Saxon Gold Pointer for Auction
Published September 19th, 2008
A rare Saxon relic is expected to fetch between £10,000 and £15,000 when it is auctioned next month, Bonhams said.
Madeleine Perridge of Bonhams Antiquities Department, comments: “When handling an object like this, anyone with a love of history and literature knows that they are in touch with centuries of monastic scholarly endeavour, and possibly with royal sponsorship of that work. It is a privilege to be selling this beautiful rare object.”
The hollow cast pointer would have been used by monks as an aid to reading manuscripts.
The 9th century gold pointer was found by amateur treasure hunter Tim Pearson at Aughton, South Yorkshire, in 2005.
Mr Pearson said at the time he had been going to the field for six years and never discovered anything more than a Roman coin before.
