Three Coins in a Fuchsbau

"Three Coins in a Fuchsbau" is the thirteenth episode of Season 1 of Grimm and the thirteenth episode overall. It first aired on March 2, 2012 on NBC.

Synopsis
Three Schakale (Soledad Marquesa, Ian Flynn, and Hans Roth) are preparing to rob a jewelry store.

As the store is closing for the night, they kick the door open and start shooting with automatic rifles. Samuel Bertram makes his way to the vault to stay safe. After he shuts the door, the criminals start drilling through the vault's door. Seeing that they will blow the door out, Sam Bertram gets a small box with gold coins in it and eats them. Sam Bertram is near-death from the coins just as the vault door is blown.

Nick Burkhardt and Hank Griffin arrive at the scene accompanied by Sgt. Wu. They go into the vault to see it robbed of all items and Sam Bertram's dead body. His face is covered with hundreds of shards of glass and metal. Unfortunately, the security camera was ripped out by the robbers. The robbery looks professional, the thieves knew what they were doing.

Meanwhile, the robbers return to their base to sift through the coins. After looking at each and every coin, they decide it must still be at the shop. Soledad Marquesa thinks that one of his accomplices might have stolen the coins. After threatening them, he leaves angry. Ian and Hans are left alone when someone slips into the house, the two draw their guns. Thinking the other person is the burglar, Ian and Hans shoot each other. A Steinadler then emerges from the shadows, looking over Hans and Ian's dead bodies.

Harper reports back to Nick and Hank about Sam Bertram and how he died. She says his whole system shut down, it was not the blast alone. So she started looking in his system only to discover three gold coins. Gold usually does not cause an allergic reaction powerful enough to kill, so the coins must contain other metals. The coins must have been valuable if he swallowed them. The coins have a swastika on the reverse and the head of the Nemean lion on the obverse. Hank decides to collect the coins for evidence, Harper is upset because she still needs to run toxicology tests on them. Nick gets a call that they have found the BMW at the scene of the robbery, Nick and Hank go there next.

Nick and Hank arrive at the scene of where the BMW is parked. Officer Brenner is waiting for them in his police cruiser; Nick and Hank will go inside while Brenner watches the perimeter. Hank goes in first and forces Farley Kolt to the floor. Brenner sees Soledad run out of the house and pursues him; unfortunately, he jumps a fence and disappears. Hank is upset with Brenner for letting the suspect get away, Brenner goes to his car to call for a coroner when a hand grabs him and later kills him. When Nick arrests Kolt, he sees him transform into a Steinadler.

Back at the Precinct, Nick and Hank report their findings to Captain Renard. Hank keeps talking about the guy he took down (Farley Kolt) and also mentions the coins. The Captain wants to see these coins and Hank reluctantly gives them to him. Hank wants to interrogate Kolt, but since he was rough with him earlier, the captain tells Nick to conduct the interview. Renard examines them and feels their power, he then makes a phone call to his friend in France to tell him he has found the Coins of Zakynthos. Nick suggests Hank goes home since he is angry and has had a long day. Nick then goes to interview Farley Kolt.

During the interview, Farley Kolt tells Nick this is not about him being a cop, it is about being a Grimm. Kolt says the robbers robbed the store to find the Coins of Zakynthos. He tells Nick the long story about the coins; whoever possesses them has a strong influence on others. He says the coins have been safely kept until 18 years ago, when the Grimm protecting them (Nick's Parents) was killed in a car accident. The accident was in Rhinebeck, New York, the same place where Nick grew up.

Nick calls Monroe to come into the Trailer to translate some German entries. They discover Schakale, who are ruthless killers and like to eat babies, and Steinadler which are eagle-like creatures who are usually involved in the military. Before he leaves, Monroe finds a vintage Akeley film camera and a Kineclair projector. Aunt Marie must have used these somehow. Monroe says his great-uncle Olaf was a newsreel editor in Berlin in the 1920s.

The Captain is seen in his apartment getting ready for bed. He has the coin in his hand and seems to be gaining power from them. He then goes to bed, putting the coins on his nightstand (in the open). In his dream, he wakes in the night and goes out to his balcony. He hears faint cheering, so he opens the sliding door. Looking out from his balcony, the captain sees a massive crowd in downtown Portland cheering. Some people are holding huge flags with a lion head on them. The lion head is the same one on the coins. The crowd cheers him on as if he is their leader.

Captain Renard shows up the next day in full uniform. He orders a press conference for 2 PM, all personnel are required to attend. Nick searches for the coins in the evidence depository. He is unable to find then, only finding the box that contained them, which is now empty. The evidence officer says either Renard did not take anything in or did not fill out the log. The officer has to kick Nick out so they can go the press conference; Nick keeps the box. At the conference, Hank is there and asks Nick if he found the coins. Officer Brenner is also in attendance, but he looks strikingly similar to Soledad Marquesa. The press think Renard's speech is to launch a political campaign, such as his intentions to run for mayor, but he says it's just a warning to any would-be criminals.

With Soledad Marquesa still at large, Nick and Hank go to his last known location: a hotel room. No one is there, but they do find some clothes and a suitcase. The suitcase contains a film reel with film in it and two letters concerning the coins. One letter is in German from 1943 and the other is in English from 1945. The one in English from the Office of Strategic Services is about the coins. It says that the coins are made of gold, arsenic, and mercury. They are not to be handled, they were transferred in a lead box to an allied headquarters' vault. Ten coins were thought to exist, however they only found three. Hank is convinced that the coins made him act strangely; he also suspects that the Captain has them in his possession.

Hank decides to search for the coins himself in Renard's office. When he is searching, Nick bursts in with Farley Kolt, who was just cleared in the murder investigation. Kolt knows Soledad must be here, and he's hunting down Renard for the coins. Soledad gets into the parking garage and causes a blackout by destroying the breaker. Just as Hank, Nick and Kolt arrive, Soledad takes hold of Renard. A gun fight ensues; Nick helps Renard, but the coins and Kolt are gone. Hank manages to shoot Soledad, he lays on the floor near death. Nick asks Soledad if he killed his parents but Soledad dies before he can answer.

Later, Nick finds Farley Kolt in his hotel room. He tells Farley to put the coins on the bed and leave. Just as he is about to lunge for Nick, Nick hits him hard with his gun; Farley drops the coins. Nick quickly retrieves them and tells him to forget about the coins forever. Nick goes back to the trailer where he examines the coins. Just as he can feel the coins' magic spell start, Nick quickly puts them back in their box. He then stuffs the box behind another bigger box in the weapons cabinet.

Nick loads the film he got from Kolt onto the old Kineclair projector. As he hand cranks the film, it turns out to be old video from the 1940s showing Adolf Hitler giving a speech. The Coins of Zakynthos are visible on Hitler's coat collar. Hitler then woges into a Blutbad.

Press Release
A failed jewelry store robbery results in a murder that finds Nick and Hank immersed in a hunt for rare coins. Nick soon learns that these coins have an unsettling effect on whoever possesses them, as Hank and Captain Renard begin to exhibit unusual behavior. Meanwhile, a mysterious old friend of Aunt Marie’s comes to Nick with information about his family and what led to his parent’s death.

Wesen

 * Blutbad
 * Half-Zauberbiest
 * Steinadler
 * Schakal
 * Fuchsbau (possible)

Production Notes

 * Events in this episode occur approximately four months after Marie Kessler's death.
 * Please see the note about Wesen type at Wesen Type Controversy on the Adolf Hitler page.

Continuity

 * Throughout the episode, Hank and Nick refer to Harper as "Parker."
 * Marquesa was responsible for the death of Nick's parents due to his efforts to reclaim the Coins of Zakynthos.
 * This is the first appearance of the Kineclair projector.