ST. CHARLES COUNTY — An out-of-state collector and vendor has been charged with stealing hundreds of rare and collectible coins valued at $250,000 from a fellow vendor while here for a coin show in July.
Dallas Langham, 42, of Hillsboro, Illinois, was arrested and charged last week with one count of stealing items valued at more than $25,000 and one count of drug possession. Both counts are felonies.
He pleaded not guilty on Friday to both charges.
The investigation into Langham began in July after a vendor at the 64th annual Missouri Numismatic Society coin show called police to report that their hotel room had been burglarized and approximately $250,000 in rare and collectible coins and other money was missing.
The coin show, which was held at the St. Charles County Convention Center, brings together more than 150 dealers from across the country and is considered one of the largest coin shows in the Midwest, according to the Numismatic Society’s website.
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The Numismatic Society did not respond to the Post-Dispatch’s interview requests on Monday.
When interviewed by police, Langham and the other vendor said they had agreed to share a hotel room. The other vendor, who is not named in court records, told police that Langham had been in the room when they were storing their valuable coins and money in the closet.
Police say that the other vendor said they also gave Langham a room key before leaving for dinner.
When questioned by police in July, Langham said that he returned to the room at 11 p.m. and was in the room for about 40 minutes before he realized the coins and money were missing.
He said he also noticed “obvious damage to the door,” but investigators later determined the damage was “not consistent” with forced entry into a hotel room with a heavy door.
Police searched the other vendor’s vehicle and found nine-tenths of a gram of methamphetamine.
Langham agreed to a polygraph exam and the results from the lie detector test showed that he was “being deceptive,” police wrote in court records.
Police say he later confessed to being addicted to methamphetamine and that “his finances were not in good shape” and “admitted to stealing from vendors at previous coin shows.”
Langham is being held in the St. Charles County Jail on a $100,000 cash-only bond. His next court date is Thursday, and he has not yet hired an attorney, according to electronic court records.
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