A MAN who found Anglo Saxon jewellery while digging a fence post in his York garden is furious after it was valued at a “paltry” £2,800.

Paul Hardcastle said he had rejected the ‘disgusting and insulting’ offer for what he has dubbed the ‘Acomb Jewel’, which is thought to have been buried with a high-status Anglo-Saxon woman during the 7th century.

York area coroner Rob Turnbull concluded after an inquest earlier this year that the find - which included fragments of a brooch, decorated with filigree gold foils and garnets - was ‘treasure’.

This gave museums the opportunity to acquire it after its full market value had been established by an independent Treasure Valuation Committee. The York Museums Trust said then it was interested in buying it for the Yorkshire Museum.

Now Mr Hardcastle has revealed that the valuation came back at a “paltry” £2,800, which he had immediately rejected. He said: “I am disgusted and insulted by the offer, as when they eventually display it it will be on bill boards and flags at the museum.”

He said he had put the jewellery up for sale on an antiquities website to see what it fetched, and bids had reached £48,000 by the time he had to pull the sale, and he was going to fight to keep the jewellery, rather than sell it for £2,800.

“It’s not about the money,” he said. “I do not need it. It’s about the insult by the governing bodies who think they have the right to ‘steal’ off the public.”

A British Museum spokeswoman said that because the find had been declared treasure, it was owned by the Crown, and not the finder or landowner.

“In accordance with the Treasure Act 1996, since a museum wishes to acquire the find, the finder and landowner cannot keep it but are eligible to receive a reward equivalent to the market value of the find.”

She said the reward was determined by the Secretary of State, based on recommendations by the independent Treasure Valuation Committee, informed by a valuation commissioned from an expert in the antiquities trade.

However, the finder could supply evidence, such as his own valuation from a member of the antiquities trade, to justify his view that it was too low.

“Should the finder wish to supply these, the committee will take account of his evidence and consider the case again. Should that happen and the finder remain dissatisfied with the recommendation, there remains for him a further avenue of appeal,” the spokeswoman added.

A York Museums Trust spokesman said that following the valuation, the Yorkshire Museum had expressed an interest in buying the finds.

“The museum has four months, once the valuation has been agreed and the museum has been invoiced, to seek the funding needed,” he said.

“If successful then the museum will look at conserving and then researching the artefacts to find out more about the objects, before putting them on public display.”

Natalie Buy, curator of archaeology, said: “These are very interesting and beautiful finds from an interesting part of York. We look forward to finding out more about them and then putting them on display for the public to enjoy.”

Mr Hardcastle told earlier this year how his garden fence in Acomb blew down in high winds last spring and his son, a builder, had dug down at least three feet to install a replacement fence post when he spotted something green in the ground.

“Then I saw fragments of gold, gleaming in the soil,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it. It was unbelievable. I was so excited.”

Mr Hardcastle’s disappointment comes as it has been reported that a metal detectorist who found Britain’s biggest Viking treasure hoard is set to receive a reward of nearly £2 million.

Derek McLennan, 50, a retired businessman, found the remarkable 10th century artefacts in a field on church land in the south west of Scotland in 2014.