“Modernising the hunt for Scotland’s buried treasure” Should finds belong to The Crown? Have your say!

3 comments

1. Finders keepers for historical items I say.

2. Looking at a [council’s website](https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/leisure-sport-and-culture/archaeology/treasure-trove-law-in-scotland/) that explains the mechanism a bit:

   > Finders are obliged by law to report discoveries to the Treasure Trove Unit, view information for finders. As the intention is to record or preserve such objects for the public good, the Treasure Trove Unit consults an Allocation Panel about which museums should be entrusted with the finds. The Panel also advises on the importance and value of the find.

   > Rewards for those items that are selected for retention by the State are paid to the finders by the Queen’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer, at the receiving museum’s expense, and are based on the market value of the find.

   > After examination, articles not required for museum collections are returned to the finder.

   So basically, the specialist team at [Treasure Trove Scotland](https://treasuretrovescotland.co.uk/information/information-for-finders/) assess archaeological finds, and if deemed valuable to preserve for the nation can be allocated to a museum, and the finder will get paid based on the market value of the item.

   Or to cut a long story short, the country’s museums basically get first dibs.

   I don’t think I have a problem with the system as it stands.

3. The current system seems fine.

   And the quoted post is quite misleading – the Crown (in reality the teams at the Treasure Trove unit of the Nation Museum of Scotland) just gets a first chance to look at the item and save it for the nation if it is unique, important or valuable. If they keep it, the finder gets paid the market rate for it. If they don’t assess it as important enough to acquire, the finder is free to do what they want with it.

   All fair enough, frankly.