Throughout history, famous gold robberies and heists have become popular folklore and historic tales of theft and corruption that have featured in movies, reported in national newspapers and passed down from one family member to another. But, have you ever wondered what are the biggest gold heists of all time? Below, we list the largest gold heists to take place over the past 500 years.
20. Croydon Aerodrome Robbery – 3 men steal 20 kg of Gold Bars & Coins right under the nose of a security guard at Croydon Airport (South London) in 1935.
19. Northumberland County Gold Theft – Over 22 kg of Gold Bars & Coins are stolen from a safe from home in the Cramahe Township. Suspects were never identified and the gold was never retrieved.
18. Manhattan Gold Thief – in 2016, Julio Nivelo stole 39kg of gold flakes in a bucket from the back of an armoured van in Manhattan. Although not caught and sentenced in States, Nivelo ended up serving 9 months in prison in Ecuador for the crime.
17. Double Eagle Robbery 1898 – Walter Dimmick, a San Francisco mint worked was arrested and sentenced to 9 years in prison for stealing 44kg of gold Double Eagle coins. Although Dimmick always denied the robbery, he served his sentence and the coins were never found.
16. Mexico City Mint Theft (2019) – In early 2019, two armed robbers entered the Mexico City Mint and stole 1500 gold centenarios worth $2.5 million from a vault that had been left wide open. The same building was also broken into a year earlier, but the heist was not as successful.
15. Coral Gables Gold Robbery – Whilst a courier for a mint was delivery over 50lbs of gold nuggets, he was robbed at gunpoint by Cuban gangster, Raonel Valdez. Valdez got away with two suitcases full of gold but was later apprehended and sentenced for his crime later that year.
14. The Perth Mint Swindle – In 1982 three men tricked the Perth Mint in Australia to give them 49 gold bars weighing in at 68kg which at the time was valued at over $650,000, according to ABC.net.au. A security company picked up the gold bullion, and it was never seen again. The men who served time for the swindle, always pleaded their innocence and a note that left with some of the stolen gold at a national tv station that said the brothers were innocent which claimed that a well known local business man was behind the scam.
13. Singapore Brinks Robbery – In July 2012, robbers stole $4.3mil worth of gold bullion bars from the Singapore branch of Brink’s. Later a man was arrested at Singapore airport and a second man was also charged.
12. The Great Gold Robbery – Most definitely one of the infamous gold robberies, this cunning train robbery happened in 1855 on a train heading to France from London. 91kg of gold bullion bars and coins was being transported, but when the train had arrived in France, the gold had mysteriously swapped to lead.
11. Philadelphia Mint Gold Bar Robbery – An employee at the Philadelphia Mint was caught stealing a whopping total of 183 kg of gold bars over a ten year period, says KomoNews. Stealing the gold from the mints vault using a bent wire and aided by a rusty door, Henry Cochran has $108,000 worth of gold stashed at his home and the rest of the missing gold stored in the mint’s ventilation system. Want to read the final top 10 biggest gold heists of all time? Read the full story at https://www.buygoldonline.io/20-biggest-gold-heists-in-history/