221-lb gold coin is stolen from museum in Germany.

[Morg]

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/6401...old-coin-worth-millions-stolen-german-museum?

BERLIN (AP) — Thieves broke into the German capital's Bode Museum before dawn Monday and made off with a massive 100-kilogram (221-pound) gold coin worth millions of dollars, police said.

Police 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 Canadian dollars ($750,000). By weight alone, however, it would be worth almost $4.5 million at market prices.

Petersen would not comment on whether authorities had surveillance video of the crime, but said police assume more than one person was involved because of the weight of the coin.

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.

It was produced in limited quantities by the Royal Canadian Mint to promote a new line of its Gold Maple Leaf bullion coins in 2007. It has been on display at the Bode Museum, on Berlin's Museum Island, since December 2010.

Berlin museums spokesman Markus Farr said the coin is on loan from a private collection, but would not elaborated.

Detectives specialized in crimes involving art are investigating.

 

[KnightErrant]

Melted down and sold off is most likely end for it if Law Enforcement do not find the thieves and the item before it's disposed.

Though the other possibility is it was a commissioned theft and will end up in another "private collection"

 

[Guts]

A giant coin was stolen? I think the suspect will be a man with acid burns on half of his face.

 

[jokesonm3]

Now that's a movie right there.

 

[Lily Adler]

Was there a T-Rex, too?

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

 

[Enriquespy]

A giant coin was stolen? I think the suspect will be a man with acid burns on half of his face.

This is the only joke I expected from this forum.

The hype does not disappoint.

 

[Marvolo]

Melted down and sold off is most likely end for it if Law Enforcement do not find the thieves and the item before it's disposed.

Though the other possibility is it was a commissioned theft and will end up in another "private collection"

Thr FBI should check the Oval Office. This is the sort of dumb "art" Trump would buy.

 

[KnightErrant]

Thr FBI should check the Oval Office. This is the sort of dumb "art" Trump would buy.

LOL true,it's GOLD after all.

 

[Breogan]

This is the only joke I expected from this forum.

The hype does not disappoint.

Until now!

Obvious who took the giant gold coin...

Disappointing!?

 

[Pink Ranger]

A giant coin was stolen? I think the suspect will be a man with acid burns on half of his face.

This is the only joke I expected from this forum.

The hype does not disappoint.

The police are also searching for his accomplices:

-A duck with a thick Scottish accent
-A husky German guy in a leisure suit
-A transforming purple robot dinosaur