The Guardian view on treasure laws: time for reform
Reading, listening to birdsong: these were among the small pleasures that were snatched by some from the jaws of the pandemic this spring. So, it turns out, was accidental, domestic archaeology – a result of energetic lockdown gardening. The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), which is run by the British Museum and National Museum Wales, this week announced that 50 South African gold coins dating from the 1970s were dug up in a garden in Milton Keynes. A bout of weeding in Hampshire revealed a stash of gold and silver coins from the 15th and 16th centuries.
Such precious-metal hoards must, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, be reported to the coroner, through the PAS. Classified as “treasure”, they are subject to a legal process, including a coroner’s inquest, through which the items may be acquired by a public museum, with the finder and landowner suitably compensated.
These treasure laws are somewhat flawed – and currently under review. The Treasure Act of 1996 is meant to ensure that important artefacts discovered by the public end up in museums.
But, despite subsequent tweaks, it remains too focused on items made of precious metal. Some important items have slipped through its net and disappeared into private hands, like the rare Roman cavalry helmet discovered a decade ago in a field in the Lake District. As a single object made of bronze, it was not classified as treasure. Perfectly legally, the helmet – which had been broken up into 68 pieces in antiquity – was reconstructed in a way that no British museum would have countenanced, then auctioned. Carlisle’s Tullie
House Museum was outbid, and the helmet entered a private collection, only occasionally emerging on loan to a public exhibition. Had it been classified as treasure, it would have been valued by a panel of experts and probably ended up in Tullie House, available to the public to view in perpetuity.
Conversely, the act “catches” items that, being relatively common, have no need to be drawn into a lengthy legal process: a late 17th-century silver button may be interesting and should certainly be recorded with the PAS, but is unlikely to be wanted by most museums. Other difficulties include those of dating. The act would apply to that hypothetical button if it were over 300 years old – and not if it were 299 years old.
In Scotland, the process is different: if you discover an artefact, reporting it to the authorities is mandatory, and museum experts decide whether it is to be considered treasuretrove – it could be an important stone hand-axe as much as a collection of Roman silver. Adopting similar methods in England and Wales would be challenging: simple demographics mean that there are many fewer finds in Scotland than south of the border. Nevertheless, it is a useful example of an alternative approach. Instead of relying on complex legal definitions of treasure, perhaps it is time to trust the experts.