Sensational museum theft, 65 ancient gold coins stolen from the Museum of San Mamiliano in Sovana (Grosseto)

Strike at the Museum of San Mamiliano in Sovana, a small village in the province of Grosseto: in recent days, part of the museum’s most important treasure, a series of ancient gold coins struck between the fourth and fifth centuries A.D., was in fact stolen. More specifically, the thieves took away sixty-five coins, part of a treasure of 498 pieces found in 2004 inside a vase unearthed under the floor of the church of San Mamiliano in Sovana. The museum holds 83 of them (until the 65 coins were stolen in recent hours), while the remainder are at the National Archaeological Museum in Florence.

The theft was discovered when the San Mamiliano Museum reopened on the morning of Nov. 9. However, it is not known exactly when the theft occurred: it may have been pulled off just after the last day of opening before the bitter surprise (Nov. 3: in fact, the museum opens only on Saturdays and Sundays during winter hours). In all likelihood, the heist was the work of professionals capable of planning all the details: in particular, the thieves disabled the alarm system and the video surveillance system, even removing their memory so as not to leave a trace. After that, they attempted to break through the windows, unsuccessfully, and then forced the locks on the bulletin boards: they probably left eighteen coins in place precisely because of the difficulties encountered in the operations.

“We are disconcerted and saddened by the theft of Roman-era gold coins from the Museum of San Mamiliano in Sovana,” said Irene Lauretti, president of the Maremma Museums Network. “This is an artistic and cultural loss of enormous significance not only for Maremma but for all of Tuscany. My hope is that the investigations of the Police will soon lead to the identification of the perpetrators of this real criminal act against our artistic heritage.”

According to Pierandrea Vanni, mayor of Sorano (of which Sovana is a hamlet), among the first to go to the scene along with municipal police officers, carabinieri, and the archaeologist in charge Fabio Rossi, the theft was well organized but “it is not possible to say whether it was commissioned.” The bafflement increases when one considers that the San Mamiliano Museum was established on the back of the discovery of the gold coins. In any case, all the coins are on file and the data has already been passed to the Carabinieri’s Cultural Heritage Protection Unit, which is already working on the case.

Sensational museum theft, 65 ancient gold coins stolen from the Museum of San Mamiliano in Sovana (Grosseto)

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