Another Treasure acquisition has made it into the national press over the last couple of weeks, and this one is aesthetically rather nice as well. A gold Iron Age torc weighing 1.5lbs was discovered by Maurice Richardson.
Newark Torc aquired – Independent article
When it was originally reported back in 2005, the BBC ran a story on the torc, stating it was probably worth £100K. As the artefact was valued at £350K, it was quite an achievement for the Museums to acquire it for display locally, as JD Hill of the BM has been quoted:
It’s a daunting prospect for the British Museum or the V&A to raise £350,000. So the fact that the Newark and Sherwood Museum Service has acquired this is pretty amazing.
The local council stated in their minutes, that they decided to seek funding to purchase the object because they wanted to:
..ensure that an exceptional artefact relating to the historical importance of the District is secured for local and national interest.
The funding was secured from a variety of sources including the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Art Fund. The Treasure Record for this artefact will come out in next year’s report, usually published around October, however this may slip due to the British Museum taking over responsibility for administering the Treasure Act.