Overview

• Roger Pilling, 77, was convicted in May 2023 for conspiring to sell undeclared Anglo-Saxon coins worth £766,000, including two rare 'Two Emperor' coins.
• On April 24, 2025, Teeside Crown Court issued a confiscation order requiring Pilling to repay £103,000 within three months or serve an additional year in prison.
• The coins, believed to be part of the Viking-era Herefordshire Hoard discovered in 2015, were never declared as treasure under UK law.
• Pilling and co-defendant Craig Best were caught in a 2023 undercover police sting while attempting to sell the coins to an officer posing as a buyer for an American collector.
• The CPS Proceeds of Crime Division emphasized its commitment to ensuring criminals cannot profit from stolen cultural heritage, recovering £450 million in the last five years.