Photo Galleries Massive $1M gold Canadian coin stolen in Berlin

[Tyrianth]

Berlin police say thieves broke into the German capital's Bode Museum and made off with a massive 100-kilogram gold coin issued by the Royal Canadian Mint that's worth millions.

Dubbed the "Big Maple Leaf" and measuring three-centimetres thick with a diameter of 53 centimetres, the coin has a portrait of the Queen on one side and maple leaves on the other.

It has a face value of $1 million, but by weight alone it would be worth almost $4.5 million US at market prices.

The museum says the coin is in the Guinness Book of Records for its purity of 999.99/1000 gold.

Spokesman Stefen Petersen said thieves apparently entered through a window at about 3:30 a.m. local time on Monday, broke into a cabinet where the coin was kept, and escaped with it before police arrived.

A ladder was found by nearby railway tracks.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment...olen-1.4042325

I'm more impressed than upset... how did they just walk out with 100kg of gold without getting caught?

edit: fucked up the title, don't know where the "Photo Galleries" came from.

[Puupi]

With a walker aka harley parkinson perhaps.

[Deleted]

Smelters gonna be busy.

[Tyrianth]

Smelters gonna be busy.

Yup, that coin is already long gone. It's a shame really, the Canadian Mint only minted 5 of these. Wonder how much they are worth from a collectors point of view? Specially now that there are only 4 left.

[Puupi]

Hmm 3cm thick and 53cm diameter. Does it really weigh 100kg? Cba to calculate myself.

[Tyrianth]

Hmm 3cm thick and 53cm diameter. Does it really weigh 100kg? Cba to calculate myself.

Weight of gold per cm³: 19.3 grams
Volume of this coin (assuming perfect cylinder which it isn't): 6618.55cm³

66183.55*19.3 = 127,738.015g / 1000 = 127.74kg.

Shave off a few kilograms since a cylinder has more volume than the shape of the coin, so yes it's 100kg.

http://www.mint.ca/store/mint/about-...r-coin-1600006

[Azadina]

edit: fucked up the title, don't know where the "Photo Galleries" came from.

Also the $1M part 100 kilos of gold by itself is like 4 million, not even taking into account the value as collectors item.

[Puupi]

Weight of gold per cm³: 19.3 grams
Volume of this coin (assuming perfect cylinder which it isn't): 6618.55cm³

66183.55*19.3 = 127,738.015g / 1000 = 127.74kg.

Shave off a few kilograms since a cylinder has more volume than the shape of the coin, so yes it's 100kg.

http://www.mint.ca/store/mint/about-...r-coin-1600006

Coolio, just feels weird that such small object weighs 100kg

[Tyrianth]

Also the $1M part 100 kilos of gold by itself is like 4 million, not even taking into account the value as collectors item.

No, the $1 million is correct. The coin has a face value of $1 million. Therefore it's a $1 million dollar coin.

Coolio, just feels weird that such small object weighs 100kg

Gold is pretty damn heavy

[Puupi]

Also the $1M part 100 kilos of gold by itself is like 4 million, not even taking into account the value as collectors item.

The coin's face value is 1 million.

[Azadina]

No, the $1 million is correct. The coin has a face value of $1 million. Therefore it's a $1 million dollar coin.

Ohh, well duh. Need to read better next time

[Deleted]

Also the $1M part 100 kilos of gold by itself is like 4 million, not even taking into account the value as collectors item.

Most art pieces are stolen for order. Since this is just gold it will be melted. That shit is on its way to Belgium as we speak. lol. The thieves will get a massive markdown on that less that £1million. Way less.

[Kalis]

Most art pieces are stolen for order. Since this is just gold it will be melted. That shit is on its way to Belgium as we speak. lol. The thieves will get a massive markdown on that less that £1million. Way less.

Only a £1m? Not worth bothering with.

I reckon I can get more by kidnapping Gove and threatening to return him.

[Azadina]

Most art pieces are stolen for order. Since this is just gold it will be melted. That shit is on its way to Belgium as we speak. lol. The thieves will get a massive markdown on that less that £1million. Way less.

Why would they get less than 1 million for over 4 million of purest gold in sight?

[Kalis]

Why would they get less than 1 million for over 4 million of purest gold in sight?

You have to flog it.

Gold bars are about 12.4kg and worth around £400,000, but in order to get that £400k you need to prove provenance, storage, etc., something you would not be able to do with gold you have nicked.

[Puupi]

Why would they get less than 1 million for over 4 million of purest gold in sight?

Steal a giant 100kg clump of purest gold around - try to sell it. The only thing you could be left wondering is that would it take 10 or 30 minutes for the police to arrest you.

They need to make that gold less pure and/or sell it to criminals. The processing isn't that simple I guess.

[Azadina]

You have to flog it.

Gold bars are about 12.4kg and worth around £400,000, but in order to get that £400k you need to prove provenance, storage, etc., something you would not be able to do with gold you have nicked.

So you use a shell company to fake all that. That's what politicians do with illegal bribes.

Steal a giant 100kg clump of purest gold around - try to sell it. The only thing you could be left wondering is that would it take 10 or 30 minutes for the police to arrest you.

They need to make that gold less pure and/or sell it to criminals. The processing isn't that simple I guess.

You're assuming I would try to sell the whole thing right away. Why would I?

[Kalis]

So you use a shell company to fake all that. That's what politicians do with illegal bribes.

A shell company that is recognised as minting gold bars would need to explain where it got its gold from.

[Puupi]

You're assuming I would try to sell the whole thing right away. Why would I?

It's still the purest gold around.

[Azadina]

A shell company that is recognised as minting gold bars would need to explain where it got its gold from.

So you call some other less than honest company, that will fake all documents on how the gold has been legitimately obtained from the ground. You can toss them 100k for the problem, then another 100k for the first shell company you used. Now you're left with 3.8 million

It's still the purest gold around.

I doubt the difference is noticeable by naked eye.