"One of the Most Risky Professions in France": Ancient coins worth "1 million euro" stolen

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Joel and Michael Creusy and his family have been in the ancient coin business for more than 40 years. They recently suffered a significant robbery. The  entire merchandise they were transporting (326 coins) was stolen on the way back to Lyons from Paris last Saturday after the Bi-Annual Numismatic Exhibition in Paris. The haul was reportedly 1 million euros worth of antique and modern coins, one of the largest heists to have ever occurred in the world ofnumismatics.

"Our profession has become one of the most risky in France. The insurance companies no longer provide coverage while the coins are in transit, and as a result it leaves us out of work", exclaimed the manager of the antiquity store, Michael Creusy the eldest 34 year old son who now finds himself in a situation of bankrupty after the incident. The Creusy family offers a reward in the amount of 80,000 euros for anyone who could help us by providing any information regarding our collection. "All our collegues in Europe need to keep their eyes and ears open. For those in our profession, we must unite to fight against organized crime" adds Joel Creusy. It is a situation that has placed people in this particular profession more frequently at risk. These criminals are armed and well-equiped with the latest GPS technology system and would go as far as to track down these merchants on the their way home to steal all their merchandise.

The press release fails to draw the connection between the numismatic theft and the fact that numismatic items are among those handled by organized criminal groups smuggling them from the source countries to the markets where western European dealers buy them.

I do not think I have ever seen so many coins struck from damaged and corroded dies by one dealer. 

The dealers speculate that somebody might have stolen the coins for their scrap metal value. Let us hope not, and that the coins eventually surface on the market through the usual channels. 

List of stolen coins : http://www.numismeo.com/fr/47-vol-mars-2014