Roman Coins Found In Britain

[Minimalist]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/0 ... p-friends/

Hoard of 2,000-year-old silver Roman coins unearthed by group of friends and a metal detector

First century, Flavian Dynasty. Plus other great finds.

[kbs2244]

"Although they discovered it in 2015, it has been kept secret until now, to enable archaeologists to explore the site first."

So much for transparency.

[Simon21]

Let us hope the figures are correct. It is said that the number declared is sometimes less than that found. The "excess" ends up on ebay.

[kbs2244]

Say it isn't so
All these finds are "royal property"
Government property.
This sale of "excess" you speak of would be theft of government property!

[Simon21]

Say it isn't so
All these finds are "royal property"
Government property.
This sale of "excess" you speak of would be theft of government property!

Well quite, precious metal objects are declared treasure and must be (I believe) sold to the state at market value - the landowner gets 50%, the finder 50% - it is called the portable antiquities scheme.

Scandalously non precious metal objects are not covered. So we have atrocities like the Crosby Garret helmet - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crosby_Garrett_Helmet.

This was found deliberately destroyed (perhaps as a tribute to its owner) but before archaeologists could properly examine it it was given to Christies to auction. They promptly "restored it" so it is now more resin than bronze and is partly the restorer's impression of what such a helmet should look like - much of its archaeological value has been destroyed, though they did discover the visor showed signs of wear, indicating that it was actually worn.