“...it weighs about as much as a refrigerator,”
March 28, 2017 11:19 AM Subscribe
Thieves Take a Chunk of Change, All 221 Pounds of It, From a Berlin Museum [The New York Times] “ You could never palm it, flip it or plunk it into a vending machine. But apparently it can be pinched: One of the world’s largest gold coins, a 221-pound Canadian monster called the Big Maple Leaf [wiki], was stolen overnight from the Bode Museum in Berlin, the police said on Monday. The coin is about 21 inches in diameter and over an inch thick. It has the head of Queen Elizabeth II on one side and a maple leaf on the other. Its face value is 1 million Canadian dollars, or about $750,000, but by gold content alone, it is worth as much as $4.5 million at current market prices.”
I bet it will turn up in the reject bin of a Coinstar machine here in the US.
posted by bondcliff at 11:21 AM on March 28, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by bondcliff at 11:21 AM on March 28, 2017 [12 favorites]
a 221-pound Canadian monster called the Big Maple Leaf
A large Canadian monster named "Big X"? I say sic the cryptozoologists on it. They'll never find the thing, but I'm sure there'll be countless grainy motion-blurred pictures of the sucker in no time.
posted by leotrotsky at 11:23 AM on March 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
A large Canadian monster named "Big X"? I say sic the cryptozoologists on it. They'll never find the thing, but I'm sure there'll be countless grainy motion-blurred pictures of the sucker in no time.
posted by leotrotsky at 11:23 AM on March 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
So they're probably planning on melting it down, right?
At which point it will be the Big Maple Syrup.
posted by leotrotsky at 11:23 AM on March 28, 2017 [10 favorites]
At which point it will be the Big Maple Syrup.
posted by leotrotsky at 11:23 AM on March 28, 2017 [10 favorites]
My advice for the thieves, this is not the way to live your life, change must come from within.
posted by Fizz at 11:24 AM on March 28, 2017 [29 favorites]
posted by Fizz at 11:24 AM on March 28, 2017 [29 favorites]
codacorolla, I imagine that it depends on whether they already have a buyer. It's not unheard of for people to commission folks to… acquire specific objets d'art.
posted by truex at 11:24 AM on March 28, 2017
posted by truex at 11:24 AM on March 28, 2017
No offense to Canada, nor Canadians, but this thing is... so unbelievably tacky, that I find it hard to believe that anyone would want it specifically, instead of just its gold.
posted by codacorolla at 11:26 AM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by codacorolla at 11:26 AM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
There's one of these in the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa as well. I haven't looked at it quite a while, but it's smaller than you'd expect given its weight.
(Which makes sense given that it's pure gold, but still)
posted by Decimask at 11:26 AM on March 28, 2017
(Which makes sense given that it's pure gold, but still)
posted by Decimask at 11:26 AM on March 28, 2017
However, it's not specially historic or unique, anyone who wanted to and could afford the raw material could make a reproduction, so it was surely stolen for the gold value.
posted by tavella at 11:27 AM on March 28, 2017
posted by tavella at 11:27 AM on March 28, 2017
Surely it should be called the MegaLoonie.
posted by srboisvert at 11:28 AM on March 28, 2017 [19 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 11:28 AM on March 28, 2017 [19 favorites]
This is going to end up in the Canadian Batcave.
posted by Etrigan at 11:30 AM on March 28, 2017 [18 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 11:30 AM on March 28, 2017 [18 favorites]
$4.5 million dollars to make a $1 million dollar coin? That's a lot of seigniorage.
posted by GuyZero at 11:35 AM on March 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by GuyZero at 11:35 AM on March 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
My friend Erin just gave an interview about this theft on CNN.
posted by saladin at 11:35 AM on March 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by saladin at 11:35 AM on March 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
I did not realize that there was a competition among the mints of various commonwealth countries to produce the world's biggest gold coin.
Apparently Australia is currently in the lead.
posted by mr_roboto at 11:37 AM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
Apparently Australia is currently in the lead.
posted by mr_roboto at 11:37 AM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
An interesting theft, from a practical standpoint. Easy enough for a couple of strong people to carry it together, but what to do once you get to the window? The article mentions a ladder, but 100kg plus the weight of a person strong enough to bear such a heavy load would require a pretty burly ladder. Given that the end goal is likely to melt it down and sell it as bullion, I imagine they just dropped it, perhaps on to a crashpad of some kind to dampen the noise.
posted by jedicus at 11:38 AM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by jedicus at 11:38 AM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
So they're probably planning on melting it down, right?
There's potentially some forensic isotope chemistry that could be done here to track it. Gold has only one stable isotope, but there are a number of impurities that have enough isotopes that a "fingerprint" of the ratios of concentrations of various other metals, silver, copper, sometimes lead and even osmium can be used to track the gold. Sub unit-mass mass spectrometers make this pretty straightforward. The machinery is a little uncommon, typically laser-ablation ICP MS, but not all that expensive.
There are persistent rumors that the Canadian mint also isotopically dopes their gold for exactly this purpose, but I've not seen proof of that. It may just be wishful thinking.
In any case, it's possible to screw with any fingerprint with admixtures of other gold sources and/or other impurities, so this kind of forensics may not be up to an... iron-clad standard of proof.
posted by bonehead at 11:39 AM on March 28, 2017 [15 favorites]
There's potentially some forensic isotope chemistry that could be done here to track it. Gold has only one stable isotope, but there are a number of impurities that have enough isotopes that a "fingerprint" of the ratios of concentrations of various other metals, silver, copper, sometimes lead and even osmium can be used to track the gold. Sub unit-mass mass spectrometers make this pretty straightforward. The machinery is a little uncommon, typically laser-ablation ICP MS, but not all that expensive.
There are persistent rumors that the Canadian mint also isotopically dopes their gold for exactly this purpose, but I've not seen proof of that. It may just be wishful thinking.
In any case, it's possible to screw with any fingerprint with admixtures of other gold sources and/or other impurities, so this kind of forensics may not be up to an... iron-clad standard of proof.
posted by bonehead at 11:39 AM on March 28, 2017 [15 favorites]
If my math is right, that's enough for about three Olympic-sized swimming pools full of Goldschlager, if they're planning on going that route.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:45 AM on March 28, 2017 [21 favorites]
posted by uncleozzy at 11:45 AM on March 28, 2017 [21 favorites]
An interesting theft, from a practical standpoint. Easy enough for a couple of strong people to carry it together, but what to do once you get to the window? The article mentions a ladder, but 100kg plus the weight of a person strong enough to bear such a heavy load would require a pretty burly ladder. Given that the end goal is likely to melt it down and sell it as bullion, I imagine they just dropped it, perhaps on to a crashpad of some kind to dampen the noise.
One thought I had was a dollie of some sort (probably a flat one with casters), and two car jacks. Use manpower to drop the coin onto the dollie, roll it to the window, jack it up to the window, and carefully switch to the jack on the other side to lower it back down to the dollie. All of those things are built to handle stuff at least as heavy as a fridge. All of the above is also fairly portable.
There's potentially some forensic isotope chemistry that could be done here to track it. Gold has only one stable isotope, but there are a number of impurities that have enough isotopes that a "fingerprint" of the ratios of concentrations of various other metals, silver, copper, sometimes lead and even osmium can be used to track the gold. Sub unit-mass mass spectrometers make this pretty straightforward. The machinery is a little uncommon, typically laser-ablation ICP MS, but not all that expensive.
I was wondering about this, but wasn't sure if it was within the realm of possibility enough to not sound (ahem) loonie.
posted by codacorolla at 11:48 AM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
One thought I had was a dollie of some sort (probably a flat one with casters), and two car jacks. Use manpower to drop the coin onto the dollie, roll it to the window, jack it up to the window, and carefully switch to the jack on the other side to lower it back down to the dollie. All of those things are built to handle stuff at least as heavy as a fridge. All of the above is also fairly portable.
There's potentially some forensic isotope chemistry that could be done here to track it. Gold has only one stable isotope, but there are a number of impurities that have enough isotopes that a "fingerprint" of the ratios of concentrations of various other metals, silver, copper, sometimes lead and even osmium can be used to track the gold. Sub unit-mass mass spectrometers make this pretty straightforward. The machinery is a little uncommon, typically laser-ablation ICP MS, but not all that expensive.
I was wondering about this, but wasn't sure if it was within the realm of possibility enough to not sound (ahem) loonie.
posted by codacorolla at 11:48 AM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
If my math is right, that's enough for about three Olympic-sized swimming pools full of Goldschlager, if they're planning on going that route.
I believe the unit of measure you're looking for is "one Andre-weekend".
posted by Etrigan at 11:50 AM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
I believe the unit of measure you're looking for is "one Andre-weekend".
posted by Etrigan at 11:50 AM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Gold forensics certainly has been reported in the literature, to track the origins and trade routes of archeological finds of gold for example. I'm not aware of it being used in court, but then I'm not massively well-informed on that either.
I will note however that the mint rather suggestively lists a whole host of specific impurities in their page on the production of the coins.
posted by bonehead at 11:52 AM on March 28, 2017
I will note however that the mint rather suggestively lists a whole host of specific impurities in their page on the production of the coins.
posted by bonehead at 11:52 AM on March 28, 2017
Apparently Australia is currently in the lead.
If you just, like, expand your definition of what a coin is, I think you'll find West Virginia can out-do that tiny speck.
posted by Copronymus at 11:55 AM on March 28, 2017
If you just, like, expand your definition of what a coin is, I think you'll find West Virginia can out-do that tiny speck.
posted by Copronymus at 11:55 AM on March 28, 2017
Apparently Australia is currently in the lead.
That's a big coinerydoo, mate.
posted by tommasz at 11:57 AM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
That's a big coinerydoo, mate.
posted by tommasz at 11:57 AM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
The article mentions a ladder, but 100kg plus the weight of a person strong enough to bear such a heavy load would require a pretty burly ladder.
You don't have to carry it down the ladder - it's not such a huge weight, just lower it down on the end of some decent rope. Hell, if you're planning on melting it down anyway, but a couple bags of sand under the window and drop the thing.
posted by Dr Dracator at 11:58 AM on March 28, 2017
You don't have to carry it down the ladder - it's not such a huge weight, just lower it down on the end of some decent rope. Hell, if you're planning on melting it down anyway, but a couple bags of sand under the window and drop the thing.
posted by Dr Dracator at 11:58 AM on March 28, 2017
Two-Face stole it. Batman will get it back.
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:59 AM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:59 AM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
In six months we'll all be shocked that THIS was the crime that brought down the Trump regime. "It was huge, gold, and tasteless. I had to have it."
SEAL Team Six worked with Russian VDV troops to get it out of Berlin and onto a train to St Petersburg, where it was melted down and made into TrumpCoins. Better than BitCoin, the madman claimed.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 12:00 PM on March 28, 2017 [22 favorites]
SEAL Team Six worked with Russian VDV troops to get it out of Berlin and onto a train to St Petersburg, where it was melted down and made into TrumpCoins. Better than BitCoin, the madman claimed.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 12:00 PM on March 28, 2017 [22 favorites]
Given the coin’s weight, the authorities said they suspected that more than one person was involved.
I bet you one Sherpa could do it. The ladder would be a piece of cake.
posted by Sphinx at 12:03 PM on March 28, 2017
I bet you one Sherpa could do it. The ladder would be a piece of cake.
posted by Sphinx at 12:03 PM on March 28, 2017
So you're saying that someone might have wanted a toilet seat for his new digs?
posted by bonehead at 12:03 PM on March 28, 2017
posted by bonehead at 12:03 PM on March 28, 2017
Two-Face stole it
A coin so large not even Sissy Hankshaw could flip it.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:03 PM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
A coin so large not even Sissy Hankshaw could flip it.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:03 PM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
However, it's not specially historic or unique, anyone who wanted to and could afford the raw material could make a reproduction, so it was surely stolen for the gold value.
You don't even need to do that. The article notes that the Canadian mint made 10 of them, and didn't sell all 10. You could probably buy one of the original set still, if you wanted.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 12:05 PM on March 28, 2017
You don't even need to do that. The article notes that the Canadian mint made 10 of them, and didn't sell all 10. You could probably buy one of the original set still, if you wanted.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 12:05 PM on March 28, 2017
At least we can be reasonably sure they didn't steal it by shoving it up their butts.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:06 PM on March 28, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:06 PM on March 28, 2017 [4 favorites]
As a Canadian who moved to Berlin yesterday, this makes me feel a new emotion.
posted by tillermo at 12:08 PM on March 28, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by tillermo at 12:08 PM on March 28, 2017 [4 favorites]
No offense to Canada, nor Canadians, but this thing is... so unbelievably tacky, that I find it hard to believe that anyone would want it specifically, instead of just its gold.
None taken. I can think of many many far better uses for 221 pounds of gold than to make a manhole cover with a portrait of the Queen on it.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:10 PM on March 28, 2017 [4 favorites]
None taken. I can think of many many far better uses for 221 pounds of gold than to make a manhole cover with a portrait of the Queen on it.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:10 PM on March 28, 2017 [4 favorites]
Is the Guggenheim's solid gold toilet next?
posted by paper chromatographologist at 12:13 PM on March 28, 2017
posted by paper chromatographologist at 12:13 PM on March 28, 2017
GuyZero, this is inverse-seigniorage.
posted by ryanrs at 12:33 PM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by ryanrs at 12:33 PM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
As a Canadian who moved to Berlin yesterday, this makes me feel a new emotion.
Stolenfraude?
posted by chavenet at 12:49 PM on March 28, 2017 [9 favorites]
Stolenfraude?
posted by chavenet at 12:49 PM on March 28, 2017 [9 favorites]
As a Canadian who moved to Berlin yesterday, this makes me feel a new emotion.
Fortunately, there's a German word that perfectly describes that emotion.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:50 PM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Fortunately, there's a German word that perfectly describes that emotion.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:50 PM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Stolenfraude?
That's the joy you feel at a really nice pastry.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:54 PM on March 28, 2017 [20 favorites]
That's the joy you feel at a really nice pastry.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:54 PM on March 28, 2017 [20 favorites]
Maybe the UN stole it so they can finally pay off Dr. Evil. At least nobody would have to count the money.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 12:55 PM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Hairy Lobster at 12:55 PM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
in regards to the meta thread about mefi usage patterns, I'd like to say that gold-thievin' threads on the mefi are always ace in my book.
posted by Annika Cicada at 1:00 PM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Annika Cicada at 1:00 PM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
I find it interesting that the 100 kg Canadian gold coin and the 1000 kg Australian gold coin both have a face value of $1,000,000.
posted by fimbulvetr at 1:04 PM on March 28, 2017
posted by fimbulvetr at 1:04 PM on March 28, 2017
GuyZero, this is inverse-seigniorage.
duh. Right you are. I guess it offsets all the seigniorage on quarters and dimes.
Also, while this coin is actual legal tender it's not nearly the biggest Canadian coin ever. We also have the Big (really big) Nickel. Also shoutout to King George VI who live on forever in Sudbury.
posted by GuyZero at 1:15 PM on March 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
duh. Right you are. I guess it offsets all the seigniorage on quarters and dimes.
Also, while this coin is actual legal tender it's not nearly the biggest Canadian coin ever. We also have the Big (really big) Nickel. Also shoutout to King George VI who live on forever in Sudbury.
posted by GuyZero at 1:15 PM on March 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
Unless the mint used a different source of gold for the big coins, once melted down i don't see how it would be distinguishable from a bunch of melted down $50 Maple Leafs.
posted by clorox at 1:21 PM on March 28, 2017
posted by clorox at 1:21 PM on March 28, 2017
My advice for the thieves, this is not the way to live your life, change must come from within.
Specifically, from within a glass case at the Bode Museum in Berlin.
posted by Naberius at 1:25 PM on March 28, 2017 [4 favorites]
Specifically, from within a glass case at the Bode Museum in Berlin.
posted by Naberius at 1:25 PM on March 28, 2017 [4 favorites]
I don't know why, but all I can think is that given sufficient time, one could pound it out into a nice soaking bath tub, fit for royalty.
posted by MikeWarot at 1:33 PM on March 28, 2017
posted by MikeWarot at 1:33 PM on March 28, 2017
Psh. My 5-year-old coulda made that.
posted by allthinky at 1:41 PM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by allthinky at 1:41 PM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Mark my words, scan the security tapes for the Pizza Delivery Guy seen struggling with what people imagine must be a pizza containing a lot of extra toppings.
posted by blueberry at 2:18 PM on March 28, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by blueberry at 2:18 PM on March 28, 2017 [6 favorites]
Before today, dozens -- perhaps hundreds -- of people viewed the coin and had the fleeting thought "Scheiße! That's a fuckload of gold!", though confounded by the obstacles of skylight and glass case, merely wandered along, never to consider the matter again. Then late one night, one brave soul, one titan of will, was drunk enough to venture forth on such a herculean task, yet sober enough to complete it.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 2:19 PM on March 28, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 2:19 PM on March 28, 2017 [6 favorites]
my name is Cow
and wen its nite
or when the guard
is sleeping tight
and all the bread
is filled with mold -
i stay up late.
i steal the gold.
posted by The Gaffer at 2:48 PM on March 28, 2017 [10 favorites]
and wen its nite
or when the guard
is sleeping tight
and all the bread
is filled with mold -
i stay up late.
i steal the gold.
posted by The Gaffer at 2:48 PM on March 28, 2017 [10 favorites]
given sufficient time, one could pound it out into a nice soaking bath tub, fit for royalty
I would like to see the time-lapse of this pounding.
posted by Rash at 3:39 PM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
I would like to see the time-lapse of this pounding.
posted by Rash at 3:39 PM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Lately I've been reading The Laundrymen, a series of accounts about money laundering cases. If you're curious how someone might go about laundering a stolen $4.5M gold coin, this book describes many ways not to do it (selection bias, to make it into a book you have to be caught).
posted by ryanrs at 3:39 PM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by ryanrs at 3:39 PM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
This explains why my trousers keep falling down!
posted by fallingbadgers at 5:14 PM on March 28, 2017
posted by fallingbadgers at 5:14 PM on March 28, 2017
"Why did the Royal Canadian Mint make the world's purest and largest gold bullion coin? Because we can."
posted by Zonker at 6:05 PM on March 28, 2017
posted by Zonker at 6:05 PM on March 28, 2017
"And why did those guys steal it? Er.... "
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:17 PM on March 28, 2017
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:17 PM on March 28, 2017
I would steal that and then be very disappointed it wasn't chocolate.
posted by w0mbat at 12:57 AM on March 29, 2017
posted by w0mbat at 12:57 AM on March 29, 2017
All the comments about the weight of the coin remind me of all the movies and TV shows where the bad guys make off with millions of dollars in gold, carrying it like it weighs nothing.
posted by TedW at 7:48 AM on March 29, 2017
posted by TedW at 7:48 AM on March 29, 2017
all the movies and TV shows where the bad guys make off with millions of dollars in gold, carrying it like it weighs nothing.
I appreciate that at least some films do make an attempt to discuss weight. I recall there's a scene in the rebooted Italian Job where they at least acknowledge the weight of the gold/loot they are stealing and its impact on their getaway vehicles.
posted by Fizz at 7:59 AM on March 29, 2017
I appreciate that at least some films do make an attempt to discuss weight. I recall there's a scene in the rebooted Italian Job where they at least acknowledge the weight of the gold/loot they are stealing and its impact on their getaway vehicles.
posted by Fizz at 7:59 AM on March 29, 2017
The otherwise pretty good _Three Kings_ goofed on that constantly, it kept distracting me.
posted by tavella at 10:02 AM on March 29, 2017
posted by tavella at 10:02 AM on March 29, 2017
I would like to see the time-lapse of this pounding.
A possible opening line from a Chuck Tingle novel.
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:21 AM on March 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
A possible opening line from a Chuck Tingle novel.
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:21 AM on March 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Just out of curiosity does anyone know where Glenn Beck was Sunday night/Monday morning?
posted by TedW at 2:17 PM on March 29, 2017
posted by TedW at 2:17 PM on March 29, 2017
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posted by Fizz at 11:20 AM on March 28, 2017 [48 favorites]