Gone in 9 minutes: How Celtic gold heist unfolded in Germany

The thieves who broke into a southern German museum and stole hundreds of ancient gold coins got in and out of the building in nine minutes without raising the alarm.

The police launched an international hunt for the thieves and their loot, consisting of 483 Celtic coins and a lump of un worked gold that were discovered during an archeological dig near the present-day town of Manching in 1999.

The deputy head of the State Criminal Police Office in Bavaria is speaking. The Celtic and Roman Museum is less than a mile from a telecoms hub where cables were cut on Tuesday.

The door was pried open at 8:26 a.m. and the thieves left again at 1:35 a.m. Nine minutes was all it took for the culprits to smash open the display cabinet and grab the treasure.

There were similarities between the theft of jewels in Manching and the theft of a large gold coin in Berlin. They were blamed on a Berlin crime family.

He couldn't say whether there was a link. We are in touch with colleagues to investigate all possibilities.

Evidence pointed to the work of professionals according to the minister of science and arts.

He told BR that you don't just walk into a museum and take the treasure with you. There is a suspicion that we are dealing with a case of organized crime.

There was no security at the museum overnight.

The alarm system provided enough security according to the head of the Bavarian State Archaeological Collection.

The local community in Manching and archaeologists across Europe would benefit from the find.

He said that the Celtic settlement at Manching had links across Europe and that the bowl-shaped coins were made from gold.

The treasure was estimated to be worth about 1.5 million euros.

He said that the coins are well documented and would be difficult to sell.

He said that melting down would mean a total loss for them, noting that the material value of the gold would only be about 250,000 euros.

The size of the trove suggested that it was the war chest of a tribe. It was the biggest discovery of its kind in Germany in the 20th century.

The deputy police chief said that a 20-strong special investigations unit has been set up to find the culprits of the coins' theft.