Anglo-Saxon treasure worth millions

AP

TREASURE: A hilt fitting, unearthed in the Anglo-Saxon hoard found by Terry Herbert.

AP

INTRIGUING FIND: 'The Folded Cross', which was part of an Anglo-Saxon hoard found by 55-year old Terry Herbert, from Burntwood, England.

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An Anglo-Saxon treasure trove found by a man with a metal detector in an English field has been valued at 3.28m pounds ($NZ7.56 million).

The money will be split equally between Terry Herbert, who unearthed the Staffordshire Hoard in July, and landowner Fred Johnson.

The hoard comprises more than 1500 mainly gold and silver items thought to date back to the seventh century and is the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon treasure ever found.

The valuation by the independent Treasure Valuation Committee was announced on Thursday.

The two men and the two museums hoping to acquire the hoard, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent, all approved the sum.

Committee chairman Norman Palmer said the group worked hard to agree on a fair market price in a short space of time.

"All finders of treasure can take encouragement that the most valuable treasure find ever made was dealt with so speedily and yet so scrupulously by all parties concerned," Professor Palmer said.

"It is of course immensely important that this extraordinary hoard is acquired for public benefit and I know that the two museums are anxious to raise the funding to keep the hoard in the West Midlands as soon as they can."

A fund-raising campaign is being launched to help the two museums buy the treasure, some of which is on display at the British Museum in London.

- AAP