Cádiz couple 'sold archaeological treasures on eBay'

The haul dates from between the prehistoric Phoenician era to the First Republic of Spain in the 19^th century, and the couple had so far made around €103,000 from online sales, mostly abroad.

They had sold 5,133 pieces by the time the Guardia Civil found out.

According to authorities, the woman – who went by the online auction site username of Lorec Win – had been in direct contact with a racket involved in pillaging historical digs in the Murcia area.

They are believed to have had a mutual 'trading relationship'.

She and her husband still had numerous lots for sale via different usernames and accounts.

They ranged from coins and beads from the Roman era, coins and household items from the Visigoth period, Islamic coins from when Spain was ruled by the El-Andalus dynasty in the Middle Ages, and heaps of other treasures from the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

Andalucía's regional heritage department had to help police who searched their house in order to identify and catalogue the archaeological findings.

Many were artfully displayed, others stored in cupboards and workshops.

The thousands of items confiscated included kilos of coins from the Roman to the Mediaeval era, ceramic pottery – some of them from under the sea and thought to be Roman – keys, beads, thimbles, rings, bullets, embalming jars and buttons.

All items have been donated to Cádiz's museum.

Police are attempting to locate the items already sold, but this is likely to be impossible given that they have been bought up all over the world.

The couple has been released with charges after being arrested following the search.

They are not known to be art or antique dealers or archaeologists, or in any other way specialists that could explain how they might legally have found the pieces and be authorised to sell them.

Police recall that if any member of the public finds what they believe to be an archaeological treasure – a frequent occurrence in many of Spain's towns and cities, given their history dating back millennia - they are obliged to hand it in immediately to the authorities.

If it turns out to be of no value, they will normally be allowed to keep it.

This was the case in summer when a diver in Jávea (Alicante province) found Roman remains on the sea bed.

Jávea museum examined the findings, but they turned out to be decorative elements from a villa and only around 50 years old.