The Silsden Treasure could become a star attraction for the new millennium at Keighley's Cliffe Castle Mus-eum.

Crusading Keighley councillor Barry Thorne has pledged to launch a fundraising bid to make sure the 27 Celtic coins get pride of place in the revam-ped museum. The hoard was unearthed from a field near Silsden last year by metal-detecting treasure hunter Jeff Walbank.

Experts put the coins' value at between £10,000 and £15,000, but the exact figure will not be known until an independent panel of valuers scrutinises them in March or April.

About £300,000 is to be pumped into turning Cliffe Castle into a showpiece for the natural and historical heritage of the Aire Valley. Money has been promised from the Wolfson Foundation, the natio-nal lottery, Keighley's Single Regeneration Budget, Cliffe Castle Friends and trustees.

Cllr Thorne, chairman of the council's leisure services committee, wants to see the Silsden Treasure as a major attraction to draw in the crowds. "I will do all I can to help attract funding so we can acquire the coins," he says. "I believe the right place for them is Cliffe Castle."

He says cash help would have to be found from sources such as the Heritage Lottery fund and National Heritage Museums Fund because there are no funds available from the council. "The small amount we have set aside is to help local artists," he says. "There just isn't any money for projects like this. But that doesn't mean we can't apply for funds from other sources and even seek help from the public and businesses."

The coins, declared treasury by the Bradford coroner in December, will be priced by an independent panel to be set up by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. Once valued, they could be taken by the British Museum but they are expected to be offered to Bradford council.

Mr Walbank says: "I am delighted Cllr Thorne is pushing for them to come to Keighley - that's just what I want. They will be a great asset to the new-look museum and I'm sure they will attract a lot of attention."

He says it is extremely difficult to value the coins, particularly as some of them are very rare.

Some of the coins are from the era of Cunoblin, King of a tribe based in Colchester, and the northern tribe of Es Vprasv all dating from the first century AD.

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