Rare coins estimated to be worth millions of dollars were stolen from the car of a renowned Maryland dealer when he stopped in Pine Brook for dinner on his way home from a coin show.Julian Leidman left the Coinfest coin show in Stamford, Conn., late Sunday with his wife and traveled to his brother-in-law's home in Pine Brook, where they stopped for dinner at Tiffany's on Route 46.
After more than an hour, Leidman said, the group left the restaurant to find a "terrible" sight: Glass littered the ground around his 2009 Toyota Sienna, which he had strategically parked in front of the restaurant so he could keep an eye on the driver's side and rear, he said. The passenger-side window had been smashed and four bags, three of which were heavier than 50 pounds, were missing from the cargo hold.
Gone were the contents of two of the bags -- a cache of valuable coins and collectible currency that Leidman, 63, of Silver Spring, Md., had displayed at the show.
The inventory included individual pieces valued as high as $160,000, as well as many extremely rare and unusual coins and currency dating to the Colonial era, he said.
"It was a huge amount, seven figures," Leidman said, enumerating the loss. "This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me."
Montville Police on Tuesday declined to release details of the burglary, citing the ongoing investigation.
But coin dealers nationwide are rallying around Leidman -- who is regarded as one of the most prominent and ethical dealers in the United States -- and have offered a cash award leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the robbery.
Jon Lerner and Laura Sperber, co-organizers of the Coinfest show at the Stamford Hilton, put up $2,500 toward the reward on Monday, and 20 other coin dealers immediately followed suit, Lerner said.
Word quickly spread among the collector and dealer community and, by Tuesday afternoon, the total reward stood at $75,000, Lerner said. The goal is to reach $100,000 by the end of the week, he said.
"All of the dealers were very saddened and upset by it," said Lerner, of Westchester, N.Y. "Julian is a very well-known and respected dealer, and that's what makes it very hard."
A dealer and consultant for more than 40 years, Leidman has handled some of the most valuable American coins, according to the American Numismatic Association, which named him its Coin Dealer of the Year for 2009.
Requests to help Leidman have come in from across the country, and collectors and dealers have received a list of the coins taken, Lerner said. The hope is that some of the stolen inventory may surface at the next large coin show this weekend in St. Louis, he said.
"We're hoping whoever took the coins will try to sell them or have information on them," Lerner said. "It's tragic, not just the monetary value, but the value in terms of history and what's lost to the collecting community. Some of these items are just unique items that cannot be replaced."
Leidman said his collection was insured, but is working with his insurance company to determine what his policy covers. He believes he may have been targeted during Coinfest.
"I was one of the last people to leave the show, and there were a couple of women around -- one of which had been by my table a few times," he said. "When I left, she was sitting out at the reception area of the hotel and she was on her cell phone, and my wife said, 'The lady just said, 'They're on their way out.'"
But Lerner said the show's security consists of both armed and undercover guards who provide escorts to dealers and collectors with valuables. The third annual Coinfest show, billed as the largest show in the New York metropolitan area, drew about 150 dealers to the Connecticut hotel and thousands of collectors.
"We don't really know if he was targeted or if it was random," Lerner said. "It shows the dealers that we do have to remain very vigilant at all times."
Source: dailyrecord.com
