Derbyshire Police have launched a public appeal for information regarding the theft of £53,000 worth of coins, medals and watches from Derby Museum and Art Gallery’s city-based storage facility.
Derbyshire Police have launched a public appeal for information regarding the theft of £53,000 worth of coins, medals and watches from Derby Museum and Art Gallery’s city-based storage facility.
The collection of 1,000 artefacts from the undisclosed address was stolen sometime between May 2nd and June 19th 2012 and investigations so far have not led to the recovery of any of the stolen items.
Amongst the haul is a collection of around 20 gold and silver watches from the 18th and 19th century worth up to £3,000 each, including examples made by clockmaker and scientist John Whitehurst.
A number of coins dating from the 12th and early 20th century have also been stolen.
A rare collection of trade tokens is also missing which, although relatively low in value, is of particular historical interest as they chart the times in the 17th century when merchants issued their own coins as substitutes for official coins of low value, which were then in short supply.
Collections concern |
A recent survey by ICCROM (the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property) and UNESCO brought to light some areas for concern in collections storage in all 136 responding countries. They have recently launched a new online storage assessment tool: ‘RE-ORG’. |
Derby City Council Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture, Martin Repton, explained: "The issue here is not just about the values of the stolen items but also the historical importance of many of the pieces.
"Our ultimate fear is that some of these items, which are of a relative low monetary value, could potentially be discarded by the culprit or culprits, meaning that they would be lost forever with little chance of recovery."
Anyone with information concerning the items taken from Derby Museum is asked to contact Derbyshire police, Tel: 101, quoting incident 512 of 19/06/12 or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Investigating officer DC Dee Hornblower said: "There has been no sign of a break in at the premises so the possibility that this was carried out with inside knowledge has at this stage not been ruled out."
There has been a spate of museum thefts of late, notably those targeting rhino horn on public display. The items belonging to Derby Museums were kept locked away for special display only in exhibitions and special viewings. Museum staff had worked on the collection fairly recently, but the thefts only came to light when the museum service was contacted by another museum with a request to borrow some of the items for their own displays.
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