Ouch. From the 9 July Daily Telegraph £500,000 of coins stolen in Scotland By Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent One of Britain's most important historic coin collections has been stolen from the home of a former government minister. Antique coins worth more than half a million pounds, including one struck under the reign of Robert the Bruce, 900 years ago, were taken in the raid. Police believe around 1,000 coins, collected over more than 50 years, were removed from the home of Lord and Lady Stewartby in Broughton, in the Scottish Borders. advertisementLord Stewartby, the former MP for Hertfordshire North, who as Sir Ian Stewart served as a minister with the Tory government in the 1980s, is regarded as Scotland's foremost collector. Other valuable items taken include coins created under the reign of David II in the 14th century, and James I and James II in the 1400s. Experts said the theft of the Scottish collection could set back academic research by decades. Nick Holmes, curator of numismatics at the National Museums of Scotland, added: “It has always been made available as a resource for people researching coins and to lose so many coins from this period is a tragedy. “Of course, for poor Ian this must be awful and he has devoted more than half a entry to this collection. “He is the acknowledged expert in this field and is the one we all turn to when we want to know something.” Lydia Pretzlik, 38, the Tory peer's daughter, said he was devastated by the loss. Speaking from her home in London she added: “My father collected his first Scottish coin in 1945 when he was just ten and has been interested in them ever since. “It is his life's work in many ways and this is a big shock to him. “He retired in May from his duties and had planned a number of projects relating to his collection, including a catalogue of his coins. “He has amassed an amazing archive and it would be a terrible shame to see such a collection lost forever." The theft happened a month ago but police only released details of the incident yesterday. The family is offering a substantial reward for the recovery of the coins, which are thought to date from 1136 to 1290. A police spokesman said the collection was a “unique part of Scottish history” and they had not ruled out the possibility that it had been stolen to order.
Oh I wish. I'd be in England right now if it was. As of aproximately 1600 hours Eastern Time today, one could get 2.01 pounds for every dollar, or 49.6 cents for every pound. http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/market/exchangerates.aspx (updated regularly)
That's backwards. One can get $2.01 dollars for every pound right now. The exchange rate has been about 2 dollars per pound for a little while now.
Cripes, sounds like something out of Oceans Eleven. How can a person have this in their home without some serious security in place? Reminds me of the incident (on a smaller scale) of D. Manley having a California gold bar stolen from his garage.
just remember - no form of security will stop the most serious offenders. security at any level only acts as a deterrent to any would be theif. It is sad to see such a valuable collection worth more then its stated value just in the knowledge that could have been gained by studying the items. No amount of moeny can ever replace lost knowledge.
