Theft

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$30,000 in collectible currency stolen Owner: Several of the items are very distinctive
 
 
 
 
 
 
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NOTE: This is from WOOD-TV in Michigan. If you are a coin collector or dealer and see some of these coins, please contact the authorities.

LOWELL, Mich. (WOOD) – More than $30,000 worth of collectible currency was stolen from a Lowell store late last week.

The burglary happened between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Dec. 13 at Collector’s Korner located at 218 W. Main Street. That store specializes in collectible coins, stamps, watches and jewelry. Owner Rodger Ackerson said he came to work Saturday morning and found the store trashed.

The burglar first tried to enter through the front door using a hole saw, but that didn’t work, according to a Wednesday release from the Lowell Police Department. The burglar then broke in through the back door. The suspect appears to have left the scene in an unknown vehicle that had been parked in an alley behind the business.

Hundreds of items were taken. Among them were:

    Five tenth-ounce gold coins from the National Forest Centennial bearing images of a grizzly bear, elk, a golden eagle, a bighorn sheep and a timber wolf. There were only 950 of these sets produced, Ackerson said.
    An unusual 1932 PCGS Certified Canadian $.50 worth about $350.
    25 proof sets dating between 1968 and 1998, including silver issues.
    378 silver dimes.
    Three unusual proof sets from 1965, 1966 and 1967. Ackerson said these will be noticeable because they are in proof set holders for display purposes, but proof sets were not issued in those years.

Those are only some of the coins taken. Click here for a full list of stolen items(pdf).

All together, the stolen items are worth more than $30,000, Ackerson estimates. That’s because some of the stolen items are quite valuable — like a 1901 $10 legal tender.

“It’s worth about 2,500 bucks just for one piece,” Ackerson said. “That’s where you get the $30,000 — in pieces like this.”

Ackerson said the burglar likely didn’t know exactly what he was looking for.

“He may have known what he was doing, but he was sloppy and careless. He took something that just didn’t make any sense to me. … This is the packaging for a wildlife coin set,” Ackerson showed 24 Hour News. “It used to hold five tenth-ounce gold coins. He left the packaging but the coins are gone.”

Ackerson said that without that packaging, the value of the coins is slashed.

Still, police say it may be the largest haul in a business burglary in Lowell’s history.

Police hope that what the burglar took will get him busted. The rare coins and bills are not worth much to anyone other than collectors. Some are also very distinctive — the National Forest Centennial gold coins each have a different wildlife scene on them and any collector is going to know what they are.

Because of the rarity of the items stolen, Collector’s Korner employees are stuffing envelopes with letters detailing what was lost and mailing them to every police department they can think of.

Ackerson has been collecting for 50 years and dealing in Lowell since 2006. This isn’t the first time he has been ripped off, but that doesn’t change the feeling, he said.

“Sick to your stomach. That’s a good way to describe it,” he said. “But at the same time, you just feel like you have been assaulted.”

The burglar was captured on surveillance camera and that video is being enhanced by the Kent County scientific support unit, Lowell police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Lowell PD Detective Lauren at 616.897.7123 or Silent Observer at 616.774.2345.

http://collectorsshow.net/2013/12/26/30000-in-collectible-currency-stolen-owner-several-of-the-items-are-very-distinctive/?goback=.gde_756247_member_5822016449648021507#!

Some idiot will be using these coins and notes to buy pizza and a couple of blunts.

Quote: pnightingaleSome idiot will be using these coins and notes to buy pizza and a couple of blunts.

Associating pot smokers with idiots isn't very far from stereotypical. However, looking at the way this robber stole the items, they could very well show up as change at Pizza Hut or another store.

The article does not indicate whether the items (especially the gold) was locked in a safe. I would have thought that to be standard procedure for such valuables.