£50,000 reward on offer to trace stolen 900-year-old Scottish coins
It is hoped new information will come to light about the lost coins - almost two decades after they were stolen from an estate in the Borders
Last updated 27th Nov 2024
A £50,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the safe return of a "unique" and "rare" collection of Scots coins stolen almost two decades ago.
The collection of 12th and 13th century coins were taken from the home of Lord and Lady Stewartby at Broughton in the Borders in June of 2007.
The items have been described as the "most important collection" of early Scottish coins ever assembled with some dating back nearly 900 years.
An anonymous donor has teamed up with Crimestoppers to offer the reward, i hopes the coins will be returned and join the collection at Glasgow's Hunterian Museum.
The collection had been amassed by Lord Stewartby over a period of some 50 years.
'Significant national importance'
Jesper Ericsson, curator of numismatics at the National Museum of Scotland, said the loss of the coins cannot be understated.
He said: "The coins that were stolen from Lord and Lady Stewartby's house in June 2007 were not only a devastating loss for Lord Stewartby, but also for Scottish numismatics as a whole.
"These early medieval Scottish coins were extremely rare and represented the story of the very earliest chapter of an independent Scottish coinage.
"For example, the Hunterian doesn't hold many of these types of coins in its collection, so for the missing coins to be able to rejoin the rest of the Lord Stewartby collection here at the Hunterian would be extraordinary, not only for the students and teaching here at the university, but also for wider researchers and scholars, and especially for the Scottish nation.
"They are of truly significant national importance.
"Their safe return will not only benefit generations of scholars, researchers, students and visitors to come, but will also right a wrong that Lord Stewartby never got to see resolved before he died."
Mystery remains unsolved
At the time of the theft, police suspected the involvement of organised crime.
Their enquiries led them to believe that a gang from the west of Scotland with underworld links may have been involved.
Previous rewards offered encouraged new lines of enquiry both domestically and abroad - however the mystery of the stolen coins remain unsolved.
Lord Stewartby died in 2018, the year after entrusting his remaining collection of around 6,000 coins to the Hunterian.
His wife Lady Stewartby said: "Lord Stewartby told me and our children that they represented Scotland's history at a time when few people had access to books or pictures.
"He emphasised the importance of these rare coins to Scotland's heritage.
"I fully support this Crimestoppers appeal and hope that it will encourage anyone who has information to come forward."
'Do the right thing'
The reward, available for three months until February 27, is being offered for information, that can be given anonymously, that leads to the conviction of those responsible for the crime.
Angela Parker, national manager at Crimestoppers Scotland, said: "This was the best collection of Scottish coins ever assembled by a private individual. We cannot overestimate the importance of the collection to Scotland's rich heritage.
"We feel that this reward, and it's a significant amount, will motivate someone to do the right thing, to tell us who stole the coins in 2007 - we believe it's a targeted theft - and where they are.
"They could be abroad. They could be in the UK, they're very small, they could be overlooked.
"But we're really just appealing to someone to do the right thing and help return these coins to the Hunterian at Glasgow University.
Crimestoppers can be contacted 24/7 on 0800 555 111, or people can complete an anonymous online form at Crimestoppers-uk.org.