Celtic gold coins stolen from German museum in stunning heist

On Tuesday, a large hoard of ancient Celtic gold coins were stolen from the Celtic and Roman Museum in Manching, Germany, according to Bavarian state police. Authorities estimate the value of the coins, which together weighed about 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds), to exceed $1 million.

“The loss of the Celtic treasure is a disaster,” Bavarian Science and Arts Minister Markus Blume told the German news agency dpa. “As a testament to our history, gold coins are irreplaceable.”

The 483 coins were first found in 1999 at the ancient Celtic settlement known as the Manching Oppidum. Archaeologists quickly realized how sensational the discovery was: the coins represent the largest Celtic gold find of the 20th century. The fund is also the subject of ongoing academic research into Celtic trade networks.

The largest Celtic gold find of the 20th century was found near Manching in 1999.
(Photo by Frank Mächler/dpa via Getty Images)

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The Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that the circumstances of the robbery were straight out of a Hollywood movie. In order to prevent the alarm from being triggered, the thieves cut the telecommunications cables which caused internet and phone outages throughout Manching.

According to reports, the robbery lasted only 9 minutes.

“The museum is actually a high-security place. But all connections with the police were cut off,” Manching mayor Herbert Nerb told the Bavarian newspaper. “Professionals worked here.”

Police are appealing for witnesses who may have seen suspicious people near the museum or have other information that could lead to the recovery of the treasure.

The Celtic and Roman Museum is shown in the evening light, in Manching, Germany, Tuesday, November 22, 2022.
(Armin Weigel/dpa via AP)

Rupert Gebhard, who heads the Bavarian State Archaeological Collection in Munich, estimated the value of the treasure at around 1.6 million euros ($1.65 million). “Archaeologists hope that the coins will remain in their original state and reappear at some point,” he said, adding that they are well documented and would be difficult to sell.

“The worst option, the merger, would mean a total loss for us”, he explained, and pointed out that the material value of the gold itself would only reach around 250,000 euros at current market prices.

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The Manching robbery is just the latest in a series of museum robberies that have hit Germany in recent years.

In November 2019, thieves raided Dresden’s green vault, one of the largest collections of treasures in Europe. The estimated value of the jewelry stolen during that heist is more than $100 million. Six Germans accused of taking part in the robbery went on trial in January this year.

Earlier in March 2017, the “Big Maple Leaf”, a gold coin considered to be the second largest in the world, was stolen from the Bode Museum in Berlin.

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Authorities have not been able to recover the stolen items from either robbery.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.