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Because embezzlement: finder of 1100 years old Viking treasure sentenced to prison

2019-11-22T20:44:04.937Z


In the UK, two men had found a rare Viking treasure worth several million euros. Because they have hidden their find, they have to go to jail. A large part of the treasure has disappeared.



Two hobby treasure hunters have been sentenced to long prison sentences for embezzlement in the UK. The two had tried to conceal the discovery of a Viking treasure that was around 1100 years old.

Once a treasure is found, he belongs to the nation, Judge Nicholas Cartwright said Friday at the sentencing hearing in Worcester in western England. A 38-year-old man was sentenced to ten years in prison and his 51-year-old accomplice to eight and a half years. Experts see the find as a historic sensation. A large part of the treasure is probably still gone.

In 2015, the two men discovered precious coins and jewelery with metal detectors on a farmland in the county of Herefordshire in western England. Judge Cartwright said they not only deprived the nation of a historical treasure, but also denied the landowner his right to a share.

A 57-year-old coin collector, who was said to have helped the duo conceal the find, was also sentenced to five years in prison. Another confidant is still waiting for his verdict.

"Find of national importance"

According to experts, the find is said to be a valuable Anglo-Saxon treasure buried by a Viking in the ninth century AD. The treasures that are now kept in the British Museum include coins, a gold ring, silver bullion, and a gold-plated fifth-century crystal ball. Experts estimate the value of the fund at between 3.5 and 14 million euros.

According to historians, five of the 31 coins seized are particularly valuable as they provide new insights into British history. On them, King Alfred the Great of Wessex and a lesser-known monarch, Ceolwulf II of Mercia, are depicted together, said Gareth Williams, curator of early medieval coins in the British Museum, the television station "BBC". So far it was not known that there was an alliance between the two rulers.

"This is a find of national importance at a crucial time in the unification of England, when the Vikings were attacking the country on a grand scale," Williams said.

The coins should be only a fraction of the captured treasure. On mobile phone photos of one of the convicted hobby treasure hunters were around 300 coins to see, but these have not been found. According to "CNN," investigators had been able to recover the deleted photos.

Source: spiegel

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