Coordinated efforts by five dealers and a specialist collector at the recent Central States Numismatic Society (www.CSNS.org) convention near Chicago led to the recovery of a stolen sunken treasure gold coin and the arrests of two suspects who reportedly offered the coin for sale at the show on April 24, 2026.
The recovered coin is a 1715 Treasure Fleet 1709 Lima, Peru eight Escudos. The 1715 Treasure Fleet refers to the July 31, 1715 sinking of 11 Spanish galleons in a hurricane off the coast of Florida. The ships were sailing from the New World back to Spain, loaded with silver and gold coins and bars.
The rare gold coin recovered at the CSNS convention was part of that famous treasure and later pedigreed to the McGregor Collection. It was sold at auction in November 2025 for $40,500 (including buyer’s fee) by Sedwick & Associates in Winter Park, Florida.
"Alleged suspects caught; coin recovered! Dealers working together with the support of local law enforcement helped keep our show and the hobby community safe," declared CSNS President Mitch Ernst.
"Because of dealer awareness and cooperation, and quick response by the Schaumburg, Illinois Police Department, a stolen $40,000 coin was identified and recovered, and two suspects were arrested. It was amazing to watch it all unfold," Ernst stated.
The chain of events at the convention started when the suspects tried to sell the gold coin, according to dealer Tony Gryckiewicz of Cabbage Coins in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
"The two suspects presented the coin at my table for sale at a suspiciously low price. It is an advanced collector piece, and I asked them where they obtained it. They told me the coin was found among their grandmother’s items at her house. I found this very odd," explained Gryckiewicz.
"When I initially agreed to their price, they increased it by $10,000 and said they wanted to get the most possible. I was very irritated with this request, but in retrospect I’m happy that we didn’t come to a deal at that time," he said.
When the suspects went elsewhere on the bourse floor to shop the coin, Gryckiewicz productively used the time to conduct research.
"I spoke to a friend, David Huang, a collector who is on the Advisory Board of the 1715 Fleet Society and a specialist in 1715 Fleet gold cobs such as the one presented to me. David informed me that the 1709 is a much better date and rarer coin and encouraged me to further research the coin."
"I found the auction sale for the 1709 Lima 8 Escudos in November 2025 at Dan Sedwick’s auction site, and that’s when I saw it sold for $40,500," recounted Gryckiewicz.
He then went to Sedwick’s table to inform him that the coin had just been offered at nearly half the auction sale price by two people who did not seem like collectors.
According to Gryckiewicz, Sedwick phoned the coin’s last known owner, the winning bidder at the November 2025 auction. The owner explained the coin had been missing for some time.
Gryckiewicz and dealer Noah Lehmann-Haupt of Rarity 7 in San Francisco then began searching the bourse floor to see if the suspects and the coin were still there.
"We noticed the two guys, and Noah immediately went to notify security officials. I approached the sellers and asked if they were ready to make a deal. They agreed and followed me back to my table," recalled Gryckiewicz.
For the next 20 minutes, he stalled the suspects to keep them at his table. First, by pretending to call a prospective client who might want to buy the coin. However, that phone call was actually made to fellow dealer Lehmann-Haupt who was with security team members.
Then he continued to stall by discussing cash versus check versus trade options for the deal, then making a video of the coin for the "prospective client." He also explained in detail why he was valuing a proposed generic gold coin trade to them so high relative to gold spot prices.
While this was happening, the actual owner of the coin was on the phone with Schaumburg Police to file a theft report. Once that was completed, police approached the suspects, asked how they obtained the coin, then arrested them and obtained a statement from Gryckiewicz.
"Tony did a heroic job of stalling the two guys shopping the coin, and the Schaumburg police cuffed them and took them away. Dealers Dan Decker of Peak Rarities in Boynton Beach, Florida, and Nicolas Morabito of Nicolas Morabito Rare Coins in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, did a great job preventing the guys from running out an open door in the back before the police could cuff them and take them away," stated Lehmann-Haupt.
CSNS President Ernst said there was a large sign on the bourse floor as part of the organization’s Dealer Watch security program. The sign advised: "See Something, Say Something. Thank you for helping to keep our show safe."
"I believe this is a perfect example of how dealers, CSNS show security, and Schaumburg police working together solved a crime that had not been reported earlier. In many cases, dealers play a significant role in identifying suspicious circumstances, such as in this case, which results in arrests and the successful recovery of property," stated Doug Davis, founder and president of the Numismatic Crime Information Center (www.NumismaticCrimes.org).
"The quick actions by the dealer, stalling the suspects, his quick communication with the auction company, and immediate response by show security and Schaumburg police were the key to a successful arrest. I commend the dealers involved, CSNS show personnel, the show security, and Schaumburg police for a job well done. Bridging the gap between the numismatic community and law enforcement is the key to reducing numismatic crime," said Davis.
Additional information about the Central States Numismatic Society is online at www.CSNS.org.
