Gold hoard finder set for £400,000 windfall

A first-time metal-detecting enthusiast who discovered a hoard of Iron Age gold in a field could be in for a £460,000 windfall, officials confirmed yesterday.
By The Newsroom
Published 15th Oct 2010, 23:31 BST

Safari park keeper David Booth, 35, had owned his metal detector for just five days when he discovered four 2,000-year-old gold neckbands in a Stirlingshire field last year.

Dating from between the 1st and 3rd century BC, the bands represent the most important hoard of Iron Age gold in Scotland to date.

They were buried just six inches beneath the surface.

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Yesterday, the Queen's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer announced that she was "minded" to allocate "Scotland's most outstanding treasure trove find" to National Museums Scotland, provided they meet the ex-gratia award of 462,000 that would be payable to Mr Booth.

Mr Booth, the chief game warden at Blair Drummond Safari Park, near Stirling, made the find last September.

The collection consists of two ribbon torcs – a local style of jewellery made from a twisted ribbon of gold – half an ornate torc of southern French origin, and a unique braided gold wire torc that shows strong influences of Mediterranean craftsmanship.

Related topics:Scotland