Man gets suspended sentence for hiding Viking treasure

[5huggy]

A man who hid coins from a £3m Viking hoard in a magnifying glass handle has been sentenced.

Paul Wells was one of four men guilty of stealing and concealing about 300 coins found in a field in Eye, near Leominster in Herefordshire, in 2015.

The coin seller was handed a 12-month suspended jail sentence at Worcester Crown Court.

He was sentenced after his co-defendants because he was ill at the time of his conviction in November.

The 60-year-old from Cardiff, and fellow seller Simon Wicks, were found guilty of concealing the find, which included a 9th Century gold ring, a dragon's head bracelet, a silver ingot and a crystal rock pendant.

They were approached by metal detectorists George Powell and Layton Davies to release the coins to the market.

Article in full here  - - > >> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-51234408

 

[Serendipity]

I love all these wonderful posts about buried treasure. I know some people might think the courts are being heavy-handed in their sentencing but you just have to marvel at these ancient treasures to realise what we would be missing if they were sold on the black market. Remember, they’d be broken up, melted down and lost forever.

[jultorsk]

That pendant is amazing craftsmanship imo, AD600...