A 17th century gold bar was stolen in Key West. The feds just made an arrest.
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Seven years later 
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Glad they actually caught them!
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The gold bar was held in a case designed to let people touch it but not remove it.????????
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They made an arrest, but the gold bar has apparently not yet been found. I'd imagine it may have been long ago melted.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Good job !!!
I think if some thief was able to figure out how to get the bar out of that case, they should get to keep it. It's like a Mensa test crossed with pulling Excalibur from the rock.
I am curious as to how they identified them.... perhaps pictures from the museum cameras... I would think the bar has long been disposed of....also, would like to know how they got it out... I have some ideas, but not having visited the museum and actually seen the set up, cannot be sure. Cheers, RickO
Maybe they "bent" the gold and pulled it out? If melted. Such a shame. However, just think of how many historical gold artifacts have been melted down through history.
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The bigger crime is whomever wore those three bracelets in public!
I visited a museum once that had a display case nearly identical to the one pictured above with a gold bar you could hold.
On both sides of the plexiglass circle were large stress cracks , no doubt caused by someone looking to break the bar out...
It's all about what the people want...
I have been to Mel Fisher Museum a couple of times. It is a real shame that this happened, It was a cool display, allowing visitors to hold history. As previously stated the tragedy is that the bar has probably been melted and its historical significance lost forever.
I am really curious how they got it out of the display.
Bending it seems like the way to go about it.
Yes that is the most logical answer, then I looked at the video again, seems like it would be hard to bend in a small space using only one hand, case does not look like it would allow much leverage. My guess would be they broke the case, or maybe the criminals were just extremely strong. However it happened, it is tragic that this piece of history was probably melted for its gold content. It can never be replaced.
Looking at the shape of the bar it sorta resembles a loaf of French bread. If it's soft enough one could likely bend it enough to remove it if the space above the open hole was sufficient. The mistake was making the box too large IMO.
On second thought. The thief probably smuggled in a small pair of bolt cutters. Snip. Out she goes.
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That would make the most sense
Why did they need to let people touch it? Was it a gimmick to increase visitors?
I bet the thief wasn't Vinegar Bend Mizell.
Reminded me of this video:
I remember reading when it happened they smashed the case.
Brute force eh?
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At least they caught the suspects. However it’s unfortunate that the bar might never be found. I agree that it was probably melted. I suspect a thief doesn’t mind if the payout is melt value even though the bar is worth much more for its historical value.
After the bar was sold for gold value, it would still have at least two more chances to be recognized and saved. First by whoever it was sold to and then by the refiner. It may still exist somewhere.
Could the suspects attempt to melt it themselves? I'm not familiar with the refining process.
The smart thing would be to deface the lettering with a hammer and cut it into pieces. Or if you had a furnace, melt it into a blob.
We go to the Keys and Key west every year for the last 30+years for lobster season.
My 6 year old grandson at the time got to hold it the morning before it was stolen.
Of course I grilled him the next morning but he was clean ;~. Interestingly, I always thought it might have been a inside job, glad at least, it looks like it wasn't.
"The smart thing," don't steal the gold bar!
that too, but that's not an option now