The Big Maple Leaf is a set of six $1 million gold coins each weighing . They were produced by the Royal Canadian Mint in 2007, at their Ottawa facility where the first BML produced remains in storage., the market value of a single Big Maple Leaf had reached approximately $4 million. On 27 March 2017, one of the coins was stolen from a Berlin museum.
Description
A Big Maple Leaf measures thick and in diameter and is 999.99/1000 pure. The obverse of the BML shows Queen Elizabeth II as she has appeared on Canadian coinage as of 2003, when Susanna Blunt's design became the third iteration of the queen's effigy to appear on coinage,. Blunt's design shows the queen in maturing dignity, without a tiara or crown,. The reverse design is the stylized maple leaf by RCM artist and senior engraver: Stan Witten.
Theft of one coin
In the early hours of 27 March 2017, a Big Maple Leaf was stolen from the Münzkabinett of the Bode Museum in Berlin, Germany. The cabinet is known for its huge collection of coins – more than 500,000 pieces, among them more than 100,000 Greek and 50,000 Roman ones – though only a tiny fraction of these coins are shown at exhibits. A spokesman for the Royal Canadian Mint said "...the stolen coin does not belong to the mint. After creating the original, the mint manufactured five more that were sold to interested private individuals." The coin was lent to the Bode Museum in 2010 by private owner Boris Fuchsmann, and was displayed there until it was stolen. In July 2017, police raids took place and arrests were made in connection with the theft. The suspects allegedly come from a family notorious for organised crime. Berlin Police assume that the coin was damaged during the theft when it was dropped from the train tracks onto the street. Investigators do not expect to find the coin as they found gold dust on seized clothing and a car and suspect the robbers may have melted the coin down. In January 2019, a trial in a juvenile court against four suspects began. Two brothers, Ahmed and Wayci Remmo, and their cousin Wissam Remmo, all belonged to a Berlin crime family of Lebanese origin known to local police as the 'Remmo Clan'. The fourth person, Denis W., was a school friend of the Remmo's and an employee of the Bode Museum. Denis was found guilty of advising the others on the museum's safety protocols. The trial ended in February of 2020 with a conviction and prison sentences for three of the accused. The fourth defendant, Wayci Remmo was acquitted due to inconclusive evidence. The whereabouts of the gold coin remains unknown.
