Monday, 25 May 2026
The treasure on display at Maison des Lumières is part of the city's private collection [Musees de Langres]
French museum heist: 2,000 gold and silver coins stolen
In a bold robbery, approximately 2,000 gold and silver coins, valued at around €90,000 (£78,000; $104,000), were stolen from a French museum dedicated to philosopher Denis Diderot in Landres, north-eastern France, on Sunday night.
The theft at the Maison des Lumières (House of Enlightenment) was discovered Tuesday when staff found a smashed display case, prompting an immediate alert, according to officials. Local authorities noted the coins were chosen with "great expertise," as reported by the BBC. This incident follows closely on the heels of a brazen theft of French crown jewels from the Louvre in Paris just hours earlier.
This robbery marks the latest in a series of high-profile thefts targeting French cultural institutions. Last month, Paris’s Natural History Museum was hit, with thieves stealing six gold nuggets valued at approximately €1.5 million. A Chinese national was arrested in Barcelona in connection with that heist, attempting to sell melted-down gold, and is currently in pre-trial detention after being charged earlier this month.
In September, the national porcelain museum in Limoges was also targeted, with thieves making off with two Chinese porcelain dishes and a vase, collectively worth €6.55 million. These items remain missing, and no arrests have been made. A ceramics expert told Le Parisien that such stolen pieces are nearly impossible to sell on the art market due to their well-documented nature, making them easily traceable.