This is a sponsored post by Nuffnang

If you found treasure in your back yard, what would you do? I don’t mean ‘old lady doesn’t trust the bank cash’, I mean treasure, like at the museum from eras past. Personally, (provided it wasn’t tied to a skeleton) I’d prance about adorned with jewels for a bit, and then hand them over to the National Department of Found Treasurology in return for some spendable cash. That’s what happened to a farmer in England, he found countless items of Anglo-Saxon treasure worth around $5.3million – and scored half as a finder’s fee. Sweet.

I didn’t read this in a tabloid, or even on Google, I read it in National Geographic. Such a fascinating piece, I’m inspired to go out to my parent’s house with a metal detector and see what I can find (besides rocks & long lost guinea pigs).  Perhaps like the Staffordshire Hoard guy, I’d find 3,500 pieces including gold strips with Latin phrases engraved on them, pommels and sword hilt fittings. No jewelry or coins and strikingly, no actual blades. This was definitely a military cache, but one that captures the imagination with it’s oddities and irregularities.  Who buried it, and why?

Oh sure, historians and scholars have theories, but after reading this fantastic article, I’m going with: two rather thievery brothers skulk off to war against their wives’ wishes, accrue a large stash of stolen swords and what not, then eventually leave the army behind. Their stuff is too heavy to carry, so they remove the blades etc, bury the valuables until later when they won’t set off the local pawn broker’s radar, and bring home the blades to their wives as proof they were in fact doing something useful . The wives don’t believe them, accidentally-on-purpose become widows, and the treasure lies undiscovered for the next 1300 years.

Or you could go with the theories from educated people. If you must.

Perhaps I should get a National Geographic Subscription. Eventually I’ll be able to come up with better theories. I’m going to give this copy to my 5year old and use it as a discussion starter, and I know she’s going to love the photos. It’s rare to find a magazine the whole family can enjoy and learn from at the same time.

One of the other printed passions we have as a family is science books. I know, I get strange looks walking through the supermarket discussing the principles of condensation with a child, but there’s no reason I can’t share my knowledge and wonder at the universe with the whole family. They’ll just be the only kids at prep correcting the teacher’s rainbow painting because it doesn’t match up to ROYGBIV.  I don’t want genius kids, just engaged and curious ones. Try one of the titles in Magshop’s Science Magazine Subscriptions and see if your family views the world differently. There’s even a mag for kids from Australia Zoo – and you know how much kids love getting mail addressed specifically to them!

Are you looking for the perfect Christmas present? Give your loved ones a magazine subscription this year and you can win a tropical escape to Hawaii with Magshop’s Christmas competition. Treat your family and friends to a magazine subscription  today – it’s the gift that keeps on giving all year round!