Joe McConnell
An alleged coin thief has been charged by Australian police with stealing limited-edition coins worth more than A$600,000 ($393,500; £309,000) inspired by the popular children’s TV show Bluey.
The collector’s coin caused a stir when it was released for sale by the Royal Australian Mint in June this year.
Police say they received a tip last month that 64,000 previously unissued Bluey $1 coins had been stolen from a warehouse in western Sydney where the man allegedly worked.
Police say some coins are selling for ten times their original selling price.
The 47-year-old was arrested after a home invasion on Wednesday. He was charged with three counts of breaking and entering.
Steven John Neilson was refused bail when he appeared in Parramatta Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
Police say the coins were sold online, hours after they were stolen from the back of a truck at a warehouse where the defendant worked.
According to the police, they were supposed to be transported to the Mint at the time of the alleged theft.
Police say they recovered about 1,000 coins, but believe the remainder are in circulation.
The collection of three colored $1 coins has been branded Dollarbucks, the name this coin is often called in the cartoon.
According to the Mint, only 30,000 of each coin and 30,000 sets had been minted at the time of issue, meaning that approximately one-third of all coins minted would have been stolen.
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 series.
Demand for the coins was enormous, so much so that the Mint diverted all of its phone lines to the sales center on launch day, citing “Blueymania.”
But besides being a highly sought-after product by Bluey fans, they were also highly appreciated by retailers.
The three-coin sets were sold for AUD$55, while single coins were marketed at AUD$20.
At the time of writing, the BBC discovered on eBay that one set of three coins had attracted bids of up to AUD$190, while others were offering sets for AUD$400.
There is no indication that these coins were among those allegedly stolen.
The hit series, which tells the story of the Heeler dog family, is made by Brisbane-based animation studio Ludo in collaboration with BBC Studios and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Bluey has been a huge international success and is now broadcast in over 60 countries, including the UK, USA and China.
Over 20 billion minutes of the show were streamed on Disney+ in the U.S. last year, making it one of the top 10 streaming shows in the country by minutes watched.
Bluey consists of more than 150 episodes spread across three seasons.
