It was the jewel heist of the century and now the trial is getting underway

Jewel heists are common but heists of this caliber are generally something one may only recall from movies. Years ago, a group of thieves managed in infiltrate a museum known as the Green Vault (the world’s oldest so it seems) and while doing so stole hundreds of millions of dollars worth of ancient jewels. Then and now it is widely regarded as one of the biggest jewel heists ever recorded as it is understood that the bill for the theft topped $126m.

The defendants reportedly range from ages 23-28 and face several years in Germany ‘s prison system over the spectacular theft. In total, about 21 different collections were stolen compromising roughly 4,300+ gems dating back clear to the 18th century.

Green Vault is considered to be one of the oldest museums on earth because it dates back to 1723. Notoriously the vault did contain the treasure of  Augustus the Strong of Saxony which has not been recovered since the initial theft. At least two of the men on trial for this heist were also connected to a Bode Museum heist in 2017 that saw a Canadian coin dubbed “The Maple Leaf” lifted from the venue.