Most metal detectorists, as they call themselves, patrol beaches, parks, and other public areas and turn up nickels, dimes, and a lot of bottle caps. Some members of the fraternity are more serious and go after items of archeological significance.
Huge Cache of Ancient Valuables
In July 2009, 55-year-old Terry Herbert, a veteran of 18 years with his trusty metal detector, was scanning the field of a farmer friend in south Staffordshire, England. Herbert’s instrument told him something needed to be dug up. Was it a broken ploughshare? A rusty bucket?
It turned out to be what is now known as the Staffordshire Hoard, described by BBC News (September 24, 2009) as “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.”
Staffordshire Hoard Reported to Authorities
There is no law in England that requires treasure hunters to report their finds, says ourpasthistory.com. However, that group says the more responsible ones do so because the site of a discovery is usually of archeological significance and needs to be handed over to experts for proper excavation.
Herbert played his discovery by the book and reported his find. Archeologists were brought in to excavate the site, and catalogue and record all the artifacts. The treasure has been taken to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery for careful study and display.
Hoard Dated to Seventh Century
The Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery says at least 1,500 items have been unearthed at the site. The museum says the find is unusual “because it largely seems to be made up of fittings that have been stripped from the hilts of swords and daggers (mostly pommel caps and hilt plates). No trace was found of any sword or dagger blades.” However, at least two Christian crosses are among the relics.
Most of the objects are made of gold and some are decorated with garnets; “Others are covered in fine filigree work, or carry patterns made up of animals with interlaced bodies.”
Value of the Staffordshire Hoard
The rule in the U.K. about treasure more than 300 years old is that it belongs to the Crown. However, an independent Treasure Valuation Committee establishes what the find is worth.
Although the Crown owns the treasure the practice is for museums and other interested parties to buy items from the collection at fair market price from the finder. Nobody is more interested in the value than Terry Herbert and his farmer pal, Fred Johnson, who have agreed to split the proceeds.
But, the day after the announcement of the treasure find Herbert and Johnson appear to have started squabbling over it. According to The Times (September 25, 2009), farmer Johnson says, "I'm not happy with Terry." He says Herbert is only concerned about the money. "It is not about the money for me," he claims. "It’s an incredible find for the country and that’s what is more important."
Authorities are a bit tight-lipped about how much the Staffordshire Hoard is worth. However, an Irish Times reporter got a quote from Dr. Roger Bland, head of portable antiquities and treasure at the British Museum. He told the newspaper (September 24, 2009), “I can’t say anything other than we expect it to be a seven-figure sum.”
What Story Lies behind Gold Find?
Archeologists and historians will debate how this important discovery came to be buried. The most likely current theory is that during a period of unrest, think war, the treasure was popped into the ground for safekeeping with the intention of coming back and digging it up when calm had returned. But, apparently the owners never came back.
At present, experts are ecstatic about the Staffordshire Hoard. BBC News quotes Leslie Webster, former keeper at the British Museum's Department of Prehistory and Europe, as saying, “(It is) absolutely the equivalent of finding a new Lindisfarne Gospels or Book of Kells.” These were beautifully illuminated manuscripts of the four New Testament Gospels from more than a thousand years ago.
Archeologist Dr. Kevin Leahy echoes these sentiments, “All the archaeologists who’ve worked with it have been awestruck.”
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