A tip about a swerving van leads police to 66,000 US silver coins in a fraud case

[September 18, 2026]  By JAMEY KEATEN

On a yearslong hunt for thousands of U.S. silver coins squirreled away in Norway, police investigating a money laundering case finally got a lucky break: A tip about a van swerving on a highway outside Oslo last year.

When officers pulled the vehicle over for inspection, in Baerum, west of the capital, in April 2025, they discovered tens of thousands of American Eagle silver coins. A second van that arrived shortly afterward was found to be carrying tens of thousands more.

This handout photo released by Norwegian economic crime investigators on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, shows the U.S. "American Eagle" silver coins discovered by police in a van that was stopped after being driven "erratically" outside Oslo in April 2025. (Norwegian economic crime investigators via AP)

The total take: Nearly 67,000 coins worth at least 25 million Norwegian krone (about $2.65 million), officials said.

On Thursday, the economic crime unit Okokrim announced that three Norwegians have been sentenced to prison over the illegal possession of the coins.

The convictions on charges of aggravated money laundering followed allegations that proceeds from a “major investment scheme" in the United States had been converted into millions of dollars worth of coins.

The three Norwegians — two men and a woman — were convicted in connection with organizing the scheme and storing the coins, and sentenced up to 2-1/2 years in prison.

Two Britons facing charges were acquitted. Both sides can appeal, and the verdict is not final.

“It is gratifying that the silver has been recovered and that a verdict has now been handed down, enabling the victims of the fraud in the U.S.A to have the misappropriated assets returned to them,” Public Prosecutor Jon André Hvoslef-Eide said in a statement.

Speaking to The Associated Press, Hvoslef-Eide said the victims, who he did not identify, could only have the assets returned once the judicial process had been completed.

An earlier hoard of 79,500 silver coins was found in 2019. Investigators were still searching for more missing U.S. silver coins, at the request of American authorities, when they made their discovery in 2025, Hvoslef-Eide said.

The U.S. Mint produces American Eagle coins for collectors in a variety of metals, including gold, silver and palladium, each with a different value. Because the price of silver has risen significantly in the past year, the Norwegian haul is even more valuable than when it disappeared.

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