I was lucky enough to arrive at the Black and White House in Hereford just as one of the guides was taking a party round, so I could tag along as she talked about the Herefordshire Hoard.
It's not one of the most impressive hoards that have been discovered - the pieces on display only filled a small case. It was originally much bigger, though. When the metal detectorists found the hoard, they decided not to declare it to the Coroners Court, which is the legal route. Instead, they decided to try to sell it on the black market. By the time they were caught, roughly 300 coins had dwindled to about 20.
So, instead of getting 50% of the value of the hoard granted by the Coroner's Court, which would have been a very substantial sum, (possibly over 4 million pounds), at least one of the men involved is still in prison. Recently, the Museum service has managed to track down and retrieve part of the hoard.
It's a great pity that the coins were split up, because the ones that were left told a fascinating story. One of them was a silver dirham from Persia, showing just how far trade routes stretched in Viking times.
The prize of the collection, though, was a Two Emperors coin, so vanishingly rare that only two other examples have been found - one in 1840 and one in 1950. The coin depicts King Alfred of Wessex sitting next to King Ceolwulf of Mercia, giving valuable evidence of an alliance between the two which is not mentioned in the historical record - and the coin is also extremely valuable in the monetary sense, to collectors. That would be why we were only seeing replicas at the Black and White House, the real thing being safely under lock and key.
My favourite piece, though, was the crystal ball - not the modern sort used in fortune telling, but something much smaller, about an inch in diameter. Made out of pure quartz, and bound around with gold, it would originally have hung from a woman's belt - they have only been found in women's graves. It was great to get a really good look at one.
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