Some coin dealers in central Pennsylvania are being called crime-fighters!
They worked together to catch a pair of thieves who they said were trying to sell stolen coins.
Timing was everything for two coin dealers from Lewisburg and Sunbury. After one dealer's rare nickel was stolen last week, he just happened to be in the right place at the right time on Wednesday. He came face to face with the two men he said stole his coin.
It is a rare three-legged buffalo nickel. Coin dealer David Siebert said the nickel is worth $550. He had one, but it was stolen last week when two men came into his store in Lewisburg to sell coins.
“One of the coins had to be authenticated, so I got up to get a book off the shelf. While I did that, they grabbed two coins that were on the table,” said Siebert.
After the men ran off with Siebert's coins, he found out the coins they sold him were stolen from the Lewisburg Farmers’ Market last week.
He said coin dealers from all over the Susquehanna Valley called each other to spread the word to be on the lookout for the stolen coins.
Ken Romberger of Jasmine Aire Boutique was one of the dealers who got a phone call. He said the suspects, Cortney Kessler and Dan Desantis, called him to ask if he would buy the three-legged buffalo coin. The suspected thieves were on their way to his store in Sunbury. In the meantime, Siebert walked in.
“I'm a little stunned. I asked if he was the guy who owned the nickel and he said yeah. I said isn't that strange, this is the day we expect them to come in,” said Romberger.
The man who the coins were stolen from hid in the back room of Jasmine Aire Boutique in Sunbury. As soon as Kessler and Desantis walked in the store, he called police from back there.
“I got to actually watch the police put the cuffs on these guys. That was pretty cool. I won't say it was completely satisfying, but it was nice to know they weren't going to hit anyone else for a long time,” said Siebert.
Both coin dealers said it was nice to help investigators, but neither will be joining the police force anytime soon. They are both going to stick to retail. As for the suspects, they'll be facing theft charges, and are scheduled to be in court in October.