Interesting Hoard of early Roman coins in the UK

I thought this might be of interest to this forum - report on the finding of 337 Denarii found in Shropshire, UK and dating to 69-70AD:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-59958128

 

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Thanks for the link!

 

That is very cool. Will the metal detectorist be allowed to retain any of his find at all?

 

The way it works in the UK is that finds like this should be reported to the Finds Officer, and if it meets the criteria then goes to the Coroner for a decision. If, as in this case, it is declared as treasure, it is formally valued (at full retail value) and offered to museums within the UK at that price. If sold, the money is paid in full to the finder and/or land owner depending on the agreement they had in place. If it is not sold, the hoard is returned to the finder/land owner.

 

Very interesting article. Thanks for your link.

 

I see. So the young man will either receive something in return commensurate with the value of his find or have the find returned to him (if that was the agreement with the land owner).... I had often wondered that. I had heard before that UK detectorists had to surrender their finds over a certain magnitude. I watched a TV program once where a fellow found quite a hoard of gold bits scattered about a field from a medieval period. And rightly a find of that magnitude should be studied archeologically. But I was not aware until you just posted that the detectorist would ultimately be rewarded for his find. That actually sounds quite fair.

 

Beats the hell out of jail time by far

 

... and that is no joke! Here is a report from a few years back showing what happens if you break the rules:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-50461860

 

Thanks for posting the article.

 

I wonder why Great Britain has so many "hoards". So many have been found, most if not all of the museums must be full of coins by now. I just can't imagine how many visitors to a museum is going to be overly interested in those coins.

 

The difference is that Britain has an enlightened system which encourages reporting. In most other places, hoards go straight from the ground into the black market without benefit of public notice or study. While museums have the right of first refusal, many (most?) UK 'treasure trove' finds are ultimately returned to the finders and dispersed through the legitimate trade. Typically, only the largest museums have the funds necessary to compete with private collectors at market prices and as suggested, coin hoards may not be at the top of museum wish lists.

 

I think that is a great arrangement, which encourages finders of hoards to report them to the authorities. The recent find of a Celtic gold coin hoard in Germany got the finder an invitation to dinner with the mayor of the local town. If he happens to find another hoard, he will probably think twice before turning it in.

 

From your remarks, Great Britain is and enlightened country that encourages the finders of hoards to report them to the appropriate authorities. It sounds like a great system, however, I am sure there are "small hoards" that aren't reported. What happens if the owner of the property allows someone to search for coins or whatever and when the finder does find a hoard and the property owner reniges by saying he did not approve the search. I bet the court has a hey dey with dishonest people. I like the way Great Britain handles 'finds". In my dealings with citizens of Great Britain, I have found that those that I have had business dealings are wonderful people. I'm sure there are exceptions, but Great Britain has had many centuries developing their character, rather than citizens of the United States haven't had enough time to develop our own character. I am glad that my ancestors came from England and Wales. My grandfather would always sit down with us and tell us how he was raised.
I would like to know out of all the hoards that are on record, how many were handled judiciously. I only wish that the users of ebay and other coin websites were honest with their "fellowman(woman). I really like this website, wherein their is a moderator to keep us on topic. I found myself on the hotspot and was duly reminded to keep on topic. You guys are the best and after I feed and walk my dogs, and kiss my wife, I can't wait to see what the day will bring forth.

 

Thanks for your comments.
I can't say the system always works, but it does a lot of the time. Mostly when people acted dishonestly it is because they have not got the land owner's permission, or they are on a protected site where no permission is possible, or they wish to cut the the owner out of the wind fall.
On the question of the agreement - there are standardised forms used to record the agreement between the detectorist and the land owner, so trying to wriggle out of this is unlikely to win in court.

 

Yeah but!!

 

Screw that. They gotta let you keep something.

 

I feel the landowner no doubt gets 50% regardless

 

That is the normal agreement, but it is not fixed at that. It depends on what the landowner wants to accept - some are not really interested and will agree a lot lower percentage. Some will only let anyone on for a much higher percentage.
If there is no formal agreement with the detectorist, the landowner is entitled to 100% - hence why it is important for the detectorists to get an agreement in place before they start!

 

I still can understand why the person doing the detecting gets the shaft. The landowners, even with a written agreement, can renege by telling the law he didn't understand. He might even get a lawyer that will fight it out in court. However, from my contact with the citizens of Great Britain, they are good people, but money does strange things. Just ask my ex.

 

You probably folded. Signed paper is sure proof. You need a better lawyer