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I am trying to find the age of a silver cross that I have found on a site that had a benedictine priory on it from 1149 to 1540.

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I believe that clues to its age are the use of a two bar Patriarchal Cross with "IHC" on the top bar.

Jesus' head is bowed

No wound mark in the abdomen, although wound marks on the hands and feet.

I would appreciate any advice as to age that you could provide.

Thanks Kev Johnstone

Ken Graham
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Kevin Johnstone
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  • Hi and welcome to the site. Please take the tour and review some of our Meta FAQs to find out how things work around here. – bruised reed Jan 02 '18 at 09:09
  • A Cross with a Corpus on it, is a Crucifix. – Ken Graham Jan 03 '18 at 20:27
  • Thanks Ken, any ideas on age? – Kevin Johnstone Jan 03 '18 at 20:48
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    If it is from a Benedictine site, have you reached out to any Benedictine monasteries? Try Ampleforth Abbey in England or even Portsmouth Abbey in the US. Email the abbot. They should point you in the right direction and be interested in your project. – guest37 Jan 04 '18 at 04:33
  • Did you just happen upon it while searching, or did you plan on finding something like this? Just curious. – matheno Jul 28 '18 at 01:50
  • Hi Matheno, I am a metal detectorist, so go out speculatively looking for metal items. The site I was on had a benedictine priory on it in the 1100's, and I have found a couple of gold rings one from c.1150 and one from c.1350. This is another artefact, which I am trying to ascertain the age of. – Kevin Johnstone Jul 31 '18 at 13:01
  • It's been declared to the coroner, and is being investigated by the British Museum as to it's likely age. They have a right under the Treasure Act 1996 to compulsory purchase it if they believe it to be of significant interest. I am hoping to find out on Monday what the verdict from the British Museum is ! I recently found a Roman Silver Denarius from the emperor Octavius from 44 BC. That was minted before Jesus' Dad was born! – Kevin Johnstone Jul 31 '18 at 13:01
  • It looks like Cyril Methodius cross – Grasper Sep 17 '18 at 11:43
  • @KevinJohnstone, by "Jesus' Dad," I assume you mean Joseph, Mary's husband. ;) In that you may or may not be correct; there's no historical source I know of that gives a definitive birth year for him. There is an old church tradition (I've read of it in Eusebius' Church History) that Joseph was actually an older man, and a widower, when he married Mary. It's not all that unlikely that he was 40 or older at the time of Jesus' birth (roughly 5 or 6 BC). – JDM-GBG Dec 31 '18 at 19:44
  • @KevinJohnstone, nitpicking aside, very cool finds -- and it's good to know you're honoring the relevant laws for what you come up with. I had a metal detector myself as a teenager (just a cheap model intended for children), but had tremendous fun with it. Found some interesting items even in my own back yard, as our home was built on the site of a city dump. The most interesting was an old car license plate from 1928. – JDM-GBG Dec 31 '18 at 19:47
  • Once you find out, answer your own question so we know! – Zenon Jan 20 '19 at 20:58
  • It's nearly a year after you were supposed to find out, any update? – Andrew Jul 30 '19 at 20:30
  • The cross is still with the British Museum. I have been chasing them for nearly 2 years to give me more information, and to return it ! – Kevin Johnstone Oct 26 '19 at 15:30

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just an update on the cross I found.

The British Museum have reviewed it and come back with their findings. It is taking an age to further process due to Covid. The artefact has been declared as treasure. They however appear a little lost in defining it's exact age, given the age mix of the design attributes/styles.

They are not aware of anything else which is similar. Some attributes are "romanesque", some are akin to 13th Century design, some potentially 16th Century design. They do believe that it was once gilded with trace elements of mercury and gold having been found on it. The silver content is 93-95%. The loop has a lower lead level than the rest which suggests that although it was added later, it was not much later. They have declared the age to be anywhere from 1200-1700, even though their are Romanesque attributes.

As it is more than 10% precious metal and at least 300 years old, they have classed it as an item of treasure, under the Treasure Act of 1996. The cross is with the coroner waiting to have its day in court when they will decide if it will be compulsory purchased by the Museum or returned to the finder and Land Owner. I will update the page with the findings of the proceedings when they finally take place.

Kev J.

Kevin Johnstone
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