COIN PROS COP IRONS
February 24, 2020 4:41 PM Subscribe
Treasure Hunters Headed to Jail After Concealing Their Discovery of Viking Treasure Trove. The metal detector enthusiasts, along with two coin dealers who assisted in selling the concealed find, have all been sentenced to up to 10 years in jail. The collection is worth an estimated $15.4 million.
Greedy assholes. The UK laws on treasure are very reasonable and they would have been richly rewarded, but they wanted all the money.
posted by tavella at 4:53 PM on February 24, 2020 [24 favorites]
posted by tavella at 4:53 PM on February 24, 2020 [24 favorites]
They tried to hoard a hoard of the Viking hordes and ended up with free room and board.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 5:06 PM on February 24, 2020 [21 favorites]
posted by ActingTheGoat at 5:06 PM on February 24, 2020 [21 favorites]
Dirty nighthawks!
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 5:09 PM on February 24, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 5:09 PM on February 24, 2020 [4 favorites]
Thank you very much for that headline, moonmilk.
posted by dngrangl at 5:23 PM on February 24, 2020 [19 favorites]
posted by dngrangl at 5:23 PM on February 24, 2020 [19 favorites]
Do the snitches get the reward now for reporting the treasure to their gov't, or does the reporter also have to be discoverer?
posted by save alive nothing that breatheth at 5:51 PM on February 24, 2020
posted by save alive nothing that breatheth at 5:51 PM on February 24, 2020
Trying to figure out how to work "Wessexit" into this somehow.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:34 PM on February 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:34 PM on February 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
It's a plaque, but it looks like earrings to me! Viking Goddess earrings, but earrings nevertheless.
posted by Oyéah at 7:36 PM on February 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 7:36 PM on February 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
That photo was also in another article I found, and apparently the second silver plaque was a early copy.
posted by tavella at 8:48 PM on February 24, 2020
posted by tavella at 8:48 PM on February 24, 2020
that headline stings!
posted by mwhybark at 9:23 PM on February 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by mwhybark at 9:23 PM on February 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
Well! You wouldn't see this kind of nonsense from the Danebury Metal Detecting Club, I can tell you that!
Bloody nighthawks!
posted by Naberius at 9:51 PM on February 24, 2020 [7 favorites]
Bloody nighthawks!
posted by Naberius at 9:51 PM on February 24, 2020 [7 favorites]
I see what you did there. Will Shortz would be proud.
posted by Dashy at 10:58 PM on February 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Dashy at 10:58 PM on February 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
[applause intensifies]
posted by prismatic7 at 3:35 AM on February 25, 2020
posted by prismatic7 at 3:35 AM on February 25, 2020
The archaeologist Paul Barford has been following this case on his blog, Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues. He has waged a long campaign against metal detectorists (and blames the Portable Antiquities Scheme for enabling them), and his blog has to be seen in that context, i.e. he doesn't make much of a distinction between 'good' detectorists and 'bad' detectorists, he thinks they're all a menace. But some of his observations on the case are well worth reading:
1. Simon Wicks Opens a Shop. One of the men jailed for concealing the treasure has been selling dodgy antiquities for years (and has sold over 4000 items on eBay).
2. Exclusive: Hiding Place of Leominster Haul Identified? Speculation (perhaps partly tongue-in-cheek) that the gang might have reburied the rest of the treasure in the field where the Staffordshire Hoard was discovered.
3. Leominster/Eye Hoard Items Sold with False Provenance. Additional information about the discovery and the subsequent cover-up.
4. The Landowner's Point of View. The ultimate beneficiary may be Lord Cawley, who owns the land where the treasure was discovered. When told about the case his reaction was: 'I suppose it's good news for me. I could possibly be in for a reward. It would be nice.'
posted by verstegan at 4:45 AM on February 25, 2020 [7 favorites]
1. Simon Wicks Opens a Shop. One of the men jailed for concealing the treasure has been selling dodgy antiquities for years (and has sold over 4000 items on eBay).
2. Exclusive: Hiding Place of Leominster Haul Identified? Speculation (perhaps partly tongue-in-cheek) that the gang might have reburied the rest of the treasure in the field where the Staffordshire Hoard was discovered.
3. Leominster/Eye Hoard Items Sold with False Provenance. Additional information about the discovery and the subsequent cover-up.
4. The Landowner's Point of View. The ultimate beneficiary may be Lord Cawley, who owns the land where the treasure was discovered. When told about the case his reaction was: 'I suppose it's good news for me. I could possibly be in for a reward. It would be nice.'
posted by verstegan at 4:45 AM on February 25, 2020 [7 favorites]
detectorISTS
posted by stevil at 12:52 PM on February 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by stevil at 12:52 PM on February 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
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I've been reading a book about the Celts recently and a huge part of what we know about them comes from caches like this that were found and dug up. One of the most important finds was the Norrie's Law Hoard, a Pictish stash from about 300 years before this Viking find. It's full of silver, including some beautiful objects like this remarkable plaque.
Unfortunately it was found in 1819 by treasure seekers and most of the pieces were melted down for scrap silver. Only a few bits survived, and that thanks to a journalist who twenty years later realized some valuable history was mostly lost but that some could be salvaged.
posted by Nelson at 4:50 PM on February 24, 2020 [18 favorites]