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Basically, all Double Eagles not in the government's possession are stolen property.

Not all of them. A 1933 Double Eagle coin was legally auctioned, and an additional $20 was needed to “monetize” the face value of the coin so it would become legal currency.

I believe the government's position is that one coin was also stolen property, which they then dealt with in a special way, given the circumstances.

More importantly, the government believes the 10 coins the article is really about were stolen by the family who currently is trying to get them back. A huge difference to the original case of the single coin.

There are at least 1 legally owned by a private person according to the wikipedia article.

Nice insurance. Everyone else that say they have that coin gets zonked by the USA.

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