Ossamenta

Last week, it was all over the news in Britain: a very rare and elaborate masked bronze helmet from the Roman period had been found in northern England by a metal detectorist. It's the third found in Britain, and is now at risk from being sold to a private collector. It's expected to sell for at least £300,000 at Christie's. The British Museum spent a lot of their money (and money donated from individuals) to save the Staffordshire hoard, and can't step in to save the helmet for the public. Instead, the Tullie House Museum in Carlisle is trying to raise money to keep the helmet in the same county it was found. They have only a few weeks to do this, as the auction is on the 7th October. If you can spare some cash, please donate. If the museum can buy the helmet, it will go on display in their Roman frontier gallery. Leftover money, or God forbid, not enough money to acquire the helmet, will go towards the museum's extensive Roman collections.