Metal Detector to be destroyed over Iron Age coin theft

As an update to the article Pair in court for failing to declare treasure, the two people involved have now been convicted. Shane Wood admitted to the theft of 22 gold staters, with an estimated value of about £10,000. As part of his sentence, he will have his metal detector destroyed.

Wood found a hoard of 933 gold staters in September 2020 and kept 23 for himself as a “memento”. He claims to have spotted the first one whilst birdwatching. He then went home to get his metal detector an discovered the rest of the hoard. He took the hoard home in bin bags.

He indirectly notified the landowner, who in turn notified the FLO. Wood did not have permission to be metal detecting on the land. Given the lack of permission to detect and not declaring the full find will severely impact the amount of reward, if any, that he will receive.