Lovely UK. Did they get to keep anything?
Treasure Act 1996:
The Act allows for criminal prosecution for:
failing to report treasure
hiding treasure
selling or disposing of treasure without reporting
delaying notification
Penalties can include:
fines
confiscation of the object
potential imprisonment
Does that include family heirlooms that have been in the family for centuries? :)
Yes, not reporting it has great penalties. However, when they do report it the government determines if the treasure has historical importance or not. If it does, the museum is required to pay the finder what the treasure is valued at. If it doesn’t have historical importance, the finder gets it back and do what he wants.
It actually is a law that promotes treasure hunting.
Thank you, Conservatives!
Thank you, Conservatives!