Posted on 09/24/2009 4:10:21 AM PDT by csvset
The UK's largest haul of Anglo-Saxon treasure has been discovered buried beneath a field in Staffordshire. Experts said the collection of 1,500 gold and silver pieces, which may date back to the 7th Century, was unparalleled in size.
It has been declared treasure by South Staffordshire coroner Andrew Haigh, meaning it belongs to the Crown.
Terry Herbert, who found it on farmland using a metal detector, said it "was what metal detectorists dream of". It may take more than a year for it to be valued.
The collection contains about 5kg of gold and 2.5kg of silver, making it far bigger than the Sutton Hoo discovery in 1939 when 1.5kg of Anglo-Saxon gold was found near Woodbridge in Suffolk.
Leslie Webster, former keeper at the British Museum's Department of Prehistory and Europe, said: "This is going to alter our perceptions of Anglo-Saxon England as radically, if not more so, as the Sutton Hoo discoveries.
"(It is) absolutely the equivalent of finding a new Lindisfarne Gospels or Book of Kells." The Book of Kells and Lindisfarne Gospels are intricately illuminated manuscripts of the four New Testament Gospels dating from the 9th and 8th Centuries. 'Just unbelievable' Mr Herbert, 55, of Burntwood in Staffordshire, who has been metal detecting for 18 years, came across the hoard as he searched land belonging to a farmer friend over five days in July.
The exact location has not been disclosed. "I have this phrase that I say sometimes; 'spirits of yesteryear take me where the coins appear', but on that day I changed coins to gold," he said. "
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
read
GGG ping
“The Mildenhall Treasure”
What, this guy gets nothing? Yeah,the "Crown" needs more treasure. I hear the Queen's on food stamps. Shame.
You must have miss read the article..read it again.
He gets paid for it.
The treasure trove law means a forced sale, but the Gold isn’t ripped out of his hands. This isn’t 1930’s America.
Assuming it’s all pure gold and silver, the value of the raw materials, in today’s dollars, is less then $200,000. The value of the items as artifacts is far more, of course.
I’m just saying, it’s not that much gold and silver.
> What, this guy gets nothing?
No, he will be paid.
> Yeah,the “Crown” needs more treasure. I hear the Queen’s on food stamps. Shame.
“The Crown” is not “The Queen”, in the same way that “The Office of the President” is not “Obama”.
The Queen is just a person (a very special person, but just a person all the same). The Crown is an enduring institution.
The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found has been unearthed on farmland in Staffordshire by a metal detector enthusiast, archaeologists revealed today.
Terry Herbert, 55, from Burntwood, came across the huge hoard as he searched a field near his home. The exact location of the discovery has not been disclosed but it is understood to be near the Lichfield border in South Staffordshire, in what was once the independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia.
Experts said that the collection of more than 1,500 pieces, including helmets, sword pommels and sword hilt ornaments possibly looted on the field of battle 1,400 years by a victorious warlord, is unparalleled in size and may have belonged to Saxon royalty.
The hoard contains around 5kg of gold and 2.5kg of silver, far bigger than previous finds such as the Snettisham hoards.
A coroner is holding an inquest today at which he is expected officially to classify the find as treasure. After that a Treasure Valuation Committee made up of independent experts will put a market value on the hoard, a process expected to take more than a year, and local museums will be given the option to buy it.
The hoard is being held in secure storage at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, but some of items are to be displayed at the museum from tomorrow until October 13.
Staffordshire County Council, Birmingham Museum and the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery have already discussed buying the treasure jointly. The money is paid to the finder, who usually gives half to the landowner — suggesting that both Mr Herbert and the farmer stand to receive a substantial sum.
At today's bullion prices, 5kg of gold is worth more than £100,000, according to gold merchants Baird & Co, but historic artefacts are liable to fetch much higher prices. In 2007 the British Museum paid £125,000 for a single set of golden sword pommel and hilt ornaments inlaid with garnets, dating from the same period as the Staffordshire Hoard — around 650 AD, when Penda was king of Mercia.
Penda was killed in battle in 654AD by King Oswy of Northumbria, who briefly usurped his throne until thrown out by Penda's sons.
Dr Michael Lewis, of the British Museum's Department of Portable Antiquities and Treasure, said that some of the items in the Staffordshire Hoard were unique and could not be compared to any earlier find in order to ascribe a value.
Mr Herbert claimed that finding it with his 14-year-old detector was destiny. "I have this phrase that I say sometimes: ’Spirits of yesteryear take me where the coins appear’, but on that day I changed coins to gold," he said.
"I don’t know why I said it that day, but I think somebody was listening and directed me to it. Maybe it was meant to be, maybe the gold had my name on it all along, I don’t know."
Under the Treasure Act, anyone who finds a group of coins buried together, or any artefact that is 300 or more years old and has a 10 per cent gold or silver content, must declare it to the coroner within 14 days. About 500 such finds are reported each year.
Dr Kevin Leahy, National Finds Adviser from the Portable Antiquities Scheme, who catalogued the hoard, said: "The quantity of gold is amazing but, more importantly, the craftsmanship is consummate.
"This was the very best that the Anglo-Saxon metalworkers could do, and they were very good. Tiny garnets were cut to shape and set in a mass of cells to give a rich, glowing effect; it is stunning.
"Its origins are clearly the very highest-levels of Saxon aristocracy or royalty. It belonged to the elite."
He speculated that the treasure might have been built up by a warlord in the course of a long military career, but could equally have been the loot from a single battle. He predicted that historians would debate it for decades.
The fact that the largest of the golden crosses had had its arms folded inwards so that it could fit into a smaller space has already prompted speculation that the hoard was buried by pagans.
Leslie Webster, former keeper at the British Museum’s Department of Prehistory and Europe, said that the importance of the find couldn't be overstated. "[It is] absolutely the equivalent of finding a new Lindisfarne Gospels or Book of Kells," he said.
"This is going to alter our perceptions of Anglo-Saxon England as radically, if not more so, as the Sutton Hoo discoveries."
Mr Herbert, who has been metal detecting for 18 years, came across the treasure in July after asking a farmer friend if he could search on his land.
"This is what metal detectorists dream of, finding stuff like this. But the vast amount there is just unbelievable," said Mr Herbert.
"My mates at the [metal detecting] club always say if there is a gold coin in a field I will be the one to find it. I dread to think what they’ll say when they hear about this."
Duncan Slarke, finds liaison officer for Staffordshire, was the first professional to see the hoard. He said: "Nothing could have prepared me for that. I saw boxes full of gold, items exhibiting the very finest Anglo-Saxon workmanship.
"This is absolutely phenomenal. When I first saw the material I was absolutely staggered. To see the volume and the quality of this Anglo-Saxon precious metalwork was absolutely stunning and I was literally speechless.
"I feel very privileged to have been the finds liaison officer that dealt with the Staffordshire Hoard."
Steve Dean, County Archaeologist for Staffordshire, said: "It wasn’t until Duncan started to send the photographs through that it actually dawned that this was something incredibly more substantial than we’d previously imagined.
"We had a look at our records and there was no indication for that area actually having the potential for that sort of find so it was a big surprise.
"It is almost certainly nationally important and potentially internationally important and it is going to tell us an awful lot about the development of the Mercian kingdom, which obviously Staffordshire lies within.
"The quality and quantity is something I haven’t come across and I don’t think any archaeologist in this country has. It is out of this world. It is going to be the basis of research for the next 20 years."
More pictures of the hoard are posted on the Portable Antiquities Scheme website , which lists treasure finds by members of the public.
And given the negative connotation the word hoard has to some, wonder why the author or whom ever decided to use this word to describe this find.
Buried treasure is yours for the taking
Hoard is also directly derived from Anglo-Saxon. You just couldn't get a better fitting word for this astonishing find than hoard.
I've tried it several times and have found one , (1) , thin dime.
LOL
However, it's exciting all the same.
I can only imagine the thrill of finding a single piece of gold, let alone a treasure trove.
Not a lot of gold ? Uh, sure.
Exsurgat Deus, et dissipentur inimici eius: et fugiant, qui oderunt eum, a facie eius.
God ariseth, and doth scatter his enemies: they flee, they who hate him, from before his face.
That's how I interpret it.
I appreciate your explanation. Why I asked is the recent ads I have seen for a tv show on hoarders and there is nothing 'good' about these people and how they live with all the 'junk' they hoard This is NOT junk and whom ever it once belong to had reason to hoard as the treasure has sure more than maintained it initial value.
Now how can I find out what the inscription on the gold band says?
Huge article about this find here with lots more photos:
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