Lord McAlpine, treasurer of the British conservative party and former antique dealer, has announced his refusal to reimburse the hoard of Celtic treasures he bought following illegal archaelogical diggings in England.
Lord McAlpine sold to the British Museum in 1989 a set of 22 unique miniature Celtic bronze shields measuring between 4 and 10 cm and dating from about 1000 B.-C for a sum of £ 55,000. On learning that they had been dug out illegally near Salisbury the Museum handed them back to the legal owner of the piece of land where the hoard was. Lord McAlpine said the rare shields had been circulating for a while before he acquired them and added that he had given back some 20 other pieces to their legal owner. «I don't see why I should pay the Museum back as I have no chance to recover my money from anyone else », he explained.
Following the disclosure of such scandal Lord McAlpine gave up his activities as antique dealer. The 22 shields, probably made as votive symbols offered to war gods, are considered as rare national treasures. These were found in 1985 by two men working clandestinely in a pit next to a farm in Netherhampton, west of Salisbury.
Their legal owner is now negotiating with the British Museum concerning their fate. It is expected they will be loaned to the Museum.
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