Gold coin worth $4 million stolen from Berlin museum

REUTERS

 

FILE PHOTO - Picture taken in Vienna, Austria on June 25, 2010 shows experts of an Austrian art forwarding company holding one of the world's largest gold coins, a 2007 Canadian $ 1,000,000 "Big Maple Leaf". REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader/File Photo

 

BERLIN (Reuters) - A Canadian gold coin named "Big Maple Leaf" which bears the image of Queen Elizabeth II was stolen in the early hours of Monday morning from Berlin's Bode Museum.

 

The coin is made out of pure gold, weighs about 100 kilos and has a face value of around $1 million (794,344.27 pounds).

 

"The coin was stolen last night, it's gone," museum spokesman Markus Farr said.

 

Given the high purity of the gold used in the coin, its material value is estimated to be $4 million.

 

The museum said on its website that the coin was issued by the Royal Canadian Mint in 2007 and that it was featured in the Guinness Book of Records for its "unmatched" degree of purity.

 

The coin, with a diameter of 53 centimetres and 3 centimetres thick, was loaned to the Bode Museum in December 2010.

 

Police said it was probably stolen by a group of thieves who entered the museum undetected through a window, possibly with the help of a ladder.

 

"Based on the information we have so far we believe that the thief, maybe thieves, broke open a window in the back of the museum next to the railway tracks," police spokesman Winfrid Wenzel said. "They then managed to enter the building and went to the coin exhibition.

 

"The coin was secured with bullet-proof glass inside the building. That much I can say," Wenzel added.

 

"Neither I nor the Bode Museum can go into detail regarding personnel inside the building, the alarm system or security installations."

 

The Bode Museum has one of the world's largest coin collections with more than 540,000 items.

 

($1 = 0.9181 euros)

 

(Reporting by Michael Nienaber, editing by Ed Osmond)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-03-28

It will be melted down, diluted and then sold for scrap

 

Bullet proof glass you say? have you thought about thieves proof glass?

No? how dose it feel to have a 100kg egg on your face guys at the museum?...

2 hours ago, ukrules said:

It will be melted down, diluted and then sold for scrap

Most probably sold for gold. However, if indeed it is unusual purity as stated; then just being melted down would still make it identifiable. It may need some reduction of purity.

I am confused about the value.

 

Whilst I appreciate a premium may be obtained when selling the coin due to its particularly high purity and rarity, a premium of 300% making the realisable value 400% of the face value sounds very unlikely.

36 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

I am confused about the value.

 

Whilst I appreciate a premium may be obtained when selling the coin due to its particularly high purity and rarity, a premium of 300% making the realisable value 400% of the face value sounds very unlikely.

I think the face value is irrelevant compared to the actual weight of gold contained.... 

 

It would be probably  too dangerous to sell it as it is so it will be melted down I guess... 

It was minted as a $1 million dollar coin.   The value of the gold is $4 million.  Just as some of the coins in existence today have metals that are more valuable the face value of the coin.  

I just sold an American Eagle gold coin with a face value of $50 for $1200. $1200 is the melt price of the gold. Face value on Gold coins is not an indication of the actual value. 

Ah, I see now.

 

I misunderstood face value. My error.

9 hours ago, webfact said:

"Neither I nor the Bode Museum can go into detail regarding personnel inside the building, the alarm system or security installations."

They are tight lipped about the real questions.

No alarm, no guard.

Insider job?

 

6 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

They are tight lipped about the real questions.

No alarm, no guard.

Insider job?

 

I like the remark about it being behind bullet proof glass.   Were they afraid someone was going to shoot the coin?  

 

This is going to make an interesting movie in a few years ,

 

must be some strong guys , 100kg up a ladder  WOW

 

or is there another story....it was gold coated and hollow inside.........the original was switched years ago........

 

only in Hollywood.....or Berlin

On 28/03/2017 at 10:34 PM, oldcarguy said:

This is going to make an interesting movie in a few years ,

 

must be some strong guys , 100kg up a ladder  WOW

 

or is there another story....it was gold coated and hollow inside.........the original was switched years ago........

 

only in Hollywood.....or Berlin

If they carried it OUT of the museum it was more likely carried down a ladder than up.... But still no easy task.... 

Why does the article say they are not sure if it was 1 or more than 1 thief? 

 

Sounds like mission impossible to pull this one off alone, unless it was an insider job and the coin went out the back door into someones car and the ladder was placed there to make the investigation more interesting for the detectives... 

 

Cctv will clear this up, if it hasn't been switched off or deleted lol

The worlds largest rare coin collection with some bullet proof glass as its only protection. Thieves scaled a back room using a ladder. Seems that not only thieves can steal from Germany at will, illegal immigrants can enter at will.