A surge in the number of detectorists unearthing historical artefacts has prompted a bid to broaden the legal definition of treasure to help museums to acquire important items. Heritage Minister Lord Parkinson said some items have been lost into private ownership, rather than displayed publicly in museums, due to the current wording of the Treasure Act 1996.
Under the current definition, an item is treasure if it is at least 300 years old and made at least in part of precious metal, like gold or silver, or part of a hoard. This will be amended to cover exceptional finds of at least 200 years old, regardless of the type of metal they are made of.
If a coroner assesses an artefact as meeting the legal definition of treasure, it can be acquired by a museum rather than sold to the highest bidder. Lord Parkinson said the Treasure Act has “saved around 6,000 objects which have been shared with museums, more than 220 museums around the country”.
