Real-life events can be just as dramatic as any fiction, as evidenced by the tale of stolen Viking coins, an undercover sting, and two men protesting their innocence. Collectors Craig Best and Roger Pilling have denied that they were trying to profit from selling 9th century Anglo-Saxon minted coins for almost £800,000 to an American buyer, despite knowing that the “ancient and extremely valuable” silver coins had to be declared to the Crown.
From the reign of King Alfred (reigned 871-899), the collection of 46 coins contained an extremely rare ‘Two Emperor’ coin, one of 13 ever recorded in history, which is worth £70,000 alone. The two amateur enthusiasts, who were dealing with the mystery representatives of this allegedly American buyer, found out that these representatives were, in fact, undercover police offers, reports The Guardian .
