Three men were convicted Tuesday in the theft of hundreds of ancient gold coins from a German museum in 2022 and handed prison sentences ranging up to 11 years.

A court in the southern city of Ingolstadt convicted the defendants of gang robbery over the museum heist, German news agency dpa reported. A fourth defendant was acquitted of involvement in the museum heist but convicted for other thefts carried out by the group.

The suspects from northern Germany were arrested months after a Nov. 22, 2022 break-in at the Celtic and Roman Museum in the Bavarian town of Manching, in which 483 Celtic coins discovered during an 1999 archaeological dig were stolen. The coins dated to around 100 B.C.

The coins and a lump of unworked gold were originally discovered during excavations of an ancient settlement in Manching, and authorities have said they are considered the biggest trove of Celtic gold found in the 20th century.

Most of the stolen treasure is still missing, but investigators found lumps of gold on one of the suspects when he was arrested that appear to have resulted from part of the treasure being melted down.

The court sentenced them to prison terms ranging from four years and nine months to 11 years.

To read the complete article, see:
3 men convicted in the theft of ancient Celtic gold coins from a German museum(https://apnews.com/article/germany-manching-museum-celtic-gold-robbery-trial-8a3dc0afa1be0b114956689610e4f305)

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
CELTIC TREASURE COINS STOLEN IN GERMANY(https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n48a24.html)
CELTIC GOLD HOARD THEFT ARRESTS(https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n30a27.html)
WERE CELTIC TREASURE COINS MELTED?(https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n30a25.html)