The crime committed by finding Templar crusader coins in a field

I know my blog focuses on finance, technology and the future, but there are times when something from the past pops into your head and makes you think about it. This is one of those days.

I wrote a few years ago about how the founding of Switzerland was based on the Knights Templar, who created a state that hated government control and also hated the fear of October 13. If you haven’t read that post, here it is.

Why is this important today?

Well, at the time when all this was happening about a millennium ago, it was about the friction between Christians and Muslims, the Knights Templar against the Arab armies. This shows that things don’t change, because these struggles and frictions still exist today.

The thing is that they created a currency that Crusader coins. A website from the University of Glasgow provides great insights into this area:

The coins minted in these countries reflect a range of influences resulting from the interaction of the monetary worlds of European, Islamic, and Byzantine states in the Mediterranean. Coins served primarily as legal tender or a medium of exchange, but they also functioned as expressions of power and symbols of authority. They offered the ruling class a unique way to express themselves, and we can learn a lot about how they wanted to be seen by others and how they interacted with their subjects. This was especially important for the rulers of the Crusader states, who ruled over diverse populations, including European settlers and native Muslims, Christians, and Jews. To assert and express their authority over all their subjects, they combined coin designs from Europe with those from the eastern Mediterranean.

I love this kind of story.

Crusader Coins can be easily purchased on various websites today and they are not that expensive. This is the deal.

You are a guy who looks for treasure with a metal detector. You do this regularly as a hobby and some metal detectorists, as they are called, sometimes find a hidden treasure.

There are many examples of this, and my favorite recent example is a squashed piece of jewelry lying in the mud that was dug up in a field and found to be over 400 years old and has been officially declared treasure.

But then recently a metal detectorist discovered a secret treasure of Crusader coins… or did he?

It turns out that treasure hunter Michael Jones, from Port Talbot, Wales, was taking part in a competition to find treasure in a field in Titley, Hertfordshire, about 75 miles away. Incredibly, but true, Mr Jones decided to buy some Crusader coins on eBay and bury them in the field before the competition began. He then found them with his metal detector and won the competition organized by the KC Rallys Club.

But then other participants asked how there could be Crusader coins in Titley when they had never been found in this part of the world before. In fact, proving the competitive nature of detectorists, one of them noted that a certain Mr Jones had recently purchased five Crusader coins on eBay.

To me it’s not a big deal, but to the treasure hunting community it’s massive and led to Michael Jones being arrested and tried at Hereford Magistrates Court. Giving evidence, Jones said he faked finding the coins “for the fame and bravery that comes with it… it was stupid, I know. It was a feel-good thing, I just wanted to look good,” he said. “It was a moment of madness, I just wasn’t thinking.”

The judges said Jones had acted dishonestly but acquitted him of fraud by false representation because there was no evidence he intended to make money. “You did make false representations but the prosecution could not prove any financial gain so we find you not guilty,” said Sue Furnival, the chair of the judges.

Well, that just shows that there is a past and a history.