Norway police recover nearly 67,000 US silver coins in fraud case

Norwegian police have recovered nearly 67,000 U.S. silver coins in a fraud case that led to prison sentences for three Norwegians. The coins, worth at least 25 million Norwegian krone (about $2.65 million), were linked to allegations that proceeds from a “major investment scheme” in the United States had been converted into coins.

The discovery came after officers pulled over a van for swerving on a highway west of Oslo in April 2025, according to officials. A second van that arrived shortly afterward was found to be carrying tens of thousands of additional coins.

On Thursday, the economic crime unit Okokrim announced that three Norwegians had been sentenced to prison over the illegal possession of the coins. The two men and a woman were convicted on charges of aggravated money laundering and sentenced up to two and a half years in connection with organizing the scheme and storing the coins.

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, whom 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.