DAHLONEGA - It has been reported by AccessNorthGa.com that the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office has thwarted a possible conspiracy to steal gold coins from the Dahlonega Gold Museum in Dahlonega Georgia.

The article stated that an anonymous caller alerted the museum on Christmas Eve of the potential conspiracy. Based on that tip, Officials reportedly contacted one of the alleged co-conspirators, who had recently visited the museum and was researching the value of the coins.

“We put them on notice that we knew about the conspiracy and none of the coins would be stolen,” Lumpkin County Sheriff Mark McClure said. And, “We would be definitely looking to charge individuals if that did occur.”

The alleged thief, who is beleived to be from Florida, denied having any involvement in the scheme. The man was not identified by the Sheriffs office

Sheriff McClure  told AccessNorthGa.com that  residential burglaries of coins and coin collections are fairly common, but coin thefts of such value, such as the ones in the museum, are a “rarity.”

“We take these treasures of our county very seriously because they are very valuable,” McClure said. “But they’re also of great historical significance to the citizens of Lumpkin County.”

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were contacted but no charges have been filed by the Sheriff’s office at this time.

Information about the possible conspiracy was also sent to the Numismatic Crime Information Center, a website that maintains a database on investigations related to coin thefts.