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Treasure and Treasure Trove

The medieval law of treasure trove and the modern law of treasure concern things of archaeological or antiquarian value or interest found in England and Wales. The (common law) law of treasure trove applies to things found before 24 September 1997. The law of treasure (under the Treasure Act 1996) applies to things found on or after 24 September 1997. A jury was always needed at a 'treasure trove' inquest, but is not needed under the current law at a 'treasure' inquest.

The Treasure Act 1996 and the original Code of Practice made under the Act are both available on the Internet. The Code contains a great deal of helpful information. It was recently the subject of an outside Review, which has resulted in a revised Code of Practice as from 1 January 2003, and a statutory instrument extending the definition of treasure as from the same date.

The Government Department responsible for the law of treasure is the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.  Their website provides information for finders of treasure, a form of receipt for a treasure find and information about the treasure valuation committee. A very useful website is provided by the Portable Antiquities Scheme, which is a voluntary recording scheme for archaeological objects found by members of the public. This has a lot of information about treasure, including the text of the legislation and a summary of its provisions, a searchable database for all the reported finds, and a valuable guide to finds.

There are commentaries on the new law in Jervis, Chap 16, in Halsbury’s Laws of England, 4^th edition reissue, vol 9(2), paras 974-1000, and in Levine, Chap 36. For the former law it is necessary to consult the textbooks and the cases. In addition to the standard coroners’ law textbooks, there are also:

Hill, Treasure Trove, 1936, Clarendon Press, reprinted 1980, Scientia Verlag Aalen

Beard, The Romance of Treasure Trove, 1933, Sampson Low Marston & Co Ltd.

These two works are seriously out of date, but contain interesting historical and comparative matter.

Where objects are found to be treasure, they belong to the Crown, unless a third party has been granted the right to treasure (called a "franchise") found in a particular area (a list of some such franchises is at pages 244-251 of Hill). Usually the national museums are involved (in England the British Museum, in Wales the National Museum of Wales). They provide expert evidence and guidance to the coroner. To encourage the reporting of finds, the finder is invariably rewarded with a payment representing the value of the find.

 See, generally, Jervis, Chap 16, Levine, Chap 36, Halsbury’s Laws, Vol 9(2), paras 974-1000, Dorries, Chap 12.
 

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