Metal Detecting for beginners - Treasure

Whilst in UK it is lawful to buy a metal detector and then with the landowners permission go out metal detecting there are laws for what you have to do with some of the stuff you find. The below applies to finds made in England and Wales. Northern Ireland and Scotland have there own rules

1. TREASURE

The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) gives the definition of treasure as

• Any metallic object, other than a coin, provided that at least 10 per cent by weight of metal is precious metal (that is, gold or silver) and that it is at least 300 years old when found. If the object is of prehistoric date it will be Treasure provided any part of it is precious metal.
• Any group of two or more metallic objects of any composition of prehistoric date that come from the same find (see below)
• Two or more coins from the same find provided they are at least 300 years old when found and contain 10 per cent gold or silver (if the coins contain less than 10 per cent of gold or silver there must be at least ten of them). Only the following groups of coins will normally be regarded as coming from the same find: Hoards that have been deliberately hidden; Smaller groups of coins, such as the contents of purses, that may been dropped or lost; Votive or ritual deposits.
• Any object, whatever it is made of, that is found in the same place as, or had previously been together with, another object that is Treasure.

Any object that would previously have been treasure trove, but does not fall within the specific categories given above. Only objects that are less than 300 years old, that are made substantially of gold or silver, that have been deliberately hidden with the intention of recovery and whose owners or heirs are unknown will come into this category.

Note:An object or coin is part of the'same find' as another object or coin if it is found in the same place as, or had previously been together with, the other object. Finds may have become scattered since they were originally deposited in the ground.

If you think you've found the holy grail, a Saxon gold ring or medieval silver buckle then you can't just sell it as the item may be considered Treasure which in effect means the item or items are to historically important to belong to you and should belong to the nation. The UK is good enough to reward you for finding treasure (you can waive this), but if you don't follow the Law and guidance on finding treasure that reward might be reduced or taken away completely.

The Treasure Act 1996 sets out the Law regarding Treasure. The Code of Practice that goes with the Treasure Act sets gives the full in depth guidance as to what you should do if you find what you think might be Treasure. The PAS website has a shorter leaflet for what you should do if you find treasure.

The first and most important step is that any possible treasure find MUST be reported to the Local Coroner within 14 days, this is usually done by contacting your local Finds Liaison Officer (FLO), do that and you've made the first start in recording your possible treasure item. You could face a £5000 fine and / or 6 months imprisonment if you don't report a find.

If you are out digging and come across what might be a hoard, say a container full of silver coins, then you should stop digging and call your Local FLO. If they aren't in try the British Museum or a different FLO. Contact details can be found here or on the PAS leaflet. Why should you do this? Well because if you just dig the container out the ground the 'context' of the find will be lost. IE it may be harder to tell how it got there in the first place or who put it there and as such it would be better if your find is removed by trained archaeologists (don't worry you'll still be considered the finder even if they find other bits whilst they are digging).

Why should you care? Well if you don't you shouldn't be detecting but ultimately if you do just hoick it out then you may have your reward taken away from you for irresponsible.

If you've gone to the effort of buying a detector and securing permission for land to detect on then you can spend an hour learning what you should do if you find what might be treasure.