The British Museum has stated publicly that it supports the acquisition of this unique find by museums in the West Midlands. We believe that a joint acquisition by Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke on Trent, would best ensure that the great interest in the hoard in Staffordshire and the West Midlands is catered for. We very much hope and expect that these museums will be able to raise the money to acquire the hoard, but in the unlikely event that those museums are unable to do this, then the British Museum would seek to act as an acquirer of last resort to ensure that the hoard is held by a public collection.
The British Museum, with the Portable Antiquities Scheme, stands ready to work with those museums to secure that goal. The Museum and the Portable Antiquities Scheme will also play an active role in partnership with those museums in the very significant research project involved in studying the find, which is only just beginning. The Portable Antiquities Scheme has already been able to provide the services of Dr Kevin Leahy, National Finds Adviser, who has made the initial handlist of the find in a period of less than eleven weeks from the initial discovery of the hoard and we expect that he will continue his study of the hoard, in conjunction with a team of experts to advise on particular aspects of the finds and their context and historical background. The provisional handlist of the hoard is already published online at www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk and it is planned to update and expand that as Dr Leahy works on the hoard, with the likely publication of a book containing a detailed catalogue of the objects and introductory essays by other experts in due course. The facilities of the British Museum’s Department of Conservation and Science will also be available to assist in the conservation and study of the hoard.
The British Museum has a devolved responsibility for administering the Treasure Act and the valuation process and thus has responsibility for the management and supervision of the hoard until museums have acquired it. The hoard is currently on show in Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery until 13 October after which it will be brought to the British Museum to be valued by the Treasure Valuation Committee. The Committee’s remit is to value the find at a fair market value, as between a willing buyer and willing seller and this will be divided equally between the finder of the hoard, Mr Terry Herbert, and the owner of the land where the find was made.
The Committee has commissioned valuations from three members of its panel of valuers: these are all leading experts in auction houses and the antiquities market. Interested parties (the finder, landowner and acquiring museum(s)) will also have the opportunity to commission their own valuations and to comment on the reports commissioned for the Committee. It is the intention that the Committee will consider all this evidence at its meeting on 25 November and will make a recommendation to the Secretary of State about the valuation accordingly. The Committee will treat this case a priority.
Interested parties will have an opportunity to comment on this recommendation, and if they do so, the find will be considered by the Committee at a future meeting. Once all parties have agreed the valuation, then the British Museum will issue an invoice to the acquiring museums and, under the guidelines in the Treasure Act Code of Practice, they will be asked to raise the money within 4 months of the issue of the invoice, although more time may be allowed if a major sum of money needs to be raised.
Dr Roger Bland, Head of Department of Portable Antiquities & Treasure, British Museum
