Treasure definition may be broadened to help museums

 Treasure definition may be broadened to help museums

Treasure definition may be broadened to help museums

Lord Parkinson said displaying treasures to the public "can inspire future generations"

Chelmsford Museum in Essex has a Roman figurine in its collection that does not meet the current definition of treasure, but was saved by another mechanism.

Lord Parkinson said the copper alloy piece, discovered in Roxwell, Essex, wears a hooded cloak known as a Birrus Britannicus that people wore in Roman Britain.

"It tells you about the weather at the time, it tells you about fashion, it tells you about the exports from Britain into the Roman Empire," he said.

"These sorts of objects should be shared with people in museums so they can inspire future generations."

Sarah Harvey, a curator at Chelmsford Museum, said that because the Roman figurine is made of a copper alloy, it did not count as a precious metal.

She said that the finder, a detectorist, was planning to sell it abroad, and the museum had to go through "quite a lot of administrative steps to keep it in this country".

"With this new definition of treasure we won't have to go through all of those steps, we would have first rights to acquire that sort of item," she said.

Nicola Potter, of the Cotswold Heritage and Detection Society, is typical of a metal detectorist in the UK when she says she has found "lots of rubbish and lots of really interesting finds".

Nicola Potter

Image caption,

Nicola Potter first took metal detecting two years ago

The 48-year-old from Cheltenham started using a metal detector two years ago and says she does it at least once a week.

A few weeks ago, she unearthed a silver Celtic stater - a small coin decorated with a triple-tailed horse that was used by a local tribe in around 20BC.

The mother-of-two, who works in financial services, says she cried when she found her first gold ring and first silver hammered coin.

"It's just an incredible feeling, just to hold something in your hand ... that hasn't seen the light of day for over 2,000 years," she said.

"It's a ridiculous feeling, it's wonderful, it puts a massive smile on your face."

Mrs Potter said she thought the changes to the Treasure Act were needed "because there will be far too much history that's being lost by people not declaring it."