Roman Coin Hoard Found

[abukede]

Very cool.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/20...metal-detector

[Tuck's Luck]

Fantastic read - thanks for posting!

I love this bit:

"I picked out a piece of Roman pottery, and when I turned it over there was a coin, a bronze radiate, stuck in it. When I turned over the next handful of clay, it was stuffed with coins — 20 at least. I just sat back on my heels and shouted: 'I've done it!'. I knew at once I'd found a Roman coin hoard in its undisturbed container — I knew the archaeologists would wet themselves."

He filled in the hole, chucking in an old horseshoe on the wild off chance that somebody else with a detector might happen on the site

[abukede]

I was wondering... what the hell was he doing with an old horseshoe out in the middle of nowhere.

[surfinbird]

For exactly what he used it for, i assume. A Decoy :P

And so, Moorhead is convinced, the only plausible explanation for how they ended up in the field is that the hoard was a ritual offering to the gods.

F***, the end of the world is near; these guys have stolen the offering to the gods!

[flyingsolo]

I would love to find something like this...but being honest, I would be so tempted to keep whatever I found and not hand it over to the relevent authorities...particularly if you found some ancient jewllery or sculpture, I personally would find it difficult to hand it over...

[american1975]

Originally Posted by flyingsolo

I would love to find something like this...but being honest, I would be so tempted to keep whatever I found and not hand it over to the relevent authorities...particularly if you found some ancient jewllery or sculpture, I personally would find it difficult to hand it over...

You Europeans have bizzare concepts of private property. What right does any government have to what's on your land???

[DARKPLACE]

Originally Posted by american1975

You Europeans have bizzare concepts of private property. What right does any government have to what's on your land???

Goes back donkeys years. Basically it works or used to work something like this.

If you find a relic or something on your land. YOu are obliged to report it to the local county archeologists.

It lets the Archeologists get stuck in and lets them see if theres anything else there, a lost temple or building. basically it saves and preserves the nations history.

At that point there is a hearing to decide who it belongs to and the importance of the peice. For example if you walk across a farmers field and find something the actual artifact may belong to the farmer rather than the finder?

Mainly its to preserve the context of finds and to stop some one flogging a national treasure something like the sutton hoo helmet say, on e bay.

if the peice is of national importance then it can be gifted to or sold ot a museum at one point the British museum got first dibs, I dont know if thats still the case. Either way the finder and any other intrested parties are compensated to the market value of the item.

if its decided that it isnt then you can flog it. But the intent of the law is to prevent the sale of our national heritage.

[Tuck's Luck]

Correctamundo Darkplace.

You've summed it up perfectly.

The Treasure Act

[american1975]

Sounds like a good law if people arnt cheated and the original finder/owners are give due defference. A simple case of emminent domain.

[Silent Hunter]

If you find gold, it's called Treasure Trove and belongs to the Crown.

Who could do with the money..

[E.D. Morel]

Originally Posted by abukede

I was wondering... what the hell was he doing with an old horseshoe out in the middle of nowhere.

Maybe he kept it for luck, in which case it worked!

[american1975]

Originally Posted by Silent Hunter

If you find gold, it's called Treasure Trove and belongs to the Crown.

Who could do with the money..

Any ideas?

[DARKPLACE]

Originally Posted by american1975

Any ideas?

Treasure Trove only applies if the find was Gold or Silver, and looks like it was hidden. see below.

In the case of 'treasure trove', special legislation applies. All 'treasure trove' (basically gold and silver, which was originally hidden and where the owner cannot now be found) belongs to the Crown and, when discovered, is subject to an inquest at a coroner's court to establish the circumstances of its loss or deposition. Archaeologists are frequently involved in giving evidence to such inquests. Finders are often allowed to keep the objects, or an institution such as the British Museum pays so that the objects can be added to a national collection.

Pretty much the same but with a coroners court and a slightly different legal angle.