TREASURE ISLAND

INCREASING AMOUNTS OF HISTORIC COINS AND ARTEFACTS ARE BEING DISCOVERED ACROSS THE UK

Arecord amount of treasure is being found, with more than three discoveries taking place every day. New figures from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), revealed that there were 1,247 cases of treasure found in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2017 - up from 1,116 the year before.

Figures go back as far as 2012, when there were 990 cases of treasure reported.

Treasure is defined by the law as an object, or two or more coins, containing more than ten per cent gold or silver, and is more than 300 years old.

Other objects may also be classed as treasure if they are part of the same find.

Those looking for treasure may want to start in Norfolk - the county had the highest number of reported treasure finds last year, with 121 cases.

You could also consider searching in Essex (114 cases), Suffolk (83) or Kent (81).

The most bountiful Welsh county was The Vale of Glamorgan - though only six finds were reported there last year.

Any aspiring treasure hunter should also equip themselves with a metal detector.

Some 94 per cent (1,048) of all treasures were found using one in 2016 - the latest year for which data was available.

A further four per cent were archeological finds, while one per cent was found walking in fields or searching coastlines.

The remaining treasures were either inherited or were chance finds.

Just over half of the reported treasure cases in 2016 involved objects either from the Medieval (233) or Postmedieval (363) periods.

A further 147 objects were from the Early Medieval period, 72 were Roman, and 55 were from as long ago as the Bronze Age.

Found coins were most likely to be from the Roman era, with 65 of them found during 2016.

The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke-on-trent was the largest purchaser of found items in 2016, acquiring 27 objects.

That was followed by Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, with 22 purchases, and the British Museum, with 18 purchases and one shared purchase.

A person must legally report treasure to their local coroner within 14 days of finding it, otherwise they could be fined an unlimited amount or spent up to three months in prison.

A local Finds Liaison Officer then provides the treasure hunter with a receipt.

If museums express interest in the treasure, an inquest takes place at the coroner’s court.

The Treasure Valuation Committee then decides the value of the treasure and how much of a reward, if any, the finder is entitled to receive.