It was just last July when the world was stunned (pleasantly) by the finding of more than 1,500 gold and silver 7th Century Anglo-Saxon treasures that are known as the Staffordshire Hoard. Because it is the largest and probably most important discovery in the U.K., Staffordshire — a West Midlands country — naturally wants to keep them where they belong, which is near where they were found.
Last November, the Treasure Valuation Committee set the magic number of their “worth” at £3.285 million, and the Art Fund and the county, plus several other local councils, set out to raise that amount so that the hoard can be jointly acquired by the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum in Stoke-on-Trent.
The money, as U.K. law dictates, will be split equally between the finder, a man named Terry Herbert, and the landowner, Fred Johnson. Some of the treasures have been on display at the British Museum and, on Saturday, about 80 of these artifacts will go on view at the Potteries Museum.
The campaign began on Jan. 13, with an April 17 deadline. I just checked in on the progress to date: as of Feb. 3, 
£550,000 had been raised.
The fundraising effort is retail: If you buy the BM’s book on the subject, called The Staffordshire Hoard, for £4.99, £1 goes to the fund.
The Art Fund recently launched an interactive web game, too:
“Buy Your Dig Site” is a virtual map of the field where the Hoard was discovered. For a donation of £5 individuals can try their luck by “digging” a square of the field to see if it reveals an item of the Hoard. Players can buy as many virtual squares as they wish to boost the campaign.
You can access that site here.
Or people can just donate, online or sending in money.
Celebrities like Judi Dench, rock stars like Bill Wyman, historians like David Starkey and others are rallying support for the drive.
But the campaign has a long way to go — about a quarter of the time has passed, but less than 20% of the necessary total is on the books.
You can read more about the find here or in this ten-page PDF.
It’s unclear what happens if the locals don’t raise the money…but I’d rather not find out.
Photos: Courtesy Staffordshire Hoard website