Boxes Stolen From Rothschild Collection

Associated Press ^ | Jun. 11, 2003 | Associated Press

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Boxes Stolen From Rothschild Collection

LONDON - Burglars have stolen more than 100 gold boxes and other valuable items from the Rothschild Collection of art at Waddesdon Manor in southern England.

"This is a very serious loss," Lord Rothschild said Wednesday. "Waddesdon encapsulates generations of Rothschild collecting, and the gold boxes at Waddesdon are among the finest in the world."

Neither the police nor Waddesdon would indicate the value of the stolen art.

Thames Valley Police said as many as five men, driving a blue van, are believed to have broken into the manor early Tuesday. The stately home, built in the 19th century to house the banking family's Renaissance art, 18th century furniture, porcelain and English portraits, belongs to the National Trust.

Police using tracker dogs and a helicopter carried out an extensive search and a car believed to have been used in the burglary was later found burned out and dumped.

Police said it was an organized raid by professionals who knew what they wanted.

Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, who came to England from Germany in 1859, bought 3,000 acres of land in Buckinghamshire and had the manor built. It is near Aylesbury, 50 miles northwest of London

The estate was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1957 by James de Rothschild but the family has maintained an interest in helping with the day-to-day running of the manor and the current Lord Rothschild has continued with this role.

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Rothschild plans to enter energy business
By Kevin Morrison in London
Published: June 8 2003 21:58 | Last Updated: June 8 2003 21:58


NM Rothschild & Son, the investment bank with a long involvement in the gold market, plans to enter the oil trading business.


It is setting up an oil risk management business focused on the over-the-counter market, with products such as swaps and options. Rothschild hopes to attract customers not only from the oil industry, but also from power generation, as electricity and gas prices are influenced by oil prices.

Rothschild hopes to have the business up and running during the summer and is recruiting a team of six, based in London, to trade, analyse and market oil OTC products.

The move is a logical step for the 193-year old bank, given that oil is the largest traded commodity, while gold accounts for less than five per cent of all commodity trading.

The move is spearheaded by Martin Fraenkel, head of commodities at NM Rothschild, who joined the bank in March 2002 from JP Morgan Chase, where he was head of commodities trading, which included oil trading.

Mr Fraenkel said: "We are always looking for new opportunities and this is an obvious business to be in."

Rothschild focuses on precious metals, having quit base metals trading about two years ago. The move is also an extension of its business as adviser to some of the world's leading energy companies. Rothschild ranked 10th in the world for merger and acquisition advice, according to Dealogic.

Oil trading is dominated by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan Chase, which each have an extensive presence in exchange traded energy products on the New York Mercantile Exchange and the London-based International Petroleum Exchange, as well as a significant share of the energy OTC market.

Rothschild's history is steeped in gold. It was founded in London in 1810 by Nathan Mayer Rothschild, who helped finance the Duke of Wellington's army in the Napoleonic wars through gold trading.

The expansion into oil by Rothschild comes at a time when investment banks such as UBS Warburg and Bank of Nova Scotia have folded their bullion desks into the foreign exchange trading units, reflecting gold's reduced role in investment markets.

Rothschild holds the chair at the London Bullion Market Association, the clearing house of physical gold trade, and was also one of the first London bullion banks, along with Mocatta & Goldsmid, now part of the Bank of Nova Scotia.

Rothschild helps fix the price of gold in London each day through the LBMA in the bank's office in St Swithin's Lane, a role it has held since the gold-fixing method was first introduced in 1919.

[John Beresford Tipton]

This fellow is Lord Jacob Rothschild.
He had a royal row with his relatives circa 1975 and left the Rothschild Bank and went out on his own. He must be about 70 now, and sure stands out in a crowd. He must be 6'6' if he's an inch.

[ArmstedFragg]

Naturally, this'll all be blamed on a failure of coalition forces to prevent it....


(sarcasm alert off)

[japaneseghost]

Sorry, that's an actor they hire to make him look totally different (white and tall) for security (kidnapping) reasons. You may be thinking of Evelyn de Rothschild, who looks like a 6'4" Alsatian. The real Lord Jacob Rothschild is short, bald and mean as a rattlesnake. He reconciled his differences with his British cousins, but the American side of the family will never be the same because of the family trust fund he swore for decades he would take, and did take as soon as he became Lord. (Jacob may be a thief, but he is not a liar.)

I notice there's no mention that Jacob's son being heavily into e-gold, which is important given the Arab's holdings in physical gold (the Saudi's collectively could wipe out the gold market in a single day).

Methinks this heist was a family inside job. It will be fun to see who accuses whom. But there's one thing that doesn't wash with this story ... the family gold is supposed to be hidden, and only ONE computer on St. Swithen's lane holds its contents and whereabouts.... and that little alleyway of a street called St. Swithen's lane has better security than the White House (I'm not kidding).

So, given that, this could have been a faked heist to see who wants to fence gold Jewish artifacts on the world art market.

[PistolPaknMama]

I don't have them. It wasn't me.

[John Beresford Tipton]

I'm 6'-1. Jacob's a half foot taller than I, and very thin. I am not mixing him up with anyone else, including his cousin, Evelyn. Also I found him pleasant and ethical. In sum, if you know of someone who says he's Jacob Rothschild and is "short, bald and mean as a rattlesnake" call Inspector Lestrade at the Yard.

Here is a picture of Lord Rothschild: