Giant Gold Coin Still Missing, but Cops Make 4 Arrests

It weighs 221 pounds, was stolen from German museum
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 12, 2017 11:00 AM CDT
Cops Raid Sites After Crazy Gold Heist, Can't Find Coin
A file photo of the missing "Big Maple Leaf" coin.   (Marcel Mettelsiefen)

German police raided buildings in Berlin early Wednesday, arresting four suspects in connection with the brazen heist of a 221-pound Canadian gold coin stolen from one of the city's museums earlier this year. The raids of 13 different buildings lasted several hours, but, alas, the gold coin was not recovered. Police arrested the suspects in Berlin's Neukoelln neighborhood, per the AP, and another nine people were being questioned. All suspects are related to one another and aged between 18 and 20.

"We assume that the coin was partially or completely sold," Carsten Pfohl of the Berlin state criminal office told reporters. (It may have been melted down.) He added that police also confiscated clothes and cars to comb for traces of gold. The Canadian "Big Maple Leaf" coin was stolen from the Bode Museum in March. The coin, which is 1.2 inches thick and has a diameter of 20.9 inches, has a face value of $750,000 in American dollars. By weight alone, however, it would be worth almost $4.5 million at current market prices. (More Germany stories.)

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