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'A catastrophe': hoard of Celtic gold coins is stolen from a German museum

2022-11-24T15:20:05.994Z


Celtic gold coins, dating from around 100 B.C. C., have a value of "several million" euros, according to the police.


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(CNN) --

A trove of ancient gold coins has been stolen from a museum in southern Germany, according to the Bavarian State Police.

The theft occurred Tuesday night at the Celtic and Roman Museum in Manching, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Munich.

Gold coins, dating from around 100 B.C.

C., were discovered in 1999 at the site of a large Celtic settlement nearby.

The artifacts weigh a total of 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds), representing the largest Celtic gold hoard discovered in the 20th century, and are worth "several million" euros, police said.

  • The $128 million Dresden jewelry heist that shocked the world, and the police manhunt that followed

According to a police statement, the perpetrators entered a display room where the items were on display, before opening a display case containing 483 coins.

The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that phone and internet services in the area were disrupted at the time of the heist, with local mayor Herbert Nerb telling the outlet: "They cut off all of Manching."

The museum said it would remain closed on Wednesday, adding that it could not be reached by phone or email due to a "phone malfunction."

The Celtic and Roman Museum in Manching, Germany.

Credit: Armin Weigel/dpa/Getty Images

Once one of the largest Celtic settlements in central Europe, the Manching Oppidum was occupied around 200 BC.

C. Later it became a large city-like settlement surrounded by walls made of wood and stone.

The site was badly damaged by the construction of a military airport in the 1930s. But excavation work done after World War II uncovered evidence of planned streets, rows of buildings, and commerce facilitated by coins minted on the site.

According to the museum, only about 7% of the settlement has been excavated so far.

Bavarian Science and Arts Minister Markus Blume described Tuesday's theft as a "catastrophe."

“Everything possible must be done to quickly solve the crime and punish the perpetrators to the fullest extent of the law,” he wrote on Twitter.

"One thing is clear: whoever steals art damages our culture."

There have been several high-profile heists at German museums in recent years, most notably Dresden's historic Green Vault, where masked thieves made off with 21 priceless diamond-studded artifacts worth at least 113 million euros ($117). million) in 2019. Two years earlier, a huge gold coin worth around 3.7 million euros ($3.8 million) was stolen in the middle of the night from a museum in the capital Berlin.

Stole

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2022-11-24

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