Attempts to reduce prison sentences imposed on two metal detectorists who planned to illegally sell highly valued Anglo-Saxon coins failed at the Court of Appeal today (Wed Oct 30).

Craig Best and Roger Pilling sought a reduction in their respective 62-month jail terms, imposed at Durham Crown Court in May last year.

In the case of 48-year-old Best, from Bishop Auckland, the sentence was described as “manifestly excessive” by his lawyer.

But in dismissing their applications, one of three Court of Appeal judges hearing the case said had they succeeded in selling the coins to a US buyer on the black market it would have risked seeing an element of the nation's history potentially lost forever.

Best and 76-year-old Pilling, of Rossendale in Lancashire, were convicted of conspiring to sell 44 ninth-century coins, worth an estimated £766,000, following a several-week-long trial in Durham, in April 2023.

Judge James Adkin, the then Honorary Judicial Recorder of Durham, imposed prison sentences of five years and two months on both, on May 4, 2023.

The coins, which were never declared as treasure, were believed to have been buried for safekeeping by a Viking, who may have subsequently been killed in battle.

They included two rare examples of two-headed coins, showing Alfred of Wessex and Ceolwulf, a figure discredited by Saxon writers as a Viking puppet ruler.

The co-conspirators attempted to sell the coins, described by Judge Adkin as being of “great historical and cultural value” to the nation, to someone they believed was acting on behalf of a prospective US buyer, but who was, in fact, an undercover police officer.

Best took three of the coins to a pre-arranged meeting with the supposed expert, who was to verify their authenticity on behalf of the potential buyer, at Durham’s Marriott Royal County Hotel, in May 2019.

But, midway through the meeting, police intervened, arrested Best and seized the three coins.

A further 41 coins were simultaneously recovered from Pilling’s home in Lancashire, where he was also arrested on his return later that day.

Three judges dismissed the appeal bids at the end of the hearing in London, with Mr Justice Murray stating that the plan was, "an attempt to delete history”, and that, “it would have significantly diluted the nation’s shared history”, had it succeeded.

The two men were convicted of conspiracy to convert criminal property and a separate charge each of possession of criminal property at the end of the trial in Durham.

It was said that Pilling had acquired the collection on the “black market”.

The coins were estimated to have been minted between 874 and 879AD.

Judge Adkin said it was thought that the 44 coins recovered were part of a larger, undeclared find known as the Herefordshire or Leominster Hoard, which was discovered in 2015 and is thought to be worth millions of pounds, but which was also not declared.

The Court of Appeal heard that Pilling asked Best to help him sell the coins.

Chris Morrison, representing Best, said his client was “approached” by Pilling to sell the items and became the “de-facto agent of the sale”.

He said: “I concede immediately that this is serious misconduct, and it is clear this court regards it as such.

“But it is my submission that, when one perhaps considers the matter, the sentence in relation to my client may be too high.”

Pilling, who represented himself, made written submissions to the court but did not attend the hearing.

The court heard that Pilling claimed, “sufficient regard to his mitigation, his age, medical condition and being dependable on his wife”, was not taken into account when he was sentenced.

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Dismissing the appeal bids, Mr Justice Murray, sitting with Lord Justice William Davis and Judge Shaun Smith KC, said the pair “hatched a plan to sell the coins” on the “black market” to buyers in the US because “they knew the coins could not be safely sold in the UK to a legitimate dealer.”

Mr Justice Murray added that the three coins Best and Pilling had planned to sell included, “one coin that rewrites the history of King Alfred and the little-known King of Mercia”, and that by trying to sell the coins abroad, “meant history would likely be lost to the nation forever”.

Proceeds of Crime proceedings against both men are ongoing with a half-day hearing fixed at Durham Crown Court on January 31 to try to solve the issue of what money or assets can be confiscated from the pair.