NMNH Mineral Thief Pleads Guilty

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Summary

Heindrich Jahn pleads guilty to charges of larceny of government property in the theft of three mineral samples held in a National Museum of Natural History exhibit and is fined $1,000 and deported back to West Germany. His offer to give his collection of minerals to the Smithsonian Institution is declined. Apparently, the stones were taken to supplement a private collection he had been amassing since he was 15 years old.

Subject

  • Jahn, Heindrich
  • National Museum of Natural History (U.S.) Dept. of Mineral Sciences
  • National Museum of Natural History (U.S.)
  • Office of Protective Services)

Category

Chronology of Smithsonian History

Notes

  • "German Admits Taking Smithsonian Minerals," New York Times, 18 May 1975
  • Torch, 6/1975, p. 7.

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

May 16, 1975

Topic

  • Mineralogy
  • Exhibitions
  • National Collections
  • Theft

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