A coin thief has been charged by Australian police with stealing more than A$600,000 (US$393,500; £309,000) worth of limited edition coins based on the hit children’s TV show Bluey.
Police said they received reports last month that 64,000 unissued $1 Bluey coins had been stolen from a warehouse in Western Sydney where the man was believed to have worked.
Police said the coins – which are expected to enter circulation next month – were being sold for 10 times their face value.
Steven John Neilson, 47, was arrested on Wednesday following a raid on a Sydney home. He has been charged with three counts of break and enter.
He was refused bail when he appeared at Parramatta Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
Police allege the coins were sold online, hours after they were stolen from the back of a lorry at the warehouse where the defendant worked.
Police said the goods were due to be shipped to a storage facility in Brisbane at the time of the theft.
It took days to realize that the bundle of coins, weighing about 500 kg (1,102 lbs), was missing.
Police said they recovered about 1,000 coins and believe the rest are in wide circulation.
The Royal Australian Mint declined to comment when contacted by the BBC, saying it was “inappropriate” due to the investigation.
The New South Wales Police investigation was codenamed Strike Force Bandit, after Bandit, Bluey’s father in the film.
These coins are marked Dollarbucks – a reference to money often mentioned in cartoons.
The hit TV show about the Heeler dog family is produced by Brisbane-based animation company Ludo in partnership with BBC Studios and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Bluey has been a huge success internationally and is currently airing in over 60 countries including the UK, USA and China.
The show was streamed for more than 20 billion minutes on Disney+ in the United States last year, placing it among the country’s top 10 streaming shows by minutes watched.
Bluey has over 150 episodes spread over three seasons.
These stolen coins are different from the Bluey collectible set that caused a stir when it was put up for sale by the Royal Australian Mint in June this year.
