Og, I hope you're gonna share this treasure with the rest of us....

[3113]

Come on! We've always been your loyal subjects. Share the largess!

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A man using a metal detector in a rural English field has uncovered the largest Anglo-Saxon gold hoard ever found -- an "unprecedented" treasure that sheds new light on history, archaeologists said Thursday. The hoard includes 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of gold and 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds) of silver. That is more than three times the amount of gold found at Sutton Hoo, one of Britain's most important Anglo-Saxon sites, said the local council in Staffordshire where the latest haul was found.

It's an "incredible collection of material -- absolutely unprecedented," said Kevin Leahy, an archaeologist with the Portable Antiquities Scheme, a voluntary group that records finds made by members of the public. "We've moved into new ground with this material." Because the find is so large and important, experts haven't been able to say yet how much it is worth. They hope to make a valuation within 13 months, Staffordshire Council said.

The hoard was first discovered in July by Englishman Terry Herbert, who was using a metal detector he bought more than a decade ago in a jumble sale for only a few pounds (dollars). He belongs to a local metal detecting club in Staffordshire and was just out enjoying his hobby when he made the find. There was so much gold at the site that Herbert said he was soon seeing it in his sleep. "Imagine you're at home and somebody just keeps putting money through your letterbox. That's what it was like," Herbert told Britain's Press Association. "As soon as I closed my eyes I saw gold patterns. I didn't think it was ever going to end."

Herbert found 500 items before he called in experts, who then found a further 800 articles in the soil. Officials aren't saying exactly where the gold was found, other than to say it was in Staffordshire, in north-central England. "Pieces were just literally sat at the top of the soil, at the grass," said Ian Wykes, of the county council. He said the hoard had been unearthed by recent plowing.

Most of the pieces appear to date from the 7th century, though experts can't agree on when the hoard first entered the ground, Staffordshire Council said. The pieces are almost all war gear, Leahy said. There are very few dress fittings and no feminine dress fittings; there are only two gold buckles, and they were probably used for harness armor, he said. Sword hilt fittings and pieces of helmets, all elaborately decorated, are among the more remarkable finds.

"The quantity of gold is amazing but, more importantly, the craftsmanship is consummate," Leahy said. "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."

The items belonged to the elite -- aristocracy or royalty, he said, though it's not clear who the original or final owners were, why they buried it, or when. "It looks like a collection of trophies, but it is impossible to say if the hoard was the spoils from a single battle or a long and highly successful military career," he said.

Rest of the story here.

 

[oggbashan]

Unfortunately not my part of the UK.

However there is a place not twenty-five miles from where I live where legend has it that a solid golden calf weighing a tonne was buried when the Romans invaded in 55 BC.

We've been looking for it ever since the Romans left.

1600 years later we still haven't found it.

Og

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

What I find is amazing about this is the Archeologists are raving about the importance of the find, but they will allow the artifacts to be sold at auctioned (I read "7 figures) rather than placing them in the safe keeping of a museum where they can be studied for years to come.

 

[trysail]

This is old news. The find is in the hands of The Yorkshire Museum and The British Museum ( see below ).


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aZsim9T_OKy8

Amateur Diggers Earn £541,000 for Viking Treasure Find
Aug. 27 (Bloomberg)-- Two amateur diggers in northern England have together pocketed 541,000 pounds ($878,000) for finding the most important Viking treasure of its kind in 150 years, soon to go on show at the British Museum.

Metal-detector users David and Andrew Whelan discovered the hoard in January 2007, in Harrogate, Yorkshire, and handed it to the local representative of a national program that registers archeological finds. The treasure was valued at 1.08 million pounds, and has now been bought for the nation, with proceeds split evenly between the finders and the landowner.

“The contents of the hoard we found went far beyond our wildest dreams,” the Whelans said in a press release.

The treasure consists of 67 precious-metal objects including bracelets, ornaments, and ingots; 617 coins -- and a gilt silver vessel that contained most of the smaller objects. It was made in present-day France or Germany in the mid-9th century, and seems to have been intended for church services, according to the statement.

Highlights of the treasure will be shown at the two institutions that now own it: the Yorkshire Museum in York (Sept. 17 - Nov. 1) and the British Museum. Most of the money came in grants from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund, according to the statement.

The Portable Antiquities Scheme, as the nationwide archeological program is known, has recorded some 360,000 finds, most of them by metal-detector users, and the rest by people who made chance discoveries as they walked, gardened, ploughed or did everyday work.

The finds must be reported if they are “treasure” -- gold and silver pieces that are more than 300 years old, and groups of coins. Both the finder and the landowner are rewarded as an incentive for them to report. Otherwise the objects risk being sold on the black market, depriving museums of important gems.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

This is old news. The find is in the hands of The Yorkshire Museum and The British Museum ( see below ).


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aZsim9T_OKy8

Amateur Diggers Earn £541,000 for Viking Treasure Find
Aug. 27 (Bloomberg)-- Two amateur diggers in northern England have together pocketed 541,000 pounds ($878,000) for finding the most important Viking treasure of its kind in 150 years, soon to go on show at the British Museum.

Metal-detector users David and Andrew Whelan discovered the hoard in January 2007, in Harrogate, Yorkshire, and handed it to the local representative of a national program that registers archeological finds. The treasure was valued at 1.08 million pounds, and has now been bought for the nation, with proceeds split evenly between the finders and the landowner.

“The contents of the hoard we found went far beyond our wildest dreams,” the Whelans said in a press release.

The treasure consists of 67 precious-metal objects including bracelets, ornaments, and ingots; 617 coins -- and a gilt silver vessel that contained most of the smaller objects. It was made in present-day France or Germany in the mid-9th century, and seems to have been intended for church services, according to the statement.

Highlights of the treasure will be shown at the two institutions that now own it: the Yorkshire Museum in York (Sept. 17 - Nov. 1) and the British Museum. Most of the money came in grants from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund, according to the statement.

The Portable Antiquities Scheme, as the nationwide archeological program is known, has recorded some 360,000 finds, most of them by metal-detector users, and the rest by people who made chance discoveries as they walked, gardened, ploughed or did everyday work.

The finds must be reported if they are “treasure” -- gold and silver pieces that are more than 300 years old, and groups of coins. Both the finder and the landowner are rewarded as an incentive for them to report. Otherwise the objects risk being sold on the black market, depriving museums of important gems.

Vikings were not Anglo-Saxons. Different hoard, True. However, I strongly suspect that the same thing will happen to this one and both landowner and metal detector hobbiest will be quite content.

 

[3113]

1600 years later we still haven't found it.

Og, Og, Og. You can come clean with us. You've got it decorating your den, don't you?

 

[oggbashan]

This is old news. The find is in the hands of The Yorkshire Museum and The British Museum ( see below ).

This find is different and much bigger. There are up to 1,500 items.

The laws on treasure trove mean that the items must be valued and the proceeds split between the finder and the landowner. However the importance of the find means that it is unlikely to be split up and will be a major museum exhibit.

How do you value something that is unique? Something that adds a mass of information to our knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Mercia?

The value is likely to be well above ten million dollars.

Og

PS. The Golden Calf? I think it's a load of bull to persuade people to help cultivate difficult terrain.