Anglo-Saxon gold pendant just over half an inch wide valued at £145,000 is declared treasure – but the metal detectorist who found it in 2017 will only get a fraction of its worth
- The pendant was found near where a similar item worth £145,000 was dug up
- The Winfarthing Pendant was found in 2014 by a student near Diss in Norfolk
- The latest pendant measures 17mm and belonged to a woman of high status
- It features gold bead work and measures 17mm (0.67in) by 13mm (0.5in), is believed to date from the late-6th Century to the mid-7th.
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An Anglo-Saxon pendant unearthed in 2017 near where a similar item worth £145,000 was dug up has been declared treasure by the coroner’s office.
The Winfarthing Pendant, valued at £145,000, was dug up on farmland in 2014 near Diss in Norfolk by a student.
The gold piece has a central cross motif and probably belonged to a woman of ‘high social status’, according to experts.
It features gold bead work and measures 17mm (0.67in) by 13mm (0.5in), and is believed to date from the late-6th Century to the mid-7th.
It was declared treasure by the Norfolk coroner, which means that ownership now lies with the Crown.
It will be valued by the Portable Antiquities Scheme run by the British Museum.
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An Anglo-Saxon gold pendant unearthed in 2017 near where a similar item worth £145,000 was dug up has been declared treasure by the coroner. The Winfarthing Pendant, valued at £145,000, was dug up on farmland in 2014 near Diss in Norfolk by a student
WHAT IS TREASURE?
Under the Treasure Act 1996, finders of potential treasure in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are legally obliged to notify their local coroner
An inquest then determines whether the finds constitute treasure.
If the find is declared treasure, the finder must offer it for sale to a museum at a price set by the British Museum’s Treasure Valuation Committee.
A reward is then offered to the finders and other relevant parties.
Julie Shoemark, Norfolk’s finds liaison officer, said it made a ‘valuable contribution to our understanding of Saxon society’.
Ms Shoemark, from Norfolk County Council’s archaeology department, said: ‘Like the Winfarthing assemblage, this piece most likely belonged to a high-status lady.
‘It dates to an important turning point in Saxon history during the first flowering of Christianity [in England] and is of similar date to the jewellery assemblage from the now famous and nearby Winfarthing burial, according to the Times.
‘Male graves of this period appear to be entirely lacking in elaborate jewellery.
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The Winfarthing Pendant was on show at the British Library in London until last month along with the Alfred Jewel and the Domesday Book. It was found by Tom Lucking, a student who was metal detecting on farmland along with other items near Diss
The Winfarthing Pendant was on show at the British Library in London until last month along with the Alfred Jewel and the Domesday Book.
It was found by Tom Lucking, a student who was metal detecting on farmland along with other items near Diss.
He unearthed the grave of an aristocratic woman dating from AD630 to 650 after finding a bronze bowl, including a 7cm (2.8in) pendant.
In November 2016, an inquest in Norwich declared the haul, which included coins and a copper bowl, to be treasure.
Mr Lucking, who was 23 when he found the items, said at the time: ‘We knew there was something large, but couldn’t predict it would be like that.’
The former student, who’s now an archaeologist, said any money he receives will be used for a deposit on a house.
‘It’s going to make things a lot easier,’ he said.
HOW DO METAL DETECTORS WORK?
The invention of the metal detector cannot be truly claimed by one person.
It is a combination and amalgamation of several different pieces of technology.
Alexander Graham Bell did fashion a device that was an electromagnetic, metal locating machine.
This was based on a device invented by physicist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove.
Sometime later, an engineer Gerhard Fischer, filed a patent regarding a design.
A metal detector consists of a stabiliser, control box, shaft, and search coil.
It is the two coils that are actually responsible for the detection of metal.
The outer coil is the transmitter coil while the inner coil is the receiver coil.
This works to detect and amplify frequencies. This type of technology is known as Very Low Frequency or VLF technology.
When electricity is provided to this transmitter coil, there is a magnetic field created around the coil.
This is the same science behind electromagnets.
When the machine wafts over metal the electrons in the metal – due to its metallic bonding and sea of electrons surrounding a fixed positively charged mass – are affected by the magnetic field.
The change in the electrons triggers a tiny electrical field in the metal object which alters the frequency of the metal detector.
This indicates metal is present.
More advanced metal detectors are also able of differentiating between different types of metal ad the frequency change is different and therefore the pitch of the note is altered.
Source: The Detectorist
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