Germany makes arrests over theft of giant solid-gold coin

This file photo shows an identical coin from the same mintage

Police have raided homes and made arrests in Berlin over an audacious night-time heist which saw a huge solid-gold coin stolen from a museum.

The raids took place and a car was seized in the district of Neukoelln, German news agency DPA reports.

The suspected robbers are believed to have used a ladder to get into the Bode museum and a wheelbarrow to carry the 53cm (21in) coin away in March.

Last week, police released CCTV footage of suspects at a local train station.

The Canadian "Big Maple Leaf" is made of 100kg (220lb) of pure 24-carat gold - which means it is worth about $4.2m (£3.3m), despite a lower nominal face value.

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It has not been found and investigators say they believe it may have been melted down and sold.

They are said to be at a loss as to how the thieves broke bullet-proof glass inside the building and evaded burglar alarms.

As well as making the arrests on Wednesday morning, police seized a car where a balaclava and knife were found.

Sources inside the investigation say the suspects come from a "large Arab family" with alleged links to organised crime.

The Big Maple Leaf coin

• Minted by the Royal Canadian Mint in 2007, and certified at the time by Guinness World Records as the world's largest gold coin

• Five coins were made

• 3cm (1.18in) thick, 53cm in diameter, and with likeness of Queen Elizabeth II on one side, as Canada's head of state

• The other side shows the Canadian national symbol, the maple leaf

• Canadian Mint says: "Why did the Royal Canadian Mint make the world's purest and largest gold bullion coin? Because we can"

• Was held in a coin cabinet at the Bode Museum as one of more than 540,000 objects, but German media report only the "Big Maple Leaf" was stolen