PART of a spectacular hoard of Civil War Coins will go on display at Pontefract Museum from January 8 after a successful fundraising drive to keep the treasure in West Yorkshire.
Wakefield Council launched an appeal last October to raise the £54,492 needed to ensure the Ackworth Hoard was not lost.
The authority has now secured £39,000 towards the target and a selection of the hoard is set to go on display in Pontefract.
Council chiefs have secured £27,000 from the Victoria and Albert Museum and £10,000 from the Headley Trust.
An additional £2,000 has been raised by public donation.
Owen Johnson, 53, discovered just under 600 gold and silver coins in a ceramic pot – made in Wrenthorpe – while digging in his garden at High Ackworth in July 2011.
The coins could have been stashed underground between 1645 and 1646 by a Royalist who feared it would be looted by Roundhead troops, at around the same time as the siege of nearby Pontefract Castle.
Also discovered was a gold ring bearing the inscription “When this you see, remember me”.
At Wakefield Coroner’s Court in March this year an inquest ruled the find belongs to the state.
Coun David Dagger, Wakefield Council’s cabinet member for culture, said: “We are delighted to have secured part of The Hoard for display at Pontefract Museum. Thank you to those who have already donated. We still need more support to secure The Hoard in its entirety so every donation however big or small will help save the items for Yorkshire.”
Donation envelopes are available at Pontefract Museum, Pontefract Castle, Sandal Castle, Wakefield Tourist Information Centre or any Wakefield district library.
Or to make a donation by post please make a cheque payable to Wakefield Council – The Ackworth Hoard, and send it to Pontefract Museum, 5 Salter Row, Pontefract, WF8 1BA.
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