The coins vanished from the mint in the mid-1930s and apparently were hidden for decades among the possessions of a Philadelphia jeweler, Israel Switt, who died in 1990.

Switt's daughter, Joan S. Langbord, who now runs the store, recently found the coins and turned them over to the Mint to check their authenticity -- only to see them confiscated by Acting Mint Director David Lebryk, the Philadelphia Inquirer said Thursday.

Langborn is suing the Mint to get the coins back.

The value of the double eagles minted in 1933, none of which went into circulation, is almost beyond calculation. A single double eagle, the only one ever legally sold, was auctioned at Sotheby's/Stack's in 2002 for $7.59 million, the highest price ever paid for a coin.