Massive Canadian gold coin worth millions stolen from German museum

WillieBoyd2

BERLIN (AP) — Berlin police say thieves broke into the German capital's Bode Museum and made off with a massive 100-kilogram (221-pound) gold coin worth millions.

Spokesman Stefen Petersen said thieves apparently entered through a window about 3:30 a.m. Monday, broke into a cabinet where the "Big Maple Leaf" coin was kept, and escaped with it before police arrived.

A ladder was found by nearby railway tracks.

The museum says the coin is in the Guinness Book of Records for its purity of 999.99/1000 gold. It has a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on one side and maple leaves on the other.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Massive-gold-coin-worth-millions-stolen-from-11029970.php

Never steal anything small.

ajaan

Probably melted down by now.

silverpop

when dealing with such high value targets one has to make sure the protection is top notch and there is little chance of anything going wrong, seems someone forgot this and put the coin overnight in a Museum where the security wasn't top notch and well it got stolen

TwoKopeiki

@ajaan said:
Probably melted down by now.

Yup.

Nap

@silverpop said:
when dealing with such high value targets one has to make sure the protection is top notch and there is little chance of anything going wrong, seems someone forgot this and put the coin overnight in a Museum where the security wasn't top notch and well it got stolen

The Bode museum houses exhibits of the German national collection. This is not some small university collection, it's one of the top museums and coin collections in the world.

It is unfortunate that there was such a break in, but don't blame the victim.

Elmhurst

Must have been the Russians. Congress should investigate.

Tookybandit

Ugh, this makes me sad ...what a monster coin. Did it go back out the window, the way the thieves gained entry? I'm guessing there are rim dings galore now!!