Staffordshire Hoard returns to Birmingham... for now!

Mar 14 2010 by William Oliphant, Sunday Mercury

CROWDS flocked to see hidden gems from the Staffordshire Hoard yesterday as a new exhibition opened in Birmingham.

Around 60 previously unseen Anglo-Saxon items went on display including helmet fragments, a crumpled gold cross and parts of animal ornaments.

The event is being held at Birmingham Museum and Art Galleries until April 19, in conjunction with another which has been running at Stoke-on-Trent Museum for the past three weeks.

Simon Cane, from the Birmingham museum, said: “Stoke has had a fantastic turnout and now we’re pleased to be housing slightly smaller displays in both museums simultaneously.

“There are about 60 items here, although the Hoard had more than a thousand.

‘‘Some larger items are now in London where they’re being used to raise money to help keep the collection in the West Midlands.’’

The Hoard was discovered last July on farmland near Burntwood, Staffordshire, by local metal detector user Terry Herbert.

The treasure, which included hundreds of bejewelled battlefield items, added up to around 5kg of the purest of gold and 2.5kg of silver.