20 Lib Au/Bu Raw 1 1904 $20 Lib Au/Bu Raw 1 1906 $20 Lib Au/Bu Raw D or S 1 1907 $20 Lib Au/Bu Raw D or S 7 1908 $20 Saint Au/Bu Raw 3 1910-S $20 Saint Au/Bu Raw 1 1913 $20 Saint AU Raw 1 1913-D $20 Saint AU Raw 1 1914-S $20 Saint Au/Bu Raw 1 1915-S $20 Saint Au/Bu Raw 4 1922

DOLLARS: 1 1903-S $1 NGC MS62 White 2 1903-O $1 PCGS MS63 White 1 1901-S $1 PCGS MS64 White 1 1894 $1 VF/XF Raw 1 1893-S $1 PCGS VG original 1 1892-CC $1 AU Raw – White Dipped out. 1 1885-S $1 PCGS MS63 White

HALF DOLLARS – CENTS: 1 1806 50c ANACS VF30 Deep Gray toning with blue between rims & stars 1 1806 50c VF Raw 1 1808/7 50c AU Raw 1 1809 50c AU Raw 1 1811 50c AU Raw 1 1839-O 50c XF/AU Raw – Cleaned & retoned 1 1872-CC 50c VF/XF Raw – Cleaned & retoned 1 1923-S 25c XF40 Raw 1 1896-S 25c AG Raw 2 1896-S 25c Good Raw 1 1913-S 25c Good Raw 1 1807 10c VF Raw – Obv 1 1812 1c AU Raw – Distinct Rim Nick showing bright copper color

4 Double Row Boxes Raw Collector Coins with many key dates 1 Double Row Box Slabs Dollars after 1880, Commemoratives, Gold.

Any dealer or collector having information regarding this offense should contact:
Det. Julie Bishop
South St. Paul PD
612-747-2409
Or
Doug Davis
Numismatic Crime Information Center
817-723-7231

The Numismatic Crime Information Center is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation established as a resource for dealers, collectors, victims and law enforcement during the investigation of a numismatic crime. All donations are tax deductible.

As reported by the numismatic media, including here at CoinLink , rare coin dealer Julian Leidman was the victim of a car burglary in New Jersey following the CoinFest show in early October. Virtually his entire inventory was stolen. Fortunately, it looks as if this sad story will have a happy ending.

The Following is a Posting from the PCGS Message Boards by Julian yesterday:

“As most of you know, my car was broken into during my return from a show last month. I received many phone calls about the missing coins, but nothing matched.

On Oct. 29, I received a call from an eastern dealer who does not want to be named at this time. He was being offered some coins and asked me about them. After he had mentioned three coins, I was virtually certain that these were, indeed, the stolen inventory.

I then called the police detective that had been working on the case and gave him the information. By late that afternoon, he had set up, in conjunction with the FBI and another agency, a meeting for the next morning to view the coins.

Early Oct. 30, my son, Sam, and I drove to meet with the assembled law enforcement officers. The original plan was abandoned and the eight officers then went to the place that the coins were supposed to be, while Sam and I waited to be called to identify the items.

After nearly an hour, I was called and eventually told that it really wasn’t necessary for me to identify the coins, as my name was all over them. A few minutes later, I went and saw the coins, which were all mixed up, but very few had been removed from the 2 X 2’s and I don’t think that any had been broken out of their encapsulation, either.

The following Tuesday, I went to examine the coins more closely and found over 1700 coins and 300 notes in the custody of the FBI. The vast majority of the volume was there. There were some notable items missing.
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Updated 10/19/2009 – The Township of Montville, New Jersey police department is investigating the October 11, 2009 auto burglary of coin dealer Julian Leidman. Mr. Leidman was en route home after participating in Coinfest Coin Show held in Stamford Connecticut. The suspect or suspects entered Leidman’s vehicle by smashing out a side window during a stop in Pine Brook, New Jersey. Virtually his entire inventory was taken ; over 1,000 coins including about 300 certified, encapsulated items as well as currency ranging from Colonial era to small size notes. Fortunately, Mr. Leidman was unhurt in the incident.

Mr Leidman stated some of the significant coins included; ” several scarce Saints, 1920-s, 1921, 1925-s, 1927-s, & 1932. There is a 1794 dollar that is flawed. There are several Gem Busties, including 1806 O-123, prime; 1807 O-113, 1826, 1829, 1832. There is currency from colonial thru small size; some foreign coins from minor thru gold, probably numbering a few hundred coins. The most identifiable is a 1929 German 5 Mark that is about 25% off center and probably unique.” Other coins taken in the theft include 1873 proof pattern silver Trade dollar (J-1276), graded NGC PF65; 1879 proof silver dollar (J-1617), NGC PF65; and an 1892-O proof Morgan dollar described as very choice.

The response from both the collector and dealer community was a mixture of shock, concern and resolve. Immediately after the burglary was announced the message boards started to inquire as to Mr. Leidman’s safety, which then spun into requests for lists of the coins taken and a number of emails sent to surrounding coin shops warning them to be on the lookout for any unusual offerings of coins.

Coinfest owners Jon Lerner and Laura Sperber each immediately offered a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual or individuals responsible for this robbery. This was followed up by The Professional Numismatist Guild contributing an additional $2,500 to the reward, and dealer William Dominick is contributing an additional $10,000. This was followed by others dealers contributions; John Albanese $10,000, Kenny Duncan $10,000, Kevin Lipton $10,000, Bob Higgins has added another $1000 as did James Long, and Wayne Herndon also added $2,500 to the reward fund.

Since this story was first posted additional contributions to the reward fund have come in; Matt Lerner $1,000, Joseph O’Connor $5,000, John Feigenbaum $ 2,500,James Sego $1,000, Larry Shapiro $1,000, Ray Hinkelman + Phil Hinkelman $1,000, Tom Crabtree $ 5,000, Dave Wnuck & John Agre $ 2,500, Dave Albanese $1,000, Rob Lehman $1,000, Bill Panitch $ 500, Cary Moomijian $ 1,000,Ron Chiasson $ 500, Ken Goldman $ 2,000, John Abbott $ 1,000, Michael Casper $ 1,000, Elliott Durann – $ 500, Dave Schweitz – $ 2,500, Chris McCawley – $ 1,000, John Pasciuti $1,000, Shawn Bergan $ 250, Steve Gerhinger $2,500, David Weygant $ 1,000, Jan Olav Aamlid $ 1,000, Ed Milas $ 1,000, Harry Jones $1000, Paul Montgomery $ 1,000, Harry Laibstain $ 1,000, Fred Weinberg $ 1,000, Matthew DeRoma $ 1,000, Jack Lee $ 1,000, Heritage $10000, John Maben $5000, Paul Nugget- Greg Roberts- Andrew Glassman- Bobby Avena $3500, Don Kagin $1000, Sheridan Downey $2500, Andy Lustig $1000, Jason Carter $2500, Allan Rowe $1000, Tom Bush $ 1,000, Sam Lopresto $1000, Dustin Massie $1000, Whitman Publ. $2500, Stack’s $2500, Andrew Kimmel $1000, Dana Samuelson $1000, David Hall $10000, PCGS $5000, Sil DiGenova $2000, Coininfo.com $1000, Rocky Mountain Coin $500, Lee Minshull $5000

Presently the reward has grown to $122,500.

We urge Any Dealer or Collector to contact Detective Christopher M. Keezer of the Montville NJ Police Department at 973-257-4113 (CKeezeer@MontvilleNJ.org)or Julian Leidman at 301-585-8467 if they have any information about this crime, or think that any of the coins listed below are being offered for sale either online or in person. This is especially true for those attending flea markets, local auction houses, online auctions and “Brick and Mortar” coin shops on the East Coast.
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