Intrinsic, Rather Than Collector Value, Tempts Thieves
A wave of museum thefts in France and Germany highlights a troubling shift as historic coins and treasures are increasingly stolen not to collect, but to be destroyed for scrap.
The crown jewels of France were recently stolen from the Louvre in Paris on October 19, 2025, in an event that shook the museum world. There has been a lot of finger-pointing and blame as the lack of security became obvious. Jokes based on the classic “Pink Panther” comedy character have been revived, poking fun at the poor security surrounding the stolen jewelry.
But the robbery was serious business. Thieves planned to steal the jewels not for their collector or historical value, but to scrap them piece by piece to make a quick, yet big, buck. No regard was given to what the jewels represent.
Unfortunately, the same scenario has played out once more regarding coins. Several hours after the crown jewels were stolen, thieves took about 2,000 gold and silver coins stored at the Denis Diderot House of Enlightenment in Langres, France, which houses 18th-century objects. The stolen coins date from 1790 to 1840 and are estimated to be worth about €90,000 ($105,000). This robbery took place on a Sunday night, and unlike the Louvre, theft wasn’t detected until Monday morning. At the time this article was written, no connection between separate incidents had yet been linked.
France has been experiencing a spate of high-profile thefts of coins and other collectibles recently. Even more disturbing is that there is a similar pattern to these thefts and to the crown jewel heist as well. In general, thieves have been targeting valuable objects, including anything of high historical value.
Among the rash of break-ins was two in mid-October at the Jacques Chirac Museum in Sarran. That’s not a typographical error. The museum was broken into twice within 48 hours, with memorabilia from Chirac’s two terms as president of France between 1995 and 2007 stolen.
Three Chinese porcelain objects worth €6.5 million ($7.5 million) were stolen recently in Limoges. Just before the Limoges theft, gold nuggets valued at €1.5 million were taken from the Natural History Museum in Paris. That theft appears to be connected to a 24-year-old Chinese woman who was arrested in Barcelona.
The alarming part of such thefts to collectors and historians is that many of these coins and other objects are simply melted or recut. Thieves are more interested in turning the salvaged metal and recut stones over for a quick profit than trying to find a clandestine home for them, which takes more time to find and makes the stolen objects traceable.
The recent French incidents follow on the heels of several headline-grabbing thefts in Germany that resulted in numismatic objects being destroyed. In 2019, the Bode Museum in Berlin was robbed of a 2007 “Big Leaf Maple” Canadian $1 million 100-kilogram (220-pound or 3,215 troy-ounce) gold coin. The massive coin was 21 inches in diameter. The coin was never recovered and has been assumed to have been melted quickly for its scrap metal value. The coin had a mintage of just five pieces. Four men, including a museum security guard, were later convicted of the theft. Three of them were part of the Remmo Lebanese crime family.
In July 2025, a court in Ingolstadt, Germany, convicted three men of stealing 483 Celtic gold coins and an unworked lump of gold dating from about 100 B.C. from the Celtic and Roman Museum in Manching, Bavaria. Once again, the coins were never recovered and are presumed melted. One suspect had several lumps of gold on him when arrested.
There have been many other high-profile coinage thefts, but times appear to be changing. For example, in 1977, four men stole perhaps 300 coins from the American Numismatic Society in New York and were later caught after trying to fence their loot to a coin dealer.
The melting of the Celtic coins was described by Bavarian State Archaeological Collection supervisor Rupert Gebhard as being “the worst option.” Unfortunately, it appears modern thieves are pragmatic, making what they steal untraceable by destroying it, then turning it over for fast cash rather than holding out for its true value.
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