Undercover police sting halted sale of Viking coins to fictitious US buyer, court told

Two men deny conspiring to sell criminal property in the form of rare coins from Herefordshire Hoard

It is believed the coins were made between 874 and 879. PA

Police in the UK launched an undercover operation to stop a historically important Viking hoard of coins worth £766,000 ($950,735) being sold illegally to an American buyer, a court has heard.

Collectors Craig Best and Roger Pilling deny conspiracy to sell criminal property.

The hoard contained 9th-century Anglo-Saxon minted coins which had not been declared as “treasure” and therefore had not been handed to the Crown, jurors at Durham Crown Court heard on Tuesday.

The silver coins were part of the so-called Herefordshire Hoard — only some of which was recovered — and are “extremely significant for our understanding of the history of the unification of England”, an expert told the court.

The Crown does not allege that either of the accused, both of whom are interested in metal detecting, made the find themselves.

It was believed the coins were made between 874 and 879 and were buried by a Viking during this particularly violent period of English history.

They included two rare examples of two-headed coins, showing Alfred of Wessex and Ceolwulf, a figure discredited by Saxon writers as a Viking puppet ruler.

Mr Best, 46, from South View, Bishop Auckland, Co Durham, and Mr Pilling, 74, from Loveclough, Lancashire, also deny charges of possessing criminal property — in the form of the coins.

Mr Best had taken three coins to a meeting at a hotel — including one of the rare Alfred and Ceolwulf examples which itself was worth £70,000 — with undercover police officers he thought were part of a team brokering a deal with a buyer in the US, the court heard.

Uniformed officers then swooped to arrest and handcuff him in the Royal County Hotel, Durham, said prosecutor Matthew Donkin.

Couple stumble upon $10 million in rare coins while out walking the dog - in pictures

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  An 1890 gold coin that is part of a collection of coins found buried on private property in California’s gold region. Kagin’s Inc / EPA

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  Pots containing 19th century gold coins were part of the treasure trove. Kagin’s Inc / Reuters

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  The coins dated from 1847 to 1894 and many were in mint condition having never been circulated. They had a face value of 27,980 dollars but are expected to fetch more than $10 million. Kagin’s Inc / EPA

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  A trove of rare Gold Rush-era coins unearthed in California last year by a couple as they walked their dog may be the greatest buried treasure ever found in the United States. Kagin’s Inc / Reuters

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  A can containing 19th century gold coins is shown in the ground in this undated handout photo courtesy of Kagin’s, Inc. Kagin’s Inc / Reuters

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  Some of 1,427 Gold-Rush era US gold coins are displayed at Professional Coin Grading Service in Santa Ana. Reed Saxon / AP Photo

The court heard police then raided Mr Pilling’s home in Lancashire and recovered 41 coins from the hoard, bringing the total to 44.

Jurors were told police recovered an image from Mr Pilling’s home showing 46 coins in total, meaning two remained missing.

The prosecution alleges that Mr Best and Mr Pilling had conspired to sell the coins, despite knowing they came from a hoard and should have been declared as treasure and handed over to the Crown.

In 2018, the court heard, Mr Best had made contact with a Prof Ronald Bude, of the US, who had an interest in ancient coins, and tried to interest him in buying some, including an “Alfred penny”.

Prof Bude was not sure they were real and contacted a UK-based expert and, as word got around about the availability of extremely rare coins, the authorities were contacted and the undercover operation was mounted, the court was told.

The professor said Mr Best had told him that the coins were “big money” and that he should fly to the UK to see them for himself.

When Prof Bude asked him where they came from, Mr Best replied in an email “near Worcester”, jurors heard.

Mr Donkin told the court that the Herefordshire Hoard was found in Leominster, 48km from Worcester.

After he failed to sell the coins to Prof Bude, Mr Best moved on to try to sell the collection to the fictitious US-based buyers — who were really undercover police officers, the court heard.

The trial continues.