Massive 221 Pound Gold Coin worth $4.5Million Stolen Last Night
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.
[Clearly, the German thieves were seeking to out do the November theft of $1.4MM bucket of Gold Flakes caught on video in a previous post [NYPD Video] Man Steals $1.6 Million in Gold From Armored Car ]
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 three-centimeter (1.18-inch) thick coin, with a diameter of 53 centimeters (20.9 inches), has a face value of $1 million. By weight alone, however, it would be worth almost $4.5 million at market prices.
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.
The Bode Museum. Photo: DPA
Thieves stole a gold coin with a face value of almost €1 million and weighing 100 kilograms from Berlin's Bode Museum on Monday.
According to German media, the stolen coin is the "Big Maple Leaf", a commemorative piece issued by the Royal Canadian Mint in 2007.
The coin, 53 cm across and three cm thick, features the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.
Bode Museum gave the face value of the coin at €920,000, though the market price of 100 kg of gold is around €3.7 million.
German police said on Twitter that the robbers likely used a ladder found at a nearby rail track to break into the museum at around 3:30 am.
Suburban rail traffic was interrupted as investigators combed the area for clues.
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