Officers from the National Police have recovered three golden coins of the Roman Empire of great historical and economic value, and have arrested two individuals when they tried to sell one of them. The intervened coins, which were in a very good state of preservation, could have reached a value of 200,000 euro on the black market.
The investigation began when a London numismatist informed the agents that an individual had offered a golden coin from the Roman Empire to another London numismatist and that, in addition, this individual had reported that he had some other pieces. They also warned the investigators that it was part of a set of eight coins that had been stolen in 2012 from a train that was traveling between two Swiss cities, although four of them were recovered by the police by the end of 2020.
After several police steps, the agents identified the person who was offering the currency for sale, turning out to be a citizen of Algerian origin living in Barcelona.
The recovered coins could reach a value of 200,000 euro
At the end of last March, the agents learned of the presence of the suspect in Barcelona and established a police device. There they arrested two individuals, both of Algerian origin; one of them carried the coin in question and the other accompanied him to act as an interpreter. In addition, the main detainee agreed to hand over the other two coins that were still to be recovered and that he had kept at his home.
According to experts, the recovered coins – which were in a very good state of preservation – could have reached an approximate value of 30,000, 50,000 and 120,000 euro on the black market, for a total of 200,000 euro. On the other hand, the investigation remains open in order to clarify the robbery that occurred in Switzerland.