Gareth Williams is a freelance historian, archaeologist and numismatist, specialising in Britain and Scandinavia in the period AD 500-1100. From 1996 to 2024 he was a curator at the British Museum, with a particular focus on Anglo-Saxon, Viking and Norman coins, and from 2015 had additional responsibility for Viking antiquities. He curated the exhibition 'Paid in Burnt Silver: Wealth and Power in the Viking Age' at the British Museum in 2000, and the international exhibitions 'Vikings; life and legend' in 2014 and 'Viking Voyagers' in 2015. Much of his work at the BM was concerned with Treasure, acting as an expert witness to HM Coroners on hoards and other Treasure finds. He also acted on several occasions as an expert witness for the police on cases of undeclared Treasure and other heritage crimes, and was directly involved in the investigation of the Herefordshire hoard. Gareth has published extensively on Viking hoards, and on the silver economies of the Viking Age, on which he is an internationally recognised authority. In addition to his work on coins and hoards, he also specialises in Anglo-Saxon and Viking warfare, and particularly in character and activities of the Viking 'great armies' in England in the late 9th century, which provide the historical context for the compilation and burial of the Herefordshire hoard.