Two men have been convicted of plotting to sell a hoard of Anglo-Saxon silver coins that were buried in an English field by a Viking chieftain in the ninth century.
Craig Best, 46, and Roger Pilling, 75, were convicted under the 1996 Treasure Act of conspiring to sell criminal property worth £766,000, after they agreed a deal with an undercover detective who was posing as a metals expert working for a wealthy American collector.
Judge James Adkin adjourned sentencing until May 4 but told them: “You have both been convicted of what I consider to be compelling evidence of serious criminality, in relation to these artifacts. You are both aware of what the sentence is likely to be, imprisonment for years.”…