Funds are being raised by Dorset Museum to ensure rare archaeological finds remain in the county.
Dorset Museum & Art Gallery is trying to raise enough money to keep two rare treasure hoards in Dorset.
Unless acquired by the Dorchester-based museum, there is a risk that these hoards will be broken up and thus any possibility of research will be lost.
The first treasure is a group of 40 gold stater Iron Age coins, found at Charlton Marshall near Blandford. The coins were imported from France and date from the 2nd century AD. They were made by a Gaulish tribe called the Baiocasses and very few similar finds are known from Dorset and the south coast.
The coins have been valued at £15,300 and Dorset Museum & Art Gallery has already raised £8,682 towards the purchase through a grant from the ACE/V&A Purchase Fund and private donations. To keep the coins in the county they need to raise an additional £6,618 which would allow the potential for future research into their origin, manufacture and use.
The second hoard is a Middle Bronze Age hoard found in Stalbridge, also in north Dorset. It consists of a palstave axe head, a bangle with incised decoration and a rapier sword. It has been deemed an unusual find as it was apparently deliberately broken in three pieces and buried, but the hilt was shaped to mimic a wooden handle. Only two similar (and incomplete) examples could be identified in Britain.
The Stalbridge rapier hoard has been valued at £17,000 and £9,075 has so far been raised towards the purchase through private donations and a grant from the ACE/V&A Purchase Fund. To keep the hoard in the county an additional £7,925 needs to be raised.
Elizabeth Selby, Director of Collections and Public Engagement at Dorset Museum & Art Gallery said: “These are important and unusual hoards, and if the museum is not able to acquire them, it is likely that the groups will be broken up and sold outside of the county.
"This will mean that all possibility of further research on the hoards, or opportunities for them to be displayed together, will be lost."
Donation to the appeals can be made by visiting the museum’s website:
https://www.dorsetmuseum.org/charlton-marshall-gold-stater-hoard-appeal/
https://www.dorsetmuseum.org/stalbridge-middle-bronze-age-hoard-appeal/
Alternatively, donations can be made by phoning 01305 262735 or by sending a cheque made payable to Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, citing ‘Charlton Marshall appeal’ or ‘Stalbridge appeal’ in the covering note.
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