Defining treasure
A ninth-century Viking coin found in York ©
The report can be made in person, by letter, fax or phone and the coroner will acknowledge the report and issue instructions as to where the find should be taken, often a local museum or archaeological organisation.
The definition of treasure is as follows:
- Any object, other than a coin, that contains at least 10 per cent of gold or silver and is at least 300 years old when found.
- All coins from the same find, provided that they are at least 300 years old when found. If the coins contain less than 10 per cent gold or silver then there must be at least ten of them. (The Act is designed to include as treasure hoards of coins, and the contents of purses and votive deposits, but to exclude single coins or groups that have accumulated over a long period.)
- Any object, no matter what it is made of, that is found in the same place as another object that is treasure. This is very significant as it now recognises the importance of, for example, the pot in which a hoard of coins was deposited.
- Any object that would previously have been considered treasure trove, but does not fall within the above categories. Such objects have to be made substantially of gold or silver, they have to have been buried with the intention of recovery (one of the main considerations of the old treasure trove definition), and their owners or heirs should not be traceable.
The following types of object are not treasure:
- Objects whose owners can be traced.
- Unworked natural objects, including human and animal remains, even if they are found in association with treasure.
- Objects from the foreshore that are not shipwrecks.
Published: 2005-01-24
