Thieves in Berlin were reported to rise before the dawn on Monday morning and break into the Bode Museum to steal one of Canada’s most expensive coins; the ‘Big Maple Leaf’, as it is known colloquially, measures 3cm thick and weighs 100kg and though the face value of the coin is $1 million, by weight alone it could be worth up to $4.5 million US.

The coin was on lease to the Bode Museum in the German capital by an unknown owner, as the Royal Canadian Mint only commissioned the coin but they do not own it. After creating the original $1 million coin (which is in storage in Ottawa) the Mint was then commissioned by private individuals to make five more. This coin in the Bode Museum was one of those five.

As reported by the CBC, the thieves had apparently broken in through a window and retrieved the coin from the cabinet it was kept in, leaving the scene before the police had even arrived.

The coin holds a Guinness Book of Records for its purity, which is 99.999/1000 gold.