After his death a hoard of items his belongings was discovered in a warehouse which included casino chips and some 100,000 American silver dollars.

The entire collection was purchased by famous coin dealer Ron Gillio, who named it the Fitzgerald Hoard.

[1] The Purple Gang was a group of criminals primarily of Jewish descent who were associated with prostitution, gambling, bootlegging, and murder.

[5] Fitzgerald and Sullivan had been charged with bribery and illegal gambling operations in Macomb County, Michigan.

[3] Just after midnight on November 19, 1949, Fitzgerald was badly wounded when an assailant shot him in the right side with a shotgun.

[8] The shotgun was held so close to Fitzgerald's side that the wadding from the shell was embedded in his body.

He also began storing silver dollars and other collectable casino items in a Reno Nevada warehouse.

After his death, a California coin dealer named Ron Gillio purchased all of the items from the warehouse.