Collectors need to have their say on the Treasure Act of the British Isles. The British government has opened a public consultation on this pioneering piece of archaeological legislation. Collector's Rights are once again under assault and we need to tell them what we think! According to expert activist John Howland on his excellent 'Detecting and Collecting" blog ("
The end is nigh! But if you detect…VOTE!"), the English government has always been mysteriously sucked-in by Marxist sentiments when it comes to the heritage and archaeologists there will stop at nothing until all land would belong to the people and there would be a nationalisation of all antiquities.
Now, thanks to the myopic and compliant Department of Media Culture and Sport, unsurprisingly, this Marxist nightmare is about to come true. The reptiles are already crawling into the sunlight from beneath their stones.
Single coin finds of precious metals along with those of non-precious metals will soon become ‘Treasure’ under the intended changes to the Treasure Act. At first glance this looks advantageous, but if the proposals go ahead to tighten regulations, then archaeological digging of any sort (by professional archaeologists and others) will only be allowed by permit. Archaeologists and the Crown will have first dibs over what Detectorists or anyone else for that matter can keep in their private collections.
Put another way, no-one would be allowed to search even their own land with a metal detector WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION.
If artefact hunting with a metal detector is solely allowed by permit-led archaeological approval, on what grounds one wonders, would the hobby be even allowed? The answer is clear…it won’t!
Comment from
James M. Fielding:
And here I thought the PAS was etched in stone. The vile creatures inhabiting the socialist sewer once again somehow make it into the light again without being squashed as is their due, to try and redirect the scheme to their own miserable ends. Fight the good fight there John…a good example of never take your eyes off the sewer…credible threats against the hobby and the pastime still lurk there.
Peter Tompa has similar observations (
Public Consultation on Proposed Changes to UK's Treasure Act):
The proposals that require permits to metal detect, that create a new offense for purchases of undeclared artifacts, and declare archaeological finds Crown Property, are potentially very problematic.
A permit requirement could be used to preclude detecting from “archaeologically sensitive areas,” which could mean everything.
The proposed new criminal sanction could catch unwary buyers of objects that did not realize they were buying "treasure." Moreover, collectors should oppose the proposal's efforts to shift the burden of proof in a criminal matter.
Declaring all finds crown property may be a way to avoid paying fair market value for finds the State retains.
If you are a metal detectorist, an ancient coin collector, or just think the UK's current PAS and Treasure Act do a great job of bringing the public, museums and archaeologists together in a joint effort to record and preserve the past, please consider commenting.
Comments are due on or before April 30, 2019.
For more about the issue, see
https://culturalpropertynews.org/uk-changes-treasure-act/
For a direct link to the consultation, see
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/revising-the-definition-of-treasure-in-the-treasure-act-1996-and-revising-the-related-codes-of-practice
If these measures go through, in one fell swoop, metal detecting in the UK will soon be annihilated as we now currently know and enjoy it and will soon be brought under direct archeological control. We must stop this happening, as this will affect collectors everywhere.
