Thieves stole a 100kg gold coin with a market value of almost €4 million in a dawn heist at Berlin’s Bode Museum on Monday morning.
The unique coin, nicknamed the “Big Maple Leaf”, is a commemorative piece which was issued by the Royal Canadian Mint in 2007.
The coin measures 53cm across and is 3cm thick. Like all Canadian coins, it features the portrait of The Queen.
Bode Museum gave the face value of the coin at €920,000, though the market price of 100kg of gold is much higher at around €3.7 million.
The coin has also entered the Guinness Book of Records for its immense purity of 999.99/1000 gold.
German police said on Twitter that the thieves probably used a ladder, which was later found at a nearby rail track, to break into the museum at around 3.30am.
Investigators have not revealed how the burglars managed to avoid setting off alarms and leave the museum unnoticed while carrying the coin, which is likely too heavy for a single person to carry.
Suburban rail traffic was interrupted as police searched the area for clues.
Police spokesman Winfrid Wenzel said: “Based on the information we have so far we believe that the thief, maybe thieves, broke open a window in the back of the museum next to the railway tracks.
“They then managed to enter the building and went to the coin exhibition.
“The coin was secured with bullet-proof glass inside the building. That much I can say.”
Categories: The Muslim Times