A treasure inquest has heard how three coins went missing from a 56-strong Roman coin hoard discovery, only to be mysteriously replaced with ones in better condition.

The more valuable replacements were noticed when photographs taken of the original first batch of money found did not match the currency sent to the British Museum for identification.

All the coins, known as the Lanviet Hoard, were discovered during digs at newly ploughed fields near Bodmin over four years between October 2017 and January 2020, Cornwall Live reports..

At a treasure inquest on Monday it was heard how since the hoard was initially photographed three of the coins have been pinched and replaced - but the new ones are even more valuable than the ones initially found.

The hoard was discovered by members of the Mid Cornwall History Hunters group who were metal detecting with permission from the landowner, and they dutifully reported the find to Cornwall's finds officer at the time, Anna Tyacke from the Royal Institution of Cornwall.

The inquest heard how 56 coins spanning 200 years were found in the same location during a series of digs.

During the inquest, Ms Tyacke said: "It's quite rare to find so many coins together in a small area. It's almost like there were curated."

However, she said that more intriguing was that three of the coins from the original find in October 2017 were missing and had not been reported as treasure finds.

Instead, they were substituted with other Roman silver coins from the same period and in similar appearance.

She added: "The substitute coins looked similar to those found but are actually in a better condition and are more valuable than those they were swapped in for. The substitution does not make sense."

Ms Tyacke told the inquest that the missing coins from the original dig have never been found.

To read the complete article, see:
Mystery as coins missing from Roman hoard 'replaced with more valuable ones'(https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1792234/Roman-coins-stolen-replaced-valuable)