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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Mark Brown North of England correspondent

Metal detectorists jailed for conspiring to sell rare Anglo-Saxon coins

Craig Best (left) and Roger Pilling outside Durham crown court.
Craig Best (left) and Roger Pilling were also convicted of illegally possessing the coins. Photograph: Will Walker/North News

Two metal detector enthusiasts who conspired to illegally sell a cache of Anglo Saxon coins which help change our understanding of Alfred the Great have been jailed for more than five years.

Roger Pilling, 75, and Craig Best, 46, were caught in an undercover police sting trying to sell coins, likely buried by a Viking, which should have been declared as treasure and handed to the crown.

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