What is this 'holy grail' of coins that's just been found

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A.� It hasn't just been found - but a London coin dealer has just won the right to sell it.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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Q.� So what is it

A.� It's an American double eagle, a gold $20 piece that was smuggled out of the US mint soon after it was made in 1933. It's now thought to be worth at least $9 million.

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Q.� Who owns it

A.� Questionable. In 1996 it was seized at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, New York, from Stephen Fenton, a respected British coin dealer, as he tried to sell it to Secret Service agents posing as dealers. He was charged with possession of stolen property because the coin was officially never circulated, but the charges were later dismissed.

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Legal proceedings resulted in a settlement that at last allows the double eagle to be owned privately when it's auctioned at Sotheby's in New York on 30 July.

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Q.� Why so rare

A.� It's thought to be unique. Double eagles were first minted in 1850. From 1908, they were designed by American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, whose historic figures adorn Washington. It features a Liberty figure reminiscent of a Greek goddess. The other side features a majestic eagle.

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More than 445,000 were struck in 1933, but never issued because President Franklin Roosevelt decided to take the nation off the gold standard to help the struggling American economy emerge from the Depression. He ordered all 1933 double eagles to be destroyed - except two to be placed at the Smithsonian Institute for historic safekeeping.

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But 10 escaped being melted down and ended in private hands. Because they had never been officially issued as coinage, they could not be legally owned. As a result, nine of them were seized, or surrendered to, the Secret Service in the 1940s and 1950s and later destroyed. This one that escaped surfaced publicly in 1996 and was seized from Mr Fenton.

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Q.� So where did he get it

A.� Mr Fenton's legal representative said he bought the coin in 1995 from an Egyptian jeweller with ties to an Egyptian military official.

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That strengthened the rumour the coin once belonged to Egypt's King Farouk, one of the world's great coin collectors. A 1933 double eagle from the collection of the deposed king was offered for sale at a 1954 Cairo auction, but withdrawn at the request of the US Treasury. Its whereabouts remained a mystery until 1996.

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Q.� It's the real thing

A.� Oh yes. Henrietta Holsman Fore, director of the US Mint, said: 'This particular coin has been the centre of international numismatic intrigue for 70 years. The mint has certified the authenticity of this legendary 1933 double eagle and we will transfer full legal ownership to the highest bidder.'

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David Pickens, an associate director at the mint, added: 'We expect this coin may become the most valuable coin in the world and one of the most sought-after rarities in history.'

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Q.� And something for the collectors to drool over

A.� Absolutely. Richard Doty, curator of the national numismatic collection at the Smithsonian, who authenticated the coin for the government, said: 'It has a legend surrounding it ... and it happened to have survived.' Ron Gillio, a dealer from a Santa Barbara, California, said: 'It's the most beautiful coin ever designed by the US government.'

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Steve Cunningham