Treasure
The British Museum has a legal responsibility under the terms of
the 1996 Treasure Act to process treasure finds from England and
Wales. As the leading source of numismatic expertise in this
country, the Department of Coins and Medals is actively involved in
most cases where coins are recovered, either by chance finds or
archaeological excavation.
Each year the Department deals with about 50 treasure cases, of
which only the most spectacular make the national press.
Outstanding finds of gold and silver coins, such as Hoxne (1992),
Appledore (1997) and Shapwick (1998), stand out in comparison with
most hoards that consist of heavily worn and corroded base-metal
coins.
Once delivered to the Museum, a potential treasure find may
require conservation before it can be fully identified. The
identification and cataloguing process allows the curator to advise
the local coroner on whether or not a find fulfils the definition
of treasure as established by the 1996 Treasure Act.
If a find is declared treasure at inquest, both local and
national museums have the opportunity to acquire it. The full
market value of a find, as established by the independent Treasure
Valuation Committee, is granted to the finders and landowners in
the event of its acquisition by a museum. Only in the event of a
find being declared 'not treasure', or where no museum expresses an
interest in acquiring a find, will it be returned to the
finder.
The Department of Coins and Medals has acquired several
important finds in recent years, all of which are either displayed
in the Museum's galleries or available for study by scholars and
enthusiasts alike. The Department also provides advice to local
museums hoping to purchase hoards, and has played an important role
in helping finds to be displayed in museums close to their place of
discovery, such as the Shapwick hoard, now in Taunton Castle
Museum.
The introduction of the Treasure Act (which replaced the common
law of Treasure Trove) has led to a doubling of the number of cases
each year, as a result of the inclusion of non-precious metal finds
in the definition of treasure. At least five members of the
Department are regularly involved in treasure work.
Appledore
When a find is of national importance, the Museum will, if
possible acquire it. Appledore is an example of an unusual late
Anglo-Saxon coin hoard that challenges the chronology of coin
groups from this period. This hoard, discovered in 1997 and
subsequently acquired by the Museum, is in an extremely good state
of preservation, and so allows real comparisons between minting
practices in different mint towns to be made. The Appledore find
has increased our understanding of political and economic
developments surrounding the rebellion of Earl Godwin (the father
of King Harold) against Edward the Confessor in AD 1051-2.
Hoxne
Hoxne is one of the most stunning treasures ever discovered,
consisting of more than 15,000 gold and silver coins, and over 200
pieces of precious-metal jewellery and tableware. The hoard
provides an example of the coinage that was circulating in Britain
at the time when the Roman Empire effectively lost control of the
island in the early 5th century AD. Through the acquisition of the
Hoxne treasure, the Museum has gained a visually striking display
of Roman wealth, and the most comprehensive series of late Roman
coinage ever discovered in Britain.
Hoards processed by the Department, including those acquired by
the Museum, are published, together with others identified by
colleagues in national and local museums, in frequent volumes (see
recent publications). Summaries of finds are also published in
specialist journals and the Treasure Annual Report for the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport.