Finding Coins In the Fogg

The recovery of the stolen Fogg coins wasn't a triumph of deductive reasoning. It was a lucky break, followed by some careful work. Most of all, it was not the smashing success the FBI wanted it to appear.

On December 1, 1973, a man entered the Fogg Art Museum and left a package with the guard. That night another guard let in another man, ostensibly to pick up the package. Instead, he pulled a gun on the guard and let in some friends, who tied the guard up. Then they took a collection of Greek and Roman coins worth between $2 million and $5 million.

Police and FBI men worked on the case throughout the summer, without results. The break came in the fall, when an Attleboro man, Martin Regan, told police that a group of people had broken into his house and beaten him.

After meeting with a detective from another town, whom he had known from their days as choirboys, Regan implicated himself in the Fogg robery and then led police to his coin stash, and told them what he knew.

By early November the FBI had arrested four people in Massachusetts and located a fifth in a Rhode Island prison. Another had turned himself in. One was still at large. He hasn't been heard from since.

Two days after the next-to-last man surrendered, the Mounties picked up three men in Montreal with more coins. Apparently one of the men was trying to sell them to the other two, acting as agent for one of the robbers.