This from the BBC news : "The UK's largest haul of Anglo-Saxon treasure has been discovered buried beneath a field in Staffordshire. Experts say the collection of 1,500 gold and silver pieces, which may date to the 7th Century, is unparalleled in size and worth "a seven figure sum"." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/staffordshire/8272058.stm
WOW, talk about a dream come true. Only if you knew how many times I've past over a very large find thinking its a hunk of steel off some farm equipment, or a car.
The problem with finding stuff like this in England is that it becomes property of the Crown, due to fact they (the treasure hunters) have a legal obligation to report such items under the Treasure Act 1996. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_trove#United_Kingdom If I recall correctly the treasure hunters are typically payed a percentage of the worth of the found items that fall under the Treasure Act 1996. The items that do fall under the Treasure Act go to the British Museum.
Great Britain really has one of the BEST such laws. That percentage tends to be 100% of the fair market value for those pieces the museums want. If the museums decide that they don't need or want the items then they are returned to the finder. If you don't report finds and they find out about it later they will take the items and you may be fined as well. So you can't lose if you report finds, but you can lose badly if you don't report them. This encourages reports and proper investigation of the sites can then be done instead of just wanton looting of the sites. More countries should adopt similar laws because it would do more toward protecting sites and eliminating black markets than the outright confiscation tactics that many other countries use.
Yes that was a great find for sure. As far as I know anyone who finds anything that is determined of museum quality goes to the government. That's any government not just the Brits. The moral to the story is, loose lips sink ships. lol I'm just kidding, as the finders are always very well taken care of but if I was ever lucky enough to find anything. My government would have a big nutcase tug of war going on for sure.
