It seems like a nice idea that get to keep whatever you find in the ground, and since no one has touched things that are classed as treasure for a very long time, that doest mean that they don’t still belong to someone.
In the UK the Treasure Act 1996 defines treasure as follows:
- any metallic object, other than a coin, provided that at least 10 per cent by weight of the 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 10 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.
Other Laws concerning treasure hunting:
There are 2 other important laws to keep in mind when searching for treasure. The first is that you must have permission to be using a metal detector on the land your searching, and the second is that you must report all finds to your local coroner or finds liaison officer within 14 days of finding it.
Can i keep any treasure i find?
After its been reported you will be contacted to get some details of where and how you found the treasure, then you will get a receipt and the item will be reviewed and recorded by the British Museum who will also determine its value. If the museum wishes to purchase the item you will receive a finders rewards, but if they don’t then the item will be returned to you.
The most important thing to keep in mind to cover yourself when treasure hunting is to get permission from whoever owns the land, because if you find something on land your not supposed to be searching on and try and sell it, you can receive an unlimited fine and up to 3 months in prison.
Certain places you may think are OK to metal detect very well could require permission, such as the beach’s of the UK which is technically land owned directly by the crown, and if you find something on a beach owned by the crown there’s a very very high chance they will just claim all of it. You can get permission quite easily to search beach’s and sometimes areas like public parks and such, but the most important thing is to get that permission in the first place.
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