$1 million Canadian coin stolen in shocking 2017 heist still missing
Nearly ten years after its daring theft, a massive Canadian coin stolen from a German museum is still nowhere to be found.
In 2007, the Royal Canadian Mint issued a coin that made headlines: the Big Maple Leaf, a 99.99% gold bullion coin that weighed 100 kg and measured 53 cm in diameter and 3 cm in thickness. At the time, it was certified by Guinness World Records as the largest coin in the world.
The coin which had a $1 million face value featured a hand-polished maple leaf design by artist and senior engraver Stan Witten on one side, and a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by artist Susanna Blunt on the other.
Berlin Police
But it made headlines once again in 2017 when it disappeared from the Bode Museum in Berlin, Germany, on March 27. By then, the coin was worth around $4.5 million. Authorities were first alerted to the theft just after 4 a.m. when a security guard called the police. They later found an abandoned ladder by the tram tracks, which the police believe the suspected robbers used to gain entry to the museum. A BBC report states that police also said that suspects used a wheelbarrow to carry the stolen coin.
Michael Eissenhauer, director general of the Berlin State Museums at the time, said the theft is the worst news a museum director can receive.
“We are shocked that the burglars overcame our security systems, which have been successfully protecting our objects for many years,” he said. “The perpetrators have done a great deal of damage, and we are glad that no one was injured.”
Interior of Bode Museum (Mirko Kuzmanovic/Shutterstock)
In July, several suspects were arrested.
According to investigators, the coin was not found, and they believe it may have been melted down and sold. DW reports that in 2020, two men aged 23 and 21 were sentenced as juveniles and given four-and-a-half-year prison sentences. Another 21-year-old defendant, who was a guard at the museum, received a three-year and four-month sentence, while a fourth defendant was acquitted.
With files from Jenni Sheppard