Anglo-Saxon Hoard [Archive]

TinCow

09-24-2009, 12:14

Amazing stuff...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/staffordshire/8272058.stm

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."

Banquo's Ghost

09-24-2009, 20:28

It's an absolutely fascinating find.

The hoard appears to be mainly military hardware decorations, perhaps gathered from defeated enemies over a period of time. Analysis might give many clues to other clans/peoples who came unstuck against the Mercians.

Seign Thelas

09-25-2009, 00:29

Now does the guy who found it get to keep it and sell it to the government, or do they just take it from him?

Tribesman

09-25-2009, 02:02

Now does the guy who found it get to keep it and sell it to the government, or do they just take it from him?
As it was a buried stash its trove which means the government gets it by law but has to pay their idea of market value to the finder and landowner.
To get around this (if you are so inclined) the best way is to "find" it again in a location that won't be covered by treasure trove restrictions, like a river or the sea, but check no one owns the particular riverbed or the seabed first.

al Roumi

09-29-2009, 14:26

As it was a buried stash its trove which means the government gets it by law but has to pay their idea of market value to the finder and landowner.
To get around this (if you are so inclined) the best way is to "find" it again in a location that won't be covered by treasure trove restrictions, like a river or the sea, but check no one owns the particular riverbed or the seabed first.

The finder still stands to get 50% of the value, which will likely work out to be a few million £s.

Now is that less or more sad than playing the lottery?

aimlesswanderer

09-29-2009, 15:06

This makes me wonder what other stuff is buried around the world, just waiting to be found. There must be lots of other interesting things down there, that would otherwise go to waste.

Where is the airborne area effect underground metal detector? That'd be worth a motza.

Tribesman

10-01-2009, 18:05

The finder still stands to get 50% of the value
But if he wanted to be sneaky he could get 100% of the real market value, not just a portion of what the government says the value is.

aimlesswanderer

10-02-2009, 04:29

Tribesman

10-02-2009, 19:55

Wouldn't it be difficult to offload parts of this find, since it is so massive and the quality of the items is very high? There apparently isn't much stuff like that around, you'd likely have to go through dodgy sources.

You wouldn't have to go through dodgy sources at all and since it has the rarity and quality elements the true value on the open legitimate market would by far exceed the limited market offer you get from trove.
The idea of finding it under invented circumstances is to avail of the easy legal process afterwards.

I wonder when someone will eventually find the lost anglo-saxon crown jewels. After all they most certainly will not be covered by trove law

Justiciar

10-02-2009, 22:08

Should imagine they're at the bottom of the Pacific by now. :inquisitive: