Thieves steal giant gold coin worth millions from museum
- 7 years ago
BERLIN — The world’s second-largest gold coin was stolen from a museum in Germany on Monday by thieves who used some pretty old fashioned methods to get the job done.
The “Big Maple Leaf” coin is one of five pure gold commemorative coins issued by the Royal Canadian Mint in 2007 and is worth an estimated $4 million.
It was stolen from the Bode Museum in Berlin in the early hours by at least two thieves, who used a ladder to enter the building through a rear window, the Guardian reported.
The 100-kilogram coin was displayed in a bulletproof glass cabinet. The thieves smashed their way in with a heavy tool, possibly a sledgehammer.
The thieves left the museum the same way they came in, and then pushed the coin in a wheelbarrow down railway tracks toward a nearby park.
Investigators believe the coin was damaged when the thieves then rappelled down from the railway tracks and made their escape in a getaway car.
Police suspect the thieves had inside information because they somehow managed to evade all of the museum’s security guards and alarms.
The museum is refusing to reveal just what security it had in place, and the cops fear the coin has already been melted down and sold.
The “Big Maple Leaf” coin is one of five pure gold commemorative coins issued by the Royal Canadian Mint in 2007 and is worth an estimated $4 million.
It was stolen from the Bode Museum in Berlin in the early hours by at least two thieves, who used a ladder to enter the building through a rear window, the Guardian reported.
The 100-kilogram coin was displayed in a bulletproof glass cabinet. The thieves smashed their way in with a heavy tool, possibly a sledgehammer.
The thieves left the museum the same way they came in, and then pushed the coin in a wheelbarrow down railway tracks toward a nearby park.
Investigators believe the coin was damaged when the thieves then rappelled down from the railway tracks and made their escape in a getaway car.
Police suspect the thieves had inside information because they somehow managed to evade all of the museum’s security guards and alarms.
The museum is refusing to reveal just what security it had in place, and the cops fear the coin has already been melted down and sold.