all photographs of Hoard objects courtesy of British Museum and Herefordshire Museum Service Team
For all the latest news please see
https://www.herefordshirehoard.co.uk
What is the Herefordshire Hoard?
The Herefordshire Hoard is a collection of coins and jewellery dating to the Viking period found by metal detectorists near Leominster, Herefordshire in June 2015. Instead of reporting the find they sold most items to dealers with the intention of keeping the proceeds for themselves. When this was discovered, they were prosecuted and sentenced to imprisonment in 2019.
Sadly, most of this fantastic hoard was dispersed. However a few beautiful objects and some gold and silver coins were recovered.
Working with Museum Service Team and other officers, we were successful in securing the artefacts for the pleasure and enjoyment of the people of Herefordshire and the wider public. National grant bodies were generous with their support and along with the individual public donations and those from organisations keen to see the treasure returning home after a precarious journey since being dug up in 2015 near Eye, Leominster we met the target sum.
The story is not complete though. In late December 2022 the two men jailed for the theft were ordered to pay sums of over £600,000 each or face additional jail sentences. One has paid and the other has not. This money was intended to offer partial reparation for their act which deprived the public of items of considerable national historic importance.
Find out more at https://www.herefordshirehoard.co.uk/
What does it tell us about Herefordshire in the Viking Period?
Experts say the coins and objects are of national significance as they tell us a lot about political allegiances between Mercia (which is what is this area was called at the time) and other Anglo-Saxon and Welsh kingdoms. They also provide evidence that the Vikings did come to this area.
The story of the HOARD has attracted national and international interest. Follow the link to read an article published in the New Yorker in November 2020 entitled ‘The curse of the Buried Treasure’.