Reward in Montville coin theft grows to nearly $160K

By JIM NAMIOTKA • STAFF WRITER • October 17, 2009

MONTVILLE — Reward money is rolling in from across the U.S. in the case of a valuable cache of rare coins that was stolen from a coin dealer’s car while it was parked at a Pine Brook restaurant last weekend.

The reward has grown to nearly $160,000, due largely to the contributions of coin dealers and collectors who want to see the thieves brought to justice.

Meanwhile, a private coin theft investigator assisting with the case says evidence appears to indicate that Julian Leidman – the Silver Spring, Md., coin dealer whose car was burglarized at Tiffany’s on Route 46 – was targeted by professionals.

“It’s more than likely he was targeted and followed to the location,’ said Doug Davis, a former Texas police chief who runs the non-profit Numismatic Crime Information Center, which has offered its expertise in coin-related crimes to Montville detectives.

Montville police were unable to be reached Friday.

Leidman was driving home from a coin show in Stamford, Conn., on Sunday when he stopped off in Montville to have dinner with his brother-in-law. When he left the restaurant, he found a passenger-side window on his 2009 Toyota Sienna smashed and four bags — three of which were heavier than 50 pounds — missing from the cargo hold.

Inside the bags were more than 1,000 rare and collectible coins, estimated to be worth in the millions of dollars, Leidman said.

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.

Leidman said Friday he was overwhelmed by the generosity of his colleagues in the Professional Numismatic Guild, a trade group for coin dealers that has organized the reward fund.

“I’m truly speechless,” he said.

Donations are coming from other dealers and collectors who want to solve a crime that struck their tight community, as well as lend a hand to Leidman, the current Coin Dealer of the Year who is respected by both dealers and collectors, a PNG spokeswoman said.

“There are a growing number of crimes against numismatists,” she said. “People want to crack down on that.’

Leidman said the stolen coins included not only his personal collection, but also items that belong to collectors for whom he is working. Leidman said his insurers have denied his claim for reimbursement because he was not in the car when the coins were stolen.

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