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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;talerman, post: 4057685, member: 89314&quot;]These guys are going to jail and for good reason.&nbsp; They were also incredibly stupid. Under Britain&#039;s very fair and very successful Portable Antiquities Scheme, they would have received half the value of the hoard and been hailed as heroes if they had declared the find.&nbsp; Here is the story from the New York Times:</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="6"><b>Viking Treasure Could Have Made Them a Fortune. Instead, They Stole It.</b></font></p><p>Two British men who uncovered a 1,100-year-old trove were sentenced to years in prison for failing to report the find and selling the items piecemeal to dealers.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/11/22/world/22viking-theft1/merlin_164845089_e2a328f1-582e-47de-8a43-41943ecfd160-superJumbo.jpg?quality=90&amp;auto=webp" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><img src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/11/22/world/22viking-theft1/merlin_164845089_e2a328f1-582e-47de-8a43-41943ecfd160-superJumbo.jpg?quality=90&amp;auto=webp" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>Two of the coins from the hoard. Jewelry and silver bars were also part of the trove, but many of the items have not been recovered.Credit...British Museum/British Museum, via Associated Press</p><p>By <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/anna-schaverien" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/anna-schaverien" rel="nofollow">Anna Schaverien</a></p><p><br /></p><ul> <li>Nov. 22, 2019</li> <li><ul> <li>The men, who used metal detectors to unearth the coins, were punished for failing to follow <a href="https://www.gov.uk/treasure" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.gov.uk/treasure" rel="nofollow">Britain’s rules on reporting discoveries of treasure</a>. Instead, they hid some of the items, estimated to be worth millions of pounds, and sold others to dealers. The pair were sentenced at Worcester Crown Court on Friday on charges of theft, conspiracy to conceal criminal property and conspiracy to convert criminal property.<br /> <br /> <br /> <img src="https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/2019/11/22/viking-theft-map/613507b8f0dca3e1340b1895393b6967badb0f04/1123-for-webVIKING-THEFTmap-335.png" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><br /> <br /> <br /> By The New York Times<br /> <br /> Mr. Powell received a total term of 10 years, and Mr. Davies was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years. Two other men, Simon Wicks and Paul Wells, were also convicted on Thursday on a charge of concealment for their involvement in the case.<br /> <br /> Mr. Powell and Mr. Davies were not punished for discovering the historically significant trove. In fact, rewards are often given to people who find treasure in Britain.<br /> <br /> The <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-50516329" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-50516329" rel="nofollow">judge told Mr. Powell and Mr. Davies</a> that the “irony in the case” was that if they had followed the correct procedure, they might have been in line to receive up to half the value between them, the BBC reported. “But you wanted more,” the judge told them.<br /> <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/24/contents" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/24/contents" rel="nofollow">According to the Treasure Act</a> in Britain, anyone who believes they have found a metal object more than 300 years old is required to report it to the authorities within two weeks. A judgment is then made on <a href="https://finds.org.uk/treasure/advice/summary" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://finds.org.uk/treasure/advice/summary" rel="nofollow">whether the discovery meets the definition of “treasure.”</a> Later, a valuation would be given, rewards may be offered and museums have the chance to claim the objects.<br /> <br /> Instead of following the rules, Mr. Powell and Mr. Davies kept quiet and soon began selling the valuable coins to private collectors.<br /> <br /> The hoard, a mix of ninth- and 10th-century objects, included Anglo-Saxon coins, a gold ring and gold band, silver bars, and a crystal rock pendant, according to a <a href="https://www.westmercia.police.uk/news/west-mercia/news/2019/november/four-men-found-guilty-in-relation-to-treasure-hoard-worth-more-than-3million/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.westmercia.police.uk/news/west-mercia/news/2019/november/four-men-found-guilty-in-relation-to-treasure-hoard-worth-more-than-3million/" rel="nofollow">police statement</a>.<br /> <br /> Photographs of the artifacts in a freshly dug hole were found deleted on Mr. Davies’s phone by the authorities.<br /> <br /> Despite a yearslong investigation, only 30 of the 300 coins the men are thought to have found have been recovered, in addition to some pieces of jewelry and a silver ingot.<br /> <br /> The rest of the treasures are missing, presumed hidden or sold, according to West Mercia Police, the force that covers much of western England.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <img src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/11/22/world/22viking-theft3/merlin_164843922_2bddd24f-905c-4b83-a662-735b0daed3c2-superJumbo.jpg?quality=90&amp;auto=webp" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><br /> Image<br /> <img src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/11/22/world/22viking-theft3/merlin_164843922_2bddd24f-905c-4b83-a662-735b0daed3c2-superJumbo.jpg?quality=90&amp;auto=webp" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /><br /> Items recovered from the trove.Credit...West Mercia Police, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images</li> </ul></li> </ul><p>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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