Thieves steal ancient gold coins in German museum heist
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Friday, November 22, 2024


Thieves steal ancient gold coins in German museum heist
The theft played out like the plot of a movie. The artifacts could be worth $1.7 million if sold to dealers — or $260,000 if melted down.

by Christopher F. Schuetze



BERLIN.- When museum staff arrived to work at the Celtic and Roman Museum in the little town of Manching in Bavaria on Tuesday morning, they realized that thieves had stolen the most valuable item in the building: a cache of 483 ancient gold coins.

The coins, which are believed to date back to roughly 100 years before the birth of Jesus, look like little buttons and, together with a chunk of gold that was apparently the source of the coins, weigh nearly 9 pounds. One official said the artifacts could be worth $1.7 million.

“It’s a complete catastrophe,” said Herbert Nerb, the town’s mayor. “It’s like in a bad movie.”

In a town known for its rich archaeological history, the missing coins represent far more than just money.

“The loss of the Celtic treasure is a disaster — the gold coins as witnesses of our history are irreplaceable,” said Markus Blume, Bavaria’s state minister for science and art.

On Wednesday, police confirmed that thieves cut a cable in a telecommunications room in the town, disabling some 1,300 local connections. A technician alerted the police in nearby Ingolstadt at 4 a.m. Tuesday that the systems had been knocked out, but the police were worried that banks were the target, so they sent patrol cars to watch the banks and not the museum. The police only found out about the break-in once museum staff reported it just before 10 a.m.

In 2019, thieves broke into the famed Green Vault museum in Dresden, Germany, getting away with more than 100 million euros worth of jewels ($104 million at today’s exchange rate). In 2017, thieves stole a giant Canadian gold coin worth several million euros from the Bode museum in Berlin, rolled it out in a wheelbarrow and used the elevated city railway to get away. In both of those cases, the thieves were eventually caught but the loot was never recovered.

Those heists took place in well-known city museums, which in the wake of the break-ins were revealed to have shocking security flaws. The Celtic and Roman Museum, in contrast, is a small archaeological museum built around the coins and other artifacts unearthed during continuing digs in the region.

Still, on Wednesday, investigators confirmed that they were in touch with colleagues in both Dresden and Berlin to compare notes. “We don’t know if these are connected or not,” said Guido Limmer, one of the state police officers in charge of the investigation.

The stolen coins were first found in 1999 during a dig at an ancient Celtic settlement known as the Oppidum of Manching. The trove is still considered the biggest cache of ancient Celtic gold discovered in the 20th century, and it remains a mystery why so much gold was stored in one spot and how it ended up at the site.

First explored in the 19th century and then studied more systematically starting in the middle of the 20th century, the site is especially scientifically valuable because of the sheer number of artifacts that have been found and the breadth of physical evidence about the ancient city’s layout and structure that has been unearthed over the years, said Walter Irlinger, who works for the state’s monument preservation body.

The prospect of historical treasures still hidden below ground has attracted more than just archaeologists: In May, unknown criminals jumped over a fence and dug 140 holes in a dig site, apparently looking for valuables. Police do not know whether there is any connection between that episode and this week’s heist.

Rupert Gebhard, the director of the Bavarian State Archaeological Collection in Munich, said Wednesday that the coins and the chunk of gold could be worth roughly 1.6 million euros if they could be sold to dealers. The gold used in making the coins is worth an estimated 250,000 euros, Gebhard said, noting that if the coins were melted down, it would be the “worst” outcome.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.










Today's News

November 26, 2022

The dinosaur bone market is booming. It also has growing pains.

He helps the realreal keep it real

A stolen 1527 record signed by Cortés will be returned to Mexico

Thieves steal ancient gold coins in German museum heist

Manx language, once almost silenced, is now talk of the town

Phillips announces highlights included in the Hong Kong 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Sales

Rare Constable drawing comes to auction at Halls after more than 40 years in a private collection

Lina Ghotmeh selected for 22nd Serpentine Pavilion and designed revealed

In Warsaw, mining a rich vein of Polish creativity

Paintings by Lovis Cornith currently on view at the Galarie Karsten Greve

2022 Ingram Prize winners announced

A lifetime of collecting: The Triay Collection of Himalayan Art at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr

Birmingham Museums Trust acquires new photographic works by Arpita Shah, exploring South Asian female identity

"Into the Light: The Awakening" first solo show from photography duo The Masons

Phillips' highlights from London New Now Auction showcasing Contemporary Artists

"Sunset: A Celebration of the Sinking Sun" on view at the Kunsthalle Bremen

They were ahead of the curve on diversity in classical music

The visions of Octavia Butler

A trail of tradition in the foothills of northwest Argentina

Pablo Milanés, troubadour of the Cuban Revolution, dies at 79

Jean-Marie Straub, uncompromising filmmaker, is dead at 89

Che Lovelace now represented by Nicola Vassell Gallery

Newspaper legend Sir Ray Tindle's vast silver collection comes to auction at Ewbank's on December 8

Advantages of the Capital One Platinum

How to Write a Perfect Essay Outline?

How to buy an online lottery ticket in Singapore ?

How To Start A Photography Business




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful