Pair due in court over Chelmsford Iron Age Coin find

 

In darkest Essex, two treasure hunters are appearing in court charged with an offence against the Treasure Act following the discovery of more than 900 Iron Age coins and in one case, 'going equipped for theft', it is believed they were sharing a spade (BBC  Pair due in court over Chelmsford Iron Age treasure find 29.03.21).

Shane Wood, 62, from Great Baddow, and 61-year-old Kim Holman, from Chadwell Heath, will appear at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on 30 April. They will answer a charge of theft and of failing to notify the Coroner about an object believed to be treasure. It comes after gold staters were found in the Chelmsford area in September.

The timing is interesting. Firstly in that area they should not be meeting and metal detecting anyway during a pandemic. Secondly it is interesting how quickly the case was detected and came to court (compare with the slow movement of other cases). So what happened? I would love to think that they offered a bulk lot of coins to a coin dealer that turned out not to be crooked and he reported them.