I am forwarding to the list the definitive answer from Bob Hirst on this
question.  His two attempts to post the answer to the list have
somehow gone astray:


>The Berg did in fact buy it in 1970 (after years of rumors of its
>existence), only to be challenged by the original owners, who prevailed
>in court and had the document returned to them as having been stolen from
>them and therefore not legally sold to the Berg. Berg got its money back,
>but got rather burned in the exchange, especially since the owners turned
>right around and gave it to Berkeley. The original owners were two
>granddaughters of Charlie Langdon: Mrs. Eugene Lada-Mocarski (now dead)
>and Mrs. Bayard Schieffelin, both of New Jersey. Basically it's a classic
>case of not being able to show clear title, but you can imagine that the
>Berg was not too happy at the way things played out.


Thanks, Bob.

--Barb