Man 'disgusted' after ancient jewel valued at just £2.8k

Man 'disgusted' after ancient jewel valued at just £2.8k



A man who found 1,400-year-old Anglo Saxon treasure while digging up his garden has been left furious - after it was valued at a 'paltry' £2,800 ($3,500).

Paul Hardcastle, 52, was erecting a fence post in his garden when he came across an 'Acomb Jewel' - thought to have been buried with a high-status Anglo-Saxon woman during the 7th century.

But Mr Hardcastle was left 'disgusted' when his treasure was valued at just under £3,000 ($3,800) - not the £48,000 ($61,000) similar jewellery had made in the past.

However, despite the valuation being low, Mr Hardcastle may have to sell the jewellery for the low price to The Yorkshire Museum because of British Treasure laws.



Mr Hardcastle, of York, North Yorkshire, said: 'I am disgusted and insulted by the offer, as when they eventually display it it will be on bill boards and flags at the museum.'

Mr Hardcastle had put the jewellery up for sale on an antiquities website to test what bids he would get and they reached almost £50,000 ($64,000) before he pulled the sale.

He says he is now going to fight to keep the jewellery rather than sell it for £2,800 ($3,500).

Mr Hardcastle added: 'It's not about the money - I do not need it.

'It's about the insult by the governing bodies who think they have the right to "steal" off the public.'

Mr Hardcastle said his garden fence blew down in high winds in spring 2016 and his son, a builder, had dug down at least three feet to install a replacement fence post when he spotted the gold in the dirt.



York area coroner Rob Turnbull concluded after an inquest earlier this year that the find, which included fragments of a brooch, decorated with filigree gold foils and garnets, was 'treasure'.

This gave museums the opportunity to acquire it after its full market value had been established by an independent Treasure Valuation Committee.

The York Museums Trust said then it was interested in buying it for the Yorkshire Museum.



The British Museum said that because the find had been declared treasure, it was owned by the Crown, and not the finder or landowner.

A spokesperson said: 'In accordance with the Treasure Act 1996, since a museum wishes to acquire the find, the finder and landowner cannot keep it but are eligible to receive a reward equivalent to the market value of the find.'

However, she added the finder could supply evidence, such as his own valuation from a member of the antiquities trade, to justify his view that it was too low.

A York Museums Trust spokesman said: 'The museum has four months, once the valuation has been agreed and the museum has been invoiced, to seek the funding needed.

'If successful then the museum will look at conserving and then researching the artefacts to find out more about the objects, before putting them on public display.'



Natalie Buy, curator of archaeology, said: 'These are very interesting and beautiful finds from an interesting part of York.

'We look forward to finding out more about them and then putting them on display for the public to enjoy.'

Mr Hardcastle's disappointment comes as it has been reported that a metal detectorist who found Britain's biggest Viking treasure hoard is set to receive a reward of nearly £2 million ($2.6 million).

Derek McLennan, 50, a retired businessman, found the remarkable 10th century artefacts in a field on church land in the south west of Scotland in 2014.