The rare item was found in July 2021 when a long-time metal detectorist was searching a field in Billesdon. Other metal detectorists had told her that there was nothing to be found there - but she persevered and found the pommel seven inches beneath the ground. Advertisement Advertisement Sign up to our daily newsletter Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to Harborough Mail, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
The gold item is decorated with two dragons and a snake-like pattern and measures at 4 centimetres by 1.5 centimetres. After its discovery, it was declared as treasure - and is now to be offered up at auction after Leicester Museum declined to purchase it.
Commenting on the piece, Nigel Mills, Artefact and Coin expert at Noonans, said: "The sword pommel is a beautiful example of fine Anglo-Saxon gold measuring 4 centimetres by 1.5 centimetres and weighing 20.5 grams.
"It is of cocked hat form using beaded wire filigree ornamentation. On one side there are two dragons or beasts facing each other, with their heads and front paws touching. Advertisement Advertisement "On the other side, there is an interlaced snakelike pattern.
"The pommel would have been fixed to the end of the sword handle both as a counterbalance and to stop the hand slipping. "The imagery displayed would have imbued a mystical power to the sword." The woman who found the pommel, who wished to remain anonymous, has been metal detecting for 60 years.
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