Gold! Possibly the most importand Anglo-Saxon find ever.

A.W.U.K.

A.W.U.K.

Joined
Sep 27, 2002
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Just up the road here at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery A huge haul of early Anglo-Saxon finds is being examined and conserved. They include the remains of weapons and helmets besides a large quantity of finely worked gold and silver.
The buried hoard was first located by a metal detectorist in a farmer's field in Staffordshire.

The UK's largest haul of Anglo-Saxon gold has been discovered buried beneath a field in Staffordshire.

Experts said the collection of 1,500 pieces, which may date back to the 7th Century, is unparalleled in size.

A spokeswoman for the British Museum said the find, which is due to be classed as treasure, was the equivalent of finding a "new Book of Kells".
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/8272058.stm

Exciting innit!

Andy
 
Yes , very. But 'belongs to the crown' is wrong.The finder should at least get a finder's fee.
 
Under British "Treasure Trove" law the land owner and finder are due "Just Recompense" for any hoard that is discovered on private lands. The value is determined by an Antiquities Expert and monetary value awarded. Discoveries of this magnitude should find there way to the proper museum for historical review and that was the purpose of the law.
 
mete said:
Yes , very. But 'belongs to the crown' is wrong.The finder should at least get a finder's fee.
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As DaveinNY mentioned, the article states that "the hoard would be valued by the British Museum and the money passed on to Mr Herbert and the landowner."

It's good he reported his find, instead of selling it right out like a lot of detectorists do, but he probably destroyed a great deal of valuable information when he dug it up...
 
Thanks for the clarification. I was thinking about some of the shipwrecks here ,where the divers do all the work, take all the risk , and the state says 'it's ours' !
 
Hope the dude hired a kick butt lawyer and a private assayer. If the gov't can take stuff off his land I hope he can make them pay for every step of the process (access agreements, recompensation for loss of quiet enjoyment, restoring the property back to it's former state, proper cost for the gold (I guess right now's the perfect time to be forced to fork over some gold, cost-wise), free museum passes, etc.
 
The scrap value of the gold will only be in the tens of thousands. The high value comes mostly from artistic quality, rarity and historical interest.

More info on this page:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8272848.stm

In my experience, pictures leave you completely unprepared for the real impact of seeing Dark Age treasure. I've seen the Sutton Hoo treasure and the Alfred Jewel at the British museum.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton_Hoo

http://booksandbiscuits.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/warfare-wealth-and-wisdom/
The body of the Alfred Jewel is a solid piece of polished crystal though which you view the enamel image at the back.
 
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wintermute said:
Hope the dude hired a kick butt lawyer and a private assayer. If the gov't can take stuff off his land I hope he can make them pay for every step of the process (access agreements, recompensation for loss of quiet enjoyment, restoring the property back to it's former state, proper cost for the gold (I guess right now's the perfect time to be forced to fork over some gold, cost-wise), free museum passes, etc.
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Don't worry, the guy is going to get a very large sum of money for destroying a valuable historical site.
 
Sounds like they actually called in the right people according to the BBC article. "Following the initial find, Alex Jones, director of Birmingham Archaeology and his colleagues were invited to excavate the site, Birmingham University said." Skynews also had pics of archaeologists at the site.
 
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PG5768 said:
Sounds like they actually called in the right people according to the BBC article. "Following the initial find, Alex Jones, director of Birmingham Archaeology and his colleagues were invited to excavate the site, Birmingham University said." Skynews also had pics of archaeologists at the site.
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That's good news, I probably should not have jumped to conclusions. :)
Can't help but assume the worst on occasion when it happens so often. :o

mete said:
Thanks for the clarification. I was thinking about some of the shipwrecks here ,where the divers do all the work, take all the risk , and the state says 'it's ours' !
Click to expand...

That's not quite how it works out in the US. If it's archaeologists digging/diving a wreck, then everything goes to their conservation lab where it can be properly recorded and taken care of. If some idiot treasure hunter is diving and area not on private property (there isn't much, maybe a lake?), so that's most coastlines, then the state will take it - hopefully before too much valuable information is lost forever.

If it's on private property then it belongs to the property owner.
 
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Recompense for the horde of treasure will be a 7 figure sum-
metal detector purchased at garage sale for 2.50-
now thats priceless
 
I went up to see the hoard yesterday, got to the museum at 12.30. They were handing out tickets for the 4pm viewing with the advice to arrive at 3pm.


I'm going to try again Sunday!
 
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