An item which looks like a large poo is actually treasure believed to date back as far as the Viking Age. William Goronwy was out walking in a field in the village of Burton in Pembrokeshire on April 24, 2020. While there, he discovered the mystery object with the aid of a metal detector.
The item’s diameter measured 59.4mm, with a maximum width of 10.8mm and weighed 13.8g. And after investigation, it turned out that find was far from your bog standard discovery - it was an ingot made up of more than 10% silver. Ingots are generally made of metal, either pure or alloy, which have been cast into a bar or block using a mold chill method. Precious metal ingots were previously used as currency, or as currency reserve, similar to gold bars, thousands of years ago.
A treasure inquest was held at Pembrokeshire County Hall in Haverfordwest on Thursday, where the ancient item was officially declared as treasure by the county’s assistant coroner Gareth Lewis, who read a report at the hearing which outlined the specifications and age of the piece.
