Scottish Coin Theft

Lothian and Borders Police are investigating the theft of an irreplaceable collection of coins worth almost half a million pounds from the home of one of Scotland's leading collectors.

It's almost five years since they were taken and now police are launching a re-appeal in the hope the coins, some of which are unique, may now have surfaced somewhere.

The collection of more that 2,000 pieces was taken from a private house in the small village of Broughton in the Scottish Borders, overnight between Wednesday 6 and Thursday 7 June 2007, whilst the collector and his family were away on holiday.

The collection was taken from a house in Broughton

The house was specifically targeted

Detectives believe it was a targeted raid as the thieves took only the coins and some jewellery stored with them.

This collection included items which are essentially priceless - the majority of the collection consisted of coins which are more than 700 years old - several are irreplaceable, including one coin which was minted in Aberdeen more than 900 years ago.

The collection is a unique part of Scottish history, and probably the greatest collection of Scottish coins ever assembled - it is more significant than the collection held within the National Museum of Scotland.

The coins' owner was intending to document and illustrate the collection and in the future donate it to the museum so it would have been safeguarded for generations to come.

If the collection is recovered the owner will keep it at the National Museum so they can be protected and studied by future generations.

Officers are convinced the rarity of these coins would make them extremely difficult to sell and are appealing to anyone - especially antique dealers or collectors - who think they may have been offered any of these coins to get in touch.

So far none of the coins has surfaced.

There is a substantial reward of £50,000 being offered for information which leads to the full recovery of the collection.

William I The Lion Silver Penny

Alexander III Silver Penny

David I Silver Penny

Alexander III Silver Half Penny

• Do you have information about the break-in in 2007?

• Have you been offered these coins for sale?

• Did you see anything suspicious in the area around that time?

• Do you have any other information about the theft?

Please use the form below to contact us about this appeal (items marked * are required).