Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- A gold-and-silver Iron Age necklace discovered by an amateur digger was displayed for a day by the British Museum, one of 749 found treasures reported as part of the annual Portable Antiquities Scheme.

The necklace, or torc, was dug up in a field near Newark in Nottinghamshire, England, by a man using a metal detector where a World War II plane had crashed, the British Museum said. Dubbed the ``Newark Torc,'' it's valued at 360,000 pounds ($540,000), the priciest single find in the program's recent history, and now belongs to Newark Heritage Service.

As a reward, the finder -- 59-year-old tree surgeon Maurice Richardson, who bought his first metal detector four decades ago -- got half of the necklace's value, or around 130,000 pounds, and the landowner got the other half.

``I couldn't really believe it. It was something that you dream of,'' said Richardson, in a long-sleeved navy polo shirt, as he held up a piece of the crashed warplane that led him to the necklace. ``Even if you find treasure in the Midlands, you don't expect to find something like that.''

The necklace -- a thick, finely chiseled choker in excellent condition and dated between 200 B.C. and 50 B.C. -- was briefly exhibited by the museum in one of its columned galleries. Beside it were recently found amulets and Roman coins.

Finding Heritage

Richardson said he immediately reported his find to a coroner. Why not hang onto it? ``Anyone who does that is on a road to nowhere,'' he said. ``It's not about taking things and keeping things: It's finding a heritage, and hopefully when you do find something like that, it ends up somewhere like this.''

Jeremy Hill, the British Museum's former Iron Age curator who is now its head of research, said he was initially ``deeply skeptical.''

``It looks almost identical to another one which was found in Norfolk,'' said Hill. ``When it first came in, I thought someone had actually managed to make a good copy.''

Scientific tests proved otherwise, leading Hill to describe the find today as ``the best example of an Iron Age Celtic gold necklace found in this country for 50 years.''

The 749 discoveries for the year 2007 compare with 665 registered in 2006 -- 282 of which have now been acquired by museums across Britain, the release said.

The program has recorded some 360,000 archaeological finds, most of them thanks to metal-detector users, and the rest by people who made chance discoveries as they walked, gardened, ploughed or did everyday work.

The finds must be reported if they are ``treasure'' -- gold and silver pieces that are more than 300 years old, and groups of coins. Both the finder and the landowner are rewarded as an incentive for them to report.

British Museum Director Neil MacGregor, hosting today's presentation, lauded the amateur diggers and said their work had generated dozens of doctoral theses and academic studies. ``We are really remaking the history of the country,'' he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Farah Nayeri in London at Farahn@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 19, 2008 10:37 EST