Berlin 28 Mar (ANA) - A giant gold coin worth an estimated $4.5million (£ 3.5m) has been stolen from a German museum. Police in Berlin say thieves broke into the city's Bode Museum through a window at around 3.30am on Monday. By the time officers arrived the 221lbs coin, known as the Big Maple Leaf, was gone along with the criminals.  A ladder believed to have been used in the raid was located next to nearby railway tracks, but officers found no trace of the thieves. The inch-thick coin, which features a bust of Queen Elizabeth II on the front and maple leaves on the rear, measures more than 20 inches across. Museum owners say the coin is in the Guinness Book of Records because of its purity of 99.99 per cent gold. It has a nominal face value of £800,00, but measured by weight alone the gold contained in the coin would be worth almost £3.5million.(ANA)

FA/ANA/28 March 2017----