What are the laws in the UK? Does the finder or the owner of the property where these coins were found own them?
Or are they automatically the property of the State (as is the norm in many countries)
In England one has to turn over to the government any such find. The government then makes a determination as to value and gives you the money. It has to be an amount that has some relation to actual market value or these things would never get turned in. They would find their way onto the private market, if only for the gold content. Actually some probably do go that way. We don’t hear about those, though.
In England one has to turn over to the government any such find. The government then makes a determination as to value and gives you the money. It has to be an amount that has some relation to actual market value or these things would never get turned in. They would find their way onto the private market, if only for the gold content. Actually some probably do go that way. We don’t hear about those, though.
Here is more info:
“Under English law a landowner has sole title to any archaeological artifacts found on his or her property. Legitimate metal detectorists come to an agreement with the owners of the land they detect on to share any proceeds from treasure sales.
“The Treasure Act of 1996 is an Act of Parliament designed to deal with finds of treasure in the United Kingdom. It legally obliges finders of objects which constitute a legally defined term of treasure to report their find to their local coroner within fourteen days. An inquest led by the coroner then determines whether the find constitutes treasure or not. If it is declared to be treasure then the owner must offer the item for sale to a museum at a price set by an independent board of antiquities experts. Only if a museum expresses no interest in the item, or is unable to purchase it, the owner can retain it.