Shaken and Repentant Culture Thief Emerges from British Court A Broken Man

(BBC)

Metal detectorist Shane Wood emerges from Chelmsford court, obviously shaken by the severity with which he was treated. This will clearly act as a deterrent to other finders of hoards worth tens of thousands tempted to do the same as him. Once again, Britain shows just how much it values its archaeological heritage.

I intend in the next few days writing an open letter to the Treasure Valuation Committee proposing that the (discretionary) Treasure Reward be not paid at all to either the finder (who acted illegally) or the landowner (for not ensuring the material was treated in accordance with current law). Any concerned archaeologists from Britain who wish to add their voice to this are cordially invited to be included as co-signatories. I know several other people from different areas of society have already declared their interest in sending similar letters, it would be unforgivable if they outnumbered those written by archaeologists. It is time to take a stand and show that we are determined to stamp out illegal activity (culture theft).  

Meanwhile, the discrepancy between the 1200 coins of the original report (in TH magazine) and the 933 that were actually recovered has yet to be explained, where did 300 coins go?