Gold Bar Stolen from Mel Fisher Museum

[GordMay]

Gold Shipwreck Bar Stolen from Mel Fisher Museum
One of the most iconic and best-known objects at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum was taken. The gold bar came from a 1622 shipwreck that Fisher discovered ...
... The Gold bar has an estimated value of $550,000 and the Museum’s insurance company is offering a $10 thousand reward ...

More ➥ Mel Fisher Maritime Museum and Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society in Key West, Florida

[Tellie]

$550,000 for five lbs of gold? Tell them for $200,000 I'll make the another one out of pure gold that will look just like it. Seriously, I hate thieves, been the victim many times over the years. But as fascinating and interesting is the search for the Atocha story and Mel Fisher, the museum has been over valuing the treasure for years. I think they've made more money selling silver pieces of eight to tourists on Duval St. than the treasure itself was worth. Good luck to them I hope they get it back.

[mbianka]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Gold Shipwreck Bar Stolen from Mel Fisher Museum

GordMay:

Thieves in Key West? Say it isn't so? Probably the same one who came in through the window of the condo I rented in KW 10 years ago and took the wallet out of my friends pants before leaving by the locked sliding glass door while he slept a few feet away. Two words for the Mel Fisher museum:
Video Surveilence!

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by mbianka

... Two words for the Mel Fisher museum:
Video Surveilence!

Indeed, the perp's were caught on camera.

"... Police and the FBI are working to identify the suspects who took the gold bar which had been on display for more than 20 years. Surveillance captures caught the faces of these two men, believed to be the suspects who walked off with the gold bar.

According to Alyson Crean, Key West Police spokeswoman, one suspect is described as a white male, about six feet tall with dark hair and a medium build. The second suspect is about five feet, six inches tall ..."

melfisher.org/news.html ➥ Mel Fisher Maritime Museum and Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society in Key West, Florida

[CastOff]

Smart thing would've been to replace the original with a fake bar. But then again thieves are brain dead or they'd have a real job!

[shadow]

Originally Posted by GordMay

According to Alyson Crean, Key West Police spokeswoman, one suspect is described as a white male, about six feet tall with dark hair and a medium build. The second suspect is about five feet, six inches tall ..."

That sounds nearly the same description as the two blokes that attacked that sailor in the islands on the hunter 49. Forget the name, but I think he was paralyzed from the legs down and he was the pioneer of hang gliding..

These two idiots really get around!! But more seriously, it must be hard to fence such a well known chunk of gold.. They really are stupid!!

[sailingmonica]

Originally Posted by shadow

That sounds nearly the same description as the two blokes that attacked that sailor in the islands on the hunter 49. Forget the name, but I think he was paralyzed from the legs down and he was the pioneer of hang gliding..

These two idiots really get around!! But more seriously, it must be hard to fence such a well known chunk of gold.. They really are stupid!!

Sorry for hijacking, but am curious as to what happened to this sailor in the islands, and especially which islands.

[mbianka]

Well it looks like they have some pretty good leads on the suspects. Since they do have some video security. I had to laugh when they said the security system worked they knew within ten minutes the bar was stolen. It was about ten minutes to late though. Looking at the how it was displayed I'm surprised it was not stolen earlier. Hell, Walmart knows when a $100 dollar camera is taken from a display. You would think they could have put an electronic tag on it that sounds an alarm when it leaves the display case.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by sailingmonica

Sorry for hijacking, but am curious as to what happened to this sailor in the islands, and especially which islands.

Mike Harker.
➥ http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ean-43266.html

[maytrix]

If the case wasn't broken then I guess there was enough space inside to turn the bar to pull it through the hole?

That does seem like a stupid way to display it. If they just made the case small enough so that you could reach in, but the bar couldn't be turned, this would have been much more difficult. As the article states, I too am surprised it hasn't been stolen sooner.

[Ex-Calif]

Modern Math -

Value of Gold - ~$220,000
Insurance Value - ~$550,000
Reward offered $10,000

Who are the thieves?

(Just kidding I understand the $330,000 of historical value)