Knowing how much she could get for it, brought her to the point where she would have to make a decision. It was worth a lot of money, but sentimentally it was worth even more to her.
“It’s something I remember playing with alongside my mum and it just reminds me of her,” she couldn’t help thinking.
Piedforts Are a Rare Find
Piedforts have a unique value. As they were politically significant in the monarchies of France and England, these little bits of treasure mean a lot to state museums of history. The museum staff discovered that the piedfort Ms. Harding found consisted of silver and weighed 1.4 grams.
Its inscription, however, is what makes it especially important. The imprint she had stared at so many times as a child marks Charles IV’s ascension to the French throne in 1322.
The Piedfort's Monetary Value
Finally, she learned how much it was worth. The precious object that held so much value to her in her heart now had a price tag.
The staff informed her it was worth £2,000. It was a lot of money!
Did She Have a Choice?
The museum staff tried to inform her that her find is so historically valuable that she does not have a right to it. Any personal sentiment she held was not relevant to those in the official position of preserving history.
The authorities were on their side.
A Tug-of-war
While Ms. Harding thought she needed to make a decision about selling or keeping the relic, the folks at the Ludlow museum were not offering any options. The staff was ready to pay her for the piedfort so that it could be a part of the museum’s holdings.
She explained that it meant a lot to her, how she found it alongside her mum, but it wasn’t altering the staff’s claim that the authorities have the right to remove it from her possession.