Archaeologists always hope to find … treasure. Well, or not a treasure, but something very valuable, even if not necessarily gold. And they are really lucky. In Egypt, they found a golden coffin and a mask of Pharaoh Tutankhamun made of gold of high standard weighing 10, 5 kg, and everyone seems to know that. But the fact that several masks similar to "tutankhamun's" have been found, alas, mostly experts know. Probably, not everyone knows about the silver coffin of Pharaoh Psusennes I and his mask, although it is no less a wonderful example of ancient Egyptian art. However, the find was made in 1939, when war was raging across Europe and people were simply not up to archeology. They find pots with copper coins and arrowheads, find silver grivnas (one such, found in our Zolotarevskoye settlement, we had a chance to hold in our hands … a strange feeling), and much more - tons, tens and hundreds of tons of various metals and stones. So, when someone starts claiming (drunk or foolish, I don't know) that all this was buried in the ground on purpose to … distort history, it's just ridiculous. It is not worth this hard labor to manufacture all these products of the scanty results that we end up with. And it is much easier to enrich descendants if you put your money in a reliable bank.
Crosby-Garrett Helmet - appearance.
Although, yes, it also happens that people find unique items exactly where no one expects to find them. However, this is not entirely true. No one has yet found a Roman helmet near Nizhny Novgorod, but quite a few of them have already been found in England, and why so, hardly needs to be explained. And today we will tell you just about the finds of the most expensive … helmets. Moreover, almost all of them are made in England, although unique and expensive (from a financial point of view, as well as from a historical point of view!) Helmets were found elsewhere. Well, one should start, of course, with the discovery of the most expensive helmet in history, called the "Crosby-Garrett helmet".
This is an ancient Roman helmet made of a copper alloy and dating back to around the 1st - 3rd century AD. This helmet was found in May 2010 by a local resident using a metal detector in the town of Crosby Garrett in Cumbria, England. Apparently, this is not a combat helmet. Most likely, it was intended either for some kind of ceremony, or for participants in the paramilitary equestrian games "hippika gymnasia". This is supported by the fact that similar helmets have already been found here and this is the third in a row.
But the most important thing is still not this, but the fact that on October 7, 2010, the "Crosby-Garrett helmet" was auctioned by Christie for a fantastic amount of 2.3 million pounds sterling (3.6 million dollars) to some anonymous buyer by phone. And by the way, who this person is is still unknown!
And it so happened that many inhabitants of England, at the first opportunity, buy themselves a metal detector and go around with it both their own property and public fields and forests in search of antiquities. And since on the land of ancient Britain who and what was not there, quite often they are accompanied by good luck. So it was this time: the helmet was found by a private searcher, who also wished to remain anonymous, using a metal detector on the pasture of a farm owned by a certain Eric Robinson, in the Crosby Garrett area. Nothing was known about the fact that any ancient Roman settlements or camps were located in these places. But on the other hand, an ancient Roman road passed through these places, which led to the northern border of Roman Britain. This road had an important, one might say, strategic importance, and if so, then one could assume a significant military presence, and the movement of military forces in these places in the distant past. That is, Roman legions marched along it to the north and cavalry galloped, including Sarmatian cataphracts, and here they could well set up their camps.
The find was by no means a whole helmet, but 33 large and 34 small fragments, and, most likely, it was wrapped in cloth and placed with its face shield down. Since, as they say, there were no Roman settlements here, it can be assumed that the helmet was buried in the ground at the time of danger that threatened its owner. But, nevertheless, he still had time to bury it! However, it is quite possible that thorough archaeological research will now be carried out here. However, when will it be? This is still being talked about.
As already mentioned, from a long stay in the ground, the helmet was badly destroyed, so that in the end it was a set of 67 different fragments. But Christie's auction house hired restorers who restored it to its original form. It is believed that since the restoration was carried out even before the helmet was presented to the British Museum for scientific examination, it is possible that important information about the origin of this helmet was lost. On the other hand, the examination confirmed the main thing, namely, that it is not a fake. It is interesting that some fragments of the helmet bear traces of white metal, which gives reason to believe that the entire helmet was completely covered with white metal "like silver".
Crosby-Garrett Helmet. Photo taken during the auction.
After the restoration, a typical ceremonial helmet of a Roman cavalryman, which was used during the games "hippika gymnasia", was obtained. The appearance of a helmet with a mask was the head of a young man with curly hair and a Phrygian cap. On the pointed top of the helmet was a winged sphinx, which was quite unusual for this kind of helmet. It is possible that the mask and helmet depict the god Mithra, whose cult was popular among Roman legionaries in the 1st-4th centuries. n. NS.
It was clear that the find at Crosby Garrett seemed to be very valuable from a historical point of view, and if so, then it also has a certain monetary value. But can it be considered a treasure, that is the question? The fact is that according to English law, and it is considered one of the most developed in the world on this issue, this find was not legally recognized as a treasure, since objects made of bronze are considered as such only if they are found in a whole, and not in damaged form. But objects made of gold or silver are considered treasures, regardless of any of their historical value.
If the helmet was officially recognized as a treasure, then a long bureaucratic procedure for its examination would begin, and the state museums of England received the priority right to redeem the helmet from an amateur archaeologist, which is why the amount that they would pay to the who found the helmet and the owner of the land on which found him, could have been not so great at all. But since the museums did not receive such rights, the helmet was auctioned on October 7, 2010 for £ 2,281,250 ($ 3,631,750), including auction fees, and was purchased by an anonymous buyer who bid by phone. The sale of the helmet significantly exceeded the preliminary estimates of its sale: most experts believed that the amount of 200-300 thousand pounds would be quite sufficient, and the assumption that the helmet would be bought for 500 thousand pounds was considered too daring.
Helmet indoors during Christie's auction.
The Tully Museum from Carlisle proposed to start collecting funds in order to redeem the helmet with them and place it on its display, that is, leave it in the county where it was found. One of the patrons said that he was even ready to donate one pound for every collected public pound. Thus, it was possible to raise more than 50,000 pounds, plus 50,000 came from an anonymous philanthropist - that is, more than 100 thousand pounds - a huge amount in general, to which, in addition, a special grant of 1 million pounds from the National Heritage Fund was added. … But … even such funds were not enough and the helmet went into private hands. The museum offered the buyer to place the helmet in the museum's exposition at least for some time, but these negotiations did not bring success.
All these events have caused a lively discussion in England about the law on treasures and the assessment of its compliance with possible situations. By law, it turns out that five 16th century silver coins, which cost only £ 50, fall under the Treasure Act, and although museums do not need these coins, they still have the priority right to redeem them. But they cannot buy a value like a "Crosby-Garrett helmet" due to lack of funds. In addition, employees of the Tully Museum, as well as a number of officials, called on the government to ban the export of the helmet from England.
In general, it's great that there are still places on earth where such finds are generally possible, but it is also important that in the country where they are made, there would also be laws worked out in this area!
