Woman who found coin ... in garden becomes first to be prosecuted for not reporting treasure [UK]

Daily Mail ^ | 26th February 2010 | Andy Dolan and Dalya Alberge

[Daffynition]

A woman who found a 700-year-old silver 'coin' whilst digging in her garden as a child has become the first in the country to be convicted of failing to hand in suspected treasure.

Kate Harding, 23, was prosecuted under the Treasure Act after she ignored orders to report the coin-like artefact to a coroner.

A court heard the silver piedfort marking Charles IV's ascension to the French throne in 1322 was discovered by Miss Harding 14 years ago as she worked in the garden with her mother at their home in Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire.

Following her mother's death a short time later, Harding kept the 1.4gram item as a memento until she eventually showed it to museum experts last year.

The silver 'coin' was identified as a piedfort dating from 1322, which, while not of great financial value, was of historical significance.

Experts are unsure of exactly what piedforts were used for but agree they were not intended to function as currency.

While they are designed around existing coins of the period, they were substantially thicker and it was has been suggested they were used as guides for mint workers, or more likely, reckoning counters for officials.

Under the Treasure Act 1996, treasure is defined in basic terms as any single object at least 300 years old which is not a coin but has a precious metal content of at least ten per cent, or when found, is one of at least two coins in the same find of that age and metallic content.

The Act gives a finder 14 days to inform the local coroner of potential treasure and creates an offence of failing to carry out that duty where this is not followed.

[snip]

[achilles2000]

Is there anyone sane left in Britain?

No one in the government, evidently. This is what socialism can do for a people; it rots their minds.

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

Treasure Trove laws are there to stop archeological evidence being looted and lost. If she had declared it to the coroner, she would have received an independently adjudicated commercial value for the coin if it was decided that it was important enough to retain for a museum...

[Lazamataz]

Kate Harding, 23, was prosecuted under the Treasure Act after she ignored orders to report the coin-like artefact to a coroner.

Why a coroner? Are they planning on killing the finder?

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

She didn’t commit any crime in finding it, the crime was not handing it over to the coroner to assess whether it warranted being declared treasure trove, which she apparently refused to do despite being warned on several occasions....

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

An ironic statement to make considering you apparently support taking archeological findings without declaring them...

[Daffynition]

'....the Queen, tossing her head impatiently; and, turning to Alice, she went on, `What's your name, child?'

`My name is Alice, so please your Majesty,' said Alice very politely; but she added, to herself, `Why, they're only a pack of cards, after all. I needn't be afraid of them!'

`And who are THESE?' said the Queen, pointing to the three gardeners who were lying round the rosetree; for, you see, as they were lying on their faces, and the pattern on their backs was the same as the rest of the pack, she could not tell whether they were gardeners, or soldiers, or courtiers, or three of her own children.

`How should I know?' said Alice, surprised at her own courage. `It's no business of MINE.'

The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a moment like a wild beast, screamed `Off with her head! Off--'

`Nonsense!' said Alice, very loudly and decidedly, and the Queen was silent.

The King laid his hand upon her arm, and timidly said `Consider, my dear: she is only a child!'

[Question Liberal Authority]

Why a coroner?

It might be to prevent grave robbing.

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

Coming to a Constitutional Republic near you.

[sodpoodle]

*An ironic statement to make considering you apparently support taking archeological findings without declaring them...*

How did you make that leap?

[Daffynition]

Sad. But true.

[apillar]

Of course the moral of the story is if you find treasure on your property in England DON’T TELL ANYBODY! Take it with you on your next trip out of country and sell it.

[BRL]

I guess you are still a peasant in Jolly Old England

[21twelve]

“...she would have received an independently adjudicated commercial value for the coin...”

Most folks miss that part. It seems to work pretty well over there. And I think that if the museums say they don’t want it, it is yours to keep or sell. I would think that this “coin” would be worth much more to her if a museum wanted it. Other than perhaps the sentimental value of working with her Mum in the garden.

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

I am a professional numismatist as well as a collector. I am also a keen student of history and I fully support Britain’s treasure trove laws. We have some of the most enlightened treasure trove laws in the world. They are designed to encourage people to hand over what they find because the law states that if the find is treasure trove, the finder will get the full commercial value of the the item(s) as determined by an independent adjudicator (i.e. commercial numismatists like me). That being the case, it would be very silly for a finder to melt down a coin for its PM content because he would be cheating himself out of a lot of money as well as everybody else out of a valuable piece of archeological evidence. Even Sweden gives finders the intrinsic value of the find (if you want to know about bad treasure laws, that country epitomises them, its a wonder anyone declares treasure to the Swedish authorities when they can sell them on the black market and get a price more in line with its full commercial value)...

[MrPiper]

Just makes you want to go postal on someone doesn’t it ?

If you haven't seen it, search youtube for this song:

It's a great day, to whoop somebodies Ass....

You will LOL!

[w1andsodidwe]

Is it any wonder why we abhor and despise Socialism and lament the tragic destruction of the British Empire?!

Well there was a reason that the colonists broke away from Great Britain's rule. Every time an idiot liberal say Europe does it that way so we should do the same, they should be reminded that we fought the revolutionary war to get out from under Europe's rules.

[SES1066]

Why a coroner?

Just like England has ancient coins, it also has ancient names for various offices. In this case, Coroners are independent judicial officers in England and Wales who must follow laws that apply to Coroners and Inquests. They must be a qualified and experienced doctor, solicitor or barrister.

Unlike the US they are not limited to medical/death events but are instead more like a one person 'Grand Jury'. As in so many ways, we share a term with the Brits but the meanings are dissimilar, [examples: bonnet and boot there are hood and trunk here].

[Daffynition]

Anyone planning on seeing the Tim Burton movie coming soon , would do well to read the original Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ...."going out altogether, like a candle."

There are limits to what we will stand for, IMO.

[Question Liberal Authority]

It's not England and Sweden I'm talking about. Some of the middle eastern countries have the really ridiculous antiquities laws.

In the USA, there are some pretty strict laws involving certain Native American artifacts.

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

That would be rather silly, as chances are you would get a lot more money by having it declared treasure and getting the full commercial value of the item, rather than at a discount to a dealer as is usually the case...