Historic gold and silver items found close to Staffordshire Hoard

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

Most of the new pieces of gold and silver unearthed in the field where the Staffordshire Hoard was found three years ago has been declared a treasure trove.
The 81 items, which date back to the 7th century, will now be handed to the British Museum’s valuation committee, which will value them, an inquest in Stafford was told. Staffordshire County Council will then be charged with raising the money to buy the new items for the nation.

Unearthed: Most of a collection of new items, including this helmet, has been declared treasure trove. Around 90 new pieces of gold and silver were found near where the Staffordshire Hoard was found in 2009

Eighty-one of the items were declared treasure trove. They include part of a helmet, an eagle and a cross.

If the money is raised, the pieces are likely to be displayed in museums alongside the original Staffordshire Hoard, which was found in a field near Lichfield in 2009 by metal detectorist Terry Herbert.

Mr Herbert and landowner and local farmer Fred Johnson will divide any proceeds from the sale of the new find in the same way they did with the original hoard.
 The second haul was discovered by a team from Archaeology Warwickshire.However Mr Herbert and Mr Johnson will benefit because they were were behind the original discovery, the coroner said.

The original hoard, which contained 3,900 items, was bought for £3.3 million with the help of public donations and has since been seen by tens of thousands of people.

Original find: This strip of gold bearing a Latin biblical inscription was part of the original Staffordshire Hoard found in 2009 by Terry Herbert

The new find is only expected to cost a fraction of that figure.

Evidence was given in the coroner’s court by Dr Kevin Leahy, an archaeological finds specialist who catalogued the original hoard and the new items, and principal archaeologist for Staffordshire Stephen Dean. Mr Dean said the new finds were ‘closely related’ to the original contents of the Staffordshire Hoard. He said: ‘It all fits very tightly with the Staffordshire Hoard.'
He described how a team of archaeologists returned to the field in November last year and in two phases recovered the pieces from the ground, including gold and silver items, hilt rivets and pommel caps from swords and small fragments of metal discs, made of either copper alloy or base silver.

The most interesting finds included an eagle mount - whose use is not known - and a cheek piece from a helmet.

If enough money is raised, the new discoveries will go on display in museums with the original Staffordhire Hoard (pictured)

Mr Haigh asked Mr Dean why these pieces had not been found with the main hoard three years earlier. He said: ‘It is thought a lot of ploughing has brought material up, but I think we are now in the diminishing returns.
‘In 2009, we uncovered 3,900 items and now this time 90 items - I believe we have now recovered everything in the topsoil.’

Dr Leahy said that the finds had ‘roused the public’s interest’ in a period of history which had until recently been considered the Dark Ages.

The discovery, circled in red, was made in the same field where the Staffordshire Hoard, the largest collection of Anglo Saxon treasure was recovered in 2009

He said: ‘This is a period which runs for twice that of the Roman period, and which shows Anglo-Saxons were highly cultured.'
Some of the gold in the pieces from the original Staffordshire Hoard could be traced to Istanbul in modern-day Turkey, and the gems to India and Eastern Europe, showing the Anglo-Saxons to be accomplished traders.

At the end of the hearing, Mr Haigh ruled 10 of the total of 91 items discovered in phased investigations starting on November 19, 2012, were not to be considered treasure because they were modern ‘waste’ material.

These items will all be returned to the owner and finder.