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100 Kilogram Gold Coin Worth $4.5 Million Stolen!

tincuptincup Posts: 5,421 ✭✭✭✭✭

Remember that one of a kind gold Maple Leaf with a face value of 1 million dollars minted by RCM in 2007? Looks like it was stolen from a German museum..,. now that is a heist! Wonder what coin shop that will walk into (NOT!) I'm sure that will get melted down very quickly, and will then be untraceable. Inside job perhaps?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-27/massive-100-kilogram-gold-coin-worth-45-million-stolen-german-museum

----- kj

Comments

  • MsMorrisineMsMorrisine Posts: 36,000 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I wish I hadn't self insured :'(

    Current maintainer of Stone's Master List of Favorite Websites // My BST transactions
  • JJSingletonJJSingleton Posts: 1,401 ✭✭✭✭✭

    :o What the heck? It weighs over 200lbs, not the type of item you just walk out with. My gut says inside job. And where do you go to melt a couple of hundred pounds without any attention given?

    Joseph J. Singleton - First Superintendent of the U.S. Branch Mint in Dahlonega Georgia

    Findley Ridge Collection
    About Findley Ridge

  • tincuptincup Posts: 5,421 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Sounds like it was kind of tricky pulling this off... used a ladder and upper window access... not easy to make off with an item weighing over 200 pounds....

    ----- kj
  • oih82w8oih82w8 Posts: 12,611 ✭✭✭✭✭
    oih82w8 = Oh I Hate To Wait _defectus patientia_aka...Dr. Defecto - Curator of RMO's

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  • logger7logger7 Posts: 9,072 ✭✭✭✭✭

    It doesn't fit the definition of a "coin", maybe a giant "slug" but who cares?

  • BAJJERFANBAJJERFAN Posts: 31,394 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Didn't they make 2 or 3 of those?

    theknowitalltroll;
  • ashelandasheland Posts: 23,771 ✭✭✭✭✭
  • tincuptincup Posts: 5,421 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @BAJJERFAN said:
    Didn't they make 2 or 3 of those?

    I don't remember for sure... maybe they did. Should have had it graded and beaned for a pop of 1!

    ----- kj
  • OverdateOverdate Posts: 7,160 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 27, 2017 8:43AM

    My Adolph A. Weinman signature :)

  • stevebensteveben Posts: 4,639 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @JJSingleton said:
    :o What the heck? It weighs over 200lbs, not the type of item you just walk out with. My gut says inside job. And where do you go to melt a couple of hundred pounds without any attention given?

    probably...but you could roll the coin out. if the plan is to melt it down, which seems to be the best idea, then rim damage wouldn't matter.

  • lkeigwinlkeigwin Posts: 16,893 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The coin is (was) owned by Boris Fuchsmann, a well known businessman, the President of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine, the President of the Ukrainian Media Group, the President of the Company “Cinema-City” and also of the Kiev Hotel “Hilton Inn Kyiv”.

  • CaptHenwayCaptHenway Posts: 32,782 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @steveben said:

    @JJSingleton said:
    :o What the heck? It weighs over 200lbs, not the type of item you just walk out with. My gut says inside job. And where do you go to melt a couple of hundred pounds without any attention given?

    probably...but you could roll the coin out. if the plan is to melt it down, which seems to be the best idea, then rim damage wouldn't matter.

    I am sure it has already been hacksawed into pieces, melted down and recast as anonymous ingots.

    Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner numerous NLG Literary Awards.
  • epcjimi1epcjimi1 Posts: 3,489 ✭✭✭

    I wonder what the insurance coverage was.

  • BAJJERFANBAJJERFAN Posts: 31,394 ✭✭✭✭✭

    IIRC at least one was up for sale by APMEX or someone like that.

    theknowitalltroll;
  • BLUEJAYWAYBLUEJAYWAY Posts: 10,137 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Maybe the Chinese counterfeiters can "mint" him a replacement. :D

    Successful transactions:Tookybandit. "Everyone is equal, some are more equal than others".
  • rawteam1rawteam1 Posts: 2,472 ✭✭✭

    @epcjimi1 said:
    I wonder what the insurance coverage was.

    The guy is a genius, it was the only way to make his money back...

    keceph `anah
  • privaterarecoincollectorprivaterarecoincollector Posts: 629 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Im in Berlin right now and it got stolen just 1 mile next to me while i was here. Its a very smart plan to steal this coin: its value is gold only and it can be melted and sold without a trace back at at least 90 cents on the dollar.

  • privaterarecoincollectorprivaterarecoincollector Posts: 629 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Berlin is crazy these days, so much crime. The main shopping mall was robbed in total for 3 Mio USD the last 6 months.

  • DRUNNERDRUNNER Posts: 3,899 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Announced it to my classes today . .even high school sophs realized it was thrown out the window (221 pounds) and then melted by nightfall . .which was 10am Salt Lake time . . .

    Drunner

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,884 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @logger7 said:
    It doesn't fit the definition of a "coin", maybe a giant "slug" but who cares?

    It's a real legal tender coin made by the Royal Canadian Mint and has a face value of $1,000,000 Canadian dollars. It's commonly referred to as a NCLT (Non Circulating Legal Tender) coin.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • logger7logger7 Posts: 9,072 ✭✭✭✭✭

    OK, I looked it up you may be right it is a "coin" albeit an unconventional one. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/coin

  • jwittenjwitten Posts: 5,237 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @steveben said:

    @JJSingleton said:
    :o What the heck? It weighs over 200lbs, not the type of item you just walk out with. My gut says inside job. And where do you go to melt a couple of hundred pounds without any attention given?

    probably...but you could roll the coin out. if the plan is to melt it down, which seems to be the best idea, then rim damage wouldn't matter.

    If I was in the area I would be taking a broom and dustpan to the pavement around the area... just in case, hehe

  • SeattleSlammerSeattleSlammer Posts: 10,065 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Hugh Wood ?

  • hchcoinhchcoin Posts: 4,837 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Wow

  • Watch the TPG service pops.

    They may try to have it graded for inclusion in a registry set.

    More money than that has been spent chasing labels for registry sets.

  • Musky1011Musky1011 Posts: 3,904 ✭✭✭✭

    I would have cut it into 1/4 pieces ... Much easier to haul away

    Pilgrim Clock and Gift Shop.. Expert clock repair since 1844

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  • VanHalenVanHalen Posts: 4,330 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Musky1011 said:
    I would have cut it into 1/4 pieces ... Much easier to haul away

    That's about the only way one person could carry it. Four 55 pound chunks of gold. Talk about a pie in the sky.

  • BruceSBruceS Posts: 1,356 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @VanHalen said:

    @Musky1011 said:
    I would have cut it into 1/4 pieces ... Much easier to haul away

    That's about the only way one person could carry it. Four 55 pound chunks of gold. Talk about a pie in the sky.

    There is no way they had the time to cut it up. Plus there would be a lot of scrap cuttings in the area and would have been obvious and most likely reported.


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  • AzurescensAzurescens Posts: 2,783 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I'd have just dropped it. You're melting it who cares. What's it gonna do, shatter?

  • crazyhounddogcrazyhounddog Posts: 14,071 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Hand truck :) Forklift? Furniture dolly?

    The bitterness of "Poor Quality" is remembered long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,884 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @crazyhounddog said:
    Hand truck :) Forklift? Furniture dolly?

    Or just tilt it up and roll it across the floor.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • UnclePennyBagsUnclePennyBags Posts: 327 ✭✭✭

    While 221 pounds is quite a bit a weight, I am sure someone physically fit with a 4 million dollar adrenaline rush would have no problem getting it across a room without having to treat it nicely... but even so a simple square furniture dolly on casters would have been easy to bring and maneuver. The only way to cut that gold up that fast would be portable set of cutting torches which would be cumbersome to carry in and draw a lot of attention.

    Successful trades.... MichaelDixon,

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,884 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 28, 2017 8:03AM

    @UnclePennyBags said:
    While 221 pounds is quite a bit a weight, I am sure someone physically fit with a 4 million dollar adrenaline rush would have no problem getting it across a room without having to treat it nicely... but even so a simple square furniture dolly on casters would have been easy to bring and maneuver.

    Why bring a dolly when you can just roll it across the floor?

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • UnclePennyBagsUnclePennyBags Posts: 327 ✭✭✭

    @PerryHall said:

    @UnclePennyBags said:
    While 221 pounds is quite a bit a weight, I am sure someone physically fit with a 4 million dollar adrenaline rush would have no problem getting it across a room without having to treat it nicely... but even so a simple square furniture dolly on casters would have been easy to bring and maneuver.

    Why bring a dolly when you can just roll it across the floor?

    It is 20 inches tall and not that thick I would imagine a dolly would be easier than rolling. at 221 pounds I would have picked it up and carried it but I'm also not little lol.

    Successful trades.... MichaelDixon,

  • DNADaveDNADave Posts: 7,308 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Azurescens said:
    I'd have just dropped it. You're melting it who cares. What's it gonna do, shatter?

    I wonder what kind of sound it made when it hit the ground? Not like a Morgan dollar hitting the bourse floor...but maybe it had that "ring" that you look for in authentic coins.

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    With the current high crime rate in Berlin, you can bet this coin is long gone. A well planned heist, and minimum security at the target. This will not go to a secret collection, rather to fund nefarious activity. I doubt that the coin will ever be seen again. Cheers, RickO

  • CaptHenwayCaptHenway Posts: 32,782 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @UnclePennyBags said:
    While 221 pounds is quite a bit a weight, I am sure someone physically fit with a 4 million dollar adrenaline rush would have no problem getting it across a room without having to treat it nicely... but even so a simple square furniture dolly on casters would have been easy to bring and maneuver. The only way to cut that gold up that fast would be portable set of cutting torches which would be cumbersome to carry in and draw a lot of attention.

    I'll bet I could cut it up into meltable chunks with a cold chisel and sledgehammer.

    Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner numerous NLG Literary Awards.
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,884 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @CaptHenway said:

    @UnclePennyBags said:
    While 221 pounds is quite a bit a weight, I am sure someone physically fit with a 4 million dollar adrenaline rush would have no problem getting it across a room without having to treat it nicely... but even so a simple square furniture dolly on casters would have been easy to bring and maneuver. The only way to cut that gold up that fast would be portable set of cutting torches which would be cumbersome to carry in and draw a lot of attention.

    I'll bet I could cut it up into meltable chunks with a cold chisel and sledgehammer.

    I'm not sure it's a good idea to make that much noise during a burglary.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • tincuptincup Posts: 5,421 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @ricko said:
    With the current high crime rate in Berlin, you can bet this coin is long gone. A well planned heist, and minimum security at the target. This will not go to a secret collection, rather to fund nefarious activity. I doubt that the coin will ever be seen again. Cheers, RickO

    I agree with you ricko. Roll it across the floor, drop out of window, get removed from site, then anything goes. That 'coin' would then have a drastic change in appearance very quickly with nothing fancy. With just a torch, make gold shot/nuggets and no one will ever be able to trace (unless there was some video taken that will provide a lead).

    ----- kj
  • epcjimi1epcjimi1 Posts: 3,489 ✭✭✭
    edited March 28, 2017 11:36AM

    That's what I do. Display my 221 lb gold coin in a museum without audio, camera, vibration sensors sufficient to indicate bad things are happening at 330 am and results in theft.

    It's an insurance scam. MHO. Never to be seen again.

  • AzurescensAzurescens Posts: 2,783 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 28, 2017 12:15PM

    We move some heavy boxes out of freight. We are supposed to team lift over 70lbs. Chairs and windows and stuff suck, but if it's a small heavy box, the sky is the limit. Those you can just grab opposing corners and hug it, letting your glutes and quads do the work while you walk it.

    Like @UnclePennyBags said, a 4 million dollar adrenaline rush would probably fix it. I'm a large man, I don't think I'd really have a problem. It would be harder than, say, trying to lift a 100kg body. Also bricks of shingles can be carried in both hands going up a ladder, and that can be 160 or more.

    If they "found" a ladder on a nearby rail track, I bet they "found" a pulley system as well.

    If they just tossed it I wonder if it was heads or tails.

  • roadrunnerroadrunner Posts: 28,313 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Yap Money Gone Wild.

    Barbarous Relic No More, LSCC -GoldSeek--shadow stats--SafeHaven--321gold
  • SoCalBigMarkSoCalBigMark Posts: 2,802 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 28, 2017 4:31PM

    Anyone seen Flavor Flav lately?

  • RogerBRogerB Posts: 8,852 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Chopped, melted, cast and sold by now.

    The planning required to steal it implies equal planning to dispose of it.

  • UnclePennyBagsUnclePennyBags Posts: 327 ✭✭✭

    I'll bet I could cut it up into meltable chunks with a cold chisel and sledgehammer.

    I'm betting I could too, but wouldn't want to be doing it under the time constraints of burglary.

    Successful trades.... MichaelDixon,

  • northcoinnorthcoin Posts: 4,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @privaterarecoincollector said:
    Berlin is crazy these days, so much crime. The main shopping mall was robbed in total for 3 Mio USD the last 6 months.

    Anything to do with open borders? I know when we were robbed in France the detective to whom we reported our misfortune implied that the influx of "outsiders" involved in similar crimes was so rampant that they did not have the resources to do anything about it.

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @northcoin....My reference above to 'nefarious activity' was exactly that... This will bankroll further 'outsider' activity....Cheers, RickO

  • ShadyDaveShadyDave Posts: 2,217 ✭✭✭✭✭

    They made an arrest...but looks like the coin may have been melted down already.

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40579867

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