# Super cool: Anglo-Saxon treasure found **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 24, 2009, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-cool-anglo-saxon-treasure-found/511359 "2009-09-24T12:10:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-cool-anglo-saxon-treasure-found/511359/1 "2009-09-24T12:10:56Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. [link](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/8272058.stm) ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-cool-anglo-saxon-treasure-found/511359/2 "2009-09-24T12:21:35Z")
Reminds me of the Roald Dahl short story, “The Mildenhall Treasure” (IIRC). ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-cool-anglo-saxon-treasure-found/511359/3 "2009-09-24T12:22:32Z")
Damn. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-cool-anglo-saxon-treasure-found/511359/4 "2009-09-24T12:29:13Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Reminds me of the Roald Dahl short story, “The Mildenhall Treasure” (IIRC). IIRC, only if it’s of sufficient historic interest. It’s then valued and the discoveree (sic) gets a chunk, as does the landowner. ---
**Author:** ![jonbvn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f9b8f/32.png) [@jonbvn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonbvn)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-cool-anglo-saxon-treasure-found/511359/5 "2009-09-24T12:36:10Z")
A much better link (more images) to info regarding this treasure. [http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/artefacts/](http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/artefacts/) ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-cool-anglo-saxon-treasure-found/511359/6 "2009-09-24T12:40:44Z")
Oh, to know the stories behind its commission, aquisition and burial. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-cool-anglo-saxon-treasure-found/511359/7 "2009-09-24T12:54:56Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Oh, to know the stories behind its commission, aquisition and burial. It’s funny the thoughts that come to mind; the person who buried it and what they would think of the world 1300 years later, what enormously important treasure must still be out there laying undiscovered . . . even concepts like ‘England’ were still centuries away at that point. And here am I, sending messages about it to the New World at the speed of light down a cable. Whoa nelly! ---
**Author:** ![lynne-42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lynne-42/32/3138_2.png) [@lynne-42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynne-42)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-cool-anglo-saxon-treasure-found/511359/8 "2009-09-24T13:38:28Z")
Sometimes I get the impression that England is just one huge archaeological site. Maybe they should just vacate the place, and dig it all up. Or maybe I watch too much Time Team. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-cool-anglo-saxon-treasure-found/511359/9 "2009-09-24T13:48:00Z")
England’s nothing compared to Italy or Israel. You can’t so much as dig a hole in your backyard in those places without hitting a significant historical find. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-cool-anglo-saxon-treasure-found/511359/10 "2009-09-24T16:09:20Z")
“Belongs to the crown” does that mean the dude gets nothing? ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-cool-anglo-saxon-treasure-found/511359/11 "2009-09-24T16:43:06Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > “Belongs to the crown” does that mean the dude gets nothing? From the BBC article I read this morning, the crown will place a monetary value on the find and somehow split the sum between the finder and the landowner as compensation, while the crown takes the actual treasure. Someone from the British Museum estimated that the value would be in the seven-figure range. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-cool-anglo-saxon-treasure-found/511359/12 "2009-09-24T17:44:03Z")
Pictures of [the loot](http://www.flickr.com/photos/finds/sets/72157622378376316/). Fan-freaking-tastic. ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-cool-anglo-saxon-treasure-found/511359/13 "2009-09-24T20:26:39Z")
Oh man. I’d love to see this stuff for real. The photos are nice, but it isn’t the same. -Carl (former english medieval history student) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-cool-anglo-saxon-treasure-found/511359/14 "2009-09-24T21:16:05Z")
Haven’t real all the links at length. I assume/hope, however, that the finder left the materials relatively undisturbed and allowed professionals to excavate them. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-cool-anglo-saxon-treasure-found/511359/15 "2009-09-24T22:07:08Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Haven’t real all the links at length. I assume/hope, however, that the finder left the materials relatively undisturbed and allowed professionals to excavate them. I think he did :- \*Originally discovered by metal detectorist Terry Herbert in July 2009 and subsequently excavated by Birmingham University Archaeology Unit and Staffordshire County Council. \* ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-cool-anglo-saxon-treasure-found/511359/16 "2009-09-25T08:09:58Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > I think he did :- > > \*Originally discovered by metal detectorist Terry Herbert in July 2009 and subsequently excavated by Birmingham University Archaeology Unit and Staffordshire County Council. > \* Also, according to the [Garudian article,](http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/sep/24/anglo-saxon-treasure-hoard-gold-staffordshire-metal-detector) a “flying squad” from the British Museum. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’d definitely watch a TV show about the British Museum Flying Squad – “One false move, and you’re history!” ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-cool-anglo-saxon-treasure-found/511359/17 "2009-09-25T08:27:24Z")
> [@Carl\_Corey](#): > > Oh man. I’d love to see this stuff for real. The photos are nice, but it isn’t the same. > > -Carl (former english medieval history student) I’m planning to book a morning off work next week to go see a few of the items at the local museum - love this sort of stuff so seeing it close up will be immense. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-cool-anglo-saxon-treasure-found/511359/18 "2009-09-25T09:39:55Z")
Absolutely incredible photos.