Rare gold coin returned
to heir of Panama's
first president
A rare gold coin once
thought to be lost was
reunited Thursday with
the family of Panama's
first president, who is
believed to have
received the $20 piece
from former U.S.
President Theodore
Roosevelt.
Florida state officials
returned the 1907 St.
Gaudens Double Eagle,
which found its way into
the state's unclaimed
property program, to
Phyllis Childers. Her
mother, Terri Claiborne,
inherited the heirloom
valued between $25,000
and $90,000.
"She put it into a safe
deposit box on her way
to a bridge game one day
and didn't tell anybody
and didn't fill out any
ancillary paperwork in
case anything should
happen to her," Childers
said. "It's going in my
sister's safe deposit
box with two names on
there in case anything
should ever happen to
her."
Childers said the coin
is the "cornerstone of
the family." She said
family members believe
Roosevelt, who led the
construction of the
Panama Canal, personally
gave it to her
great-great-grandfather,
Manuel Amador Guerro,
Panama's first president
from 1904 until 1908.
Items abandoned in safe
deposit boxes are turned
over to Florida's
unclaimed property
program after three
years. State officials
spend up to two years
searching for the
rightful owners or
heirs.
Childers finally found
the missing coin on the
state's unclaimed
property Web site.
Unclaimed items are
auctioned off. The next
auction is set for Aug.
4, and the more than
40,000 items include an
uncirculated 1882 silver
dollar, baseballs
autographed by Hank
Aaron and Don Larsen,
diamond jewelry, Spanish
colonial silver coins
and a $500 bill.
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