A CAMPAIGN has been started to bring a unique hoard of gold coins discovered in Silsden back to West Yorkshire.

The coins were discovered in a farmer's field in the town by amateur treasure hunter Jeff Walbank who had been combing the area with his metal detector.

The 27 Celtic coins date back to the first century AD and have been dubbed The Silsden Treasure.

The coins will soon be dispatched to the British Museum in London to be valued by experts.

This week a campaign was launched to bring the coins to the museum at Cliffe Castle in Keighley to be put on display for future generations of Silsden residents to see.

'If we can get the coins back into the area, possibly at Cliffe Castle, it will be a one off, not just for the area but for the North of England because there's nothing else like them,' said Mr Walbank, who has been a treasure hunter since a child.

'We're hoping that the British Museum doesn't want them and they can then be displayed elsewhere. They're like new, you wouldn't believe it.'

Mr Walbank's campaign is also being backed by deputy Bradford coroner Mark Hinchcliffe who held an inquest into the find.

'I have no doubt that we are lucky in this area to have this discovery occur and I personally express the hope that it would be possible for the people of Silsden to have the opportunity of seeing for themselves this wonderful haul of gold coins,' he said at the hearing.

It is believed the coins, which pre-date the Roman invasion of the north, may have found their way to Silsden in the pockets of people who had travelled from the south.

Alternatively, they could have been payment to British mercenaries who fought for the Romans in Europe, but experts say they shouldn't really have been in Silsden.

Mr Walbank added that this could be an ideal project for the millennium, with the coins being around 2,000 years old.

'This type of find could possibly never happen again so we must get these coins back to this area if we can,' he said.

His campaign also has the backing of parish councillors in Silsden who are to write to museum bosses in Bradford urging them to consider buying the treasure.

'Anything that we can do to get Silsden on the map we will,' said chairman Coun Paul Bromley.

And Coun Keith Norris added: 'It's such a unique find that Bradford would be stupid to miss out on it because it would also be a major attraction for Cliffe Castle.

'It's mythical as to how these coins actually got there.'

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