On 1 February, Heritage Minister Michael Ellis announced the first major review of the Treasure Act in 20 years following a ‘record-breaking’ year of discoveries in 2017 (with a total of 1,267 items unearthed). The review will include proposals that would allow more artefacts to be acquired by local and national museums and put on public display.
Under the plans, the definition of Treasure will be changed so that finds worth more than £10,000 will be considered treasure and made available for acquisition by museums. The intention is also to broaden the definition of treasure so that more archaeological finds can be protected.
Each year, dozens of items of national importance are believed to be lost to private sellers because they do not meet the treasure criteria or are sold by those who do not declare the find. These include the 1,700 year old Roman era Crosby Garrett helmet that was found by a metal detectorist in 2010. Despite its archaeological importance, because the helmet was made of a copper alloy it did not meet the treasure criteria and was sold to a private collector for £2.3 million.
Other proposals include the clarification, improvement and streamlining of the process for reporting treasure, and a new duty to report treasure extended to those acquiring it.
Heritage Minister Michael Ellis said:
“The search for buried treasure has captivated people’s imagination for centuries. And in recent years the number of finds has continued to increase. However some outstanding artefacts of great archaeological and cultural importance have been lost to private sellers simply because they do not meet the current criteria for treasure. These new proposals will help our museums acquire these treasures and make it harder for nationally important finds to be sold for personal profit.”
Read more here.