Have you ever wondered what is the law relating to who owns hidden treasure which is later discovered? This is always a live issue, particularly in the summer months as enthusiasts trace over beaches with their metal detectors.
The law on this goes back to the time of Edward the Confessor, so is originally very much part of the ancient common law. To be treasure in the first place, objects had to be more than 50% gold or silver content. Next there had to be something called animus revocandi meaning it was hidden with 'intention to recover' (I love it when I can introduce legal Latin phrases - such a shame that modern law discourages them: they are so precise!). If this condition was established the Crown i.e. the state was deemed to own the treasure. Conversely, this meant that if the treasure was merely lost or abandoned it could not be treasure trove. There was then complicated law as to who could claim it: the original owner would still have the first ('superior') claim but subject to this the finder might be able to claim if he was legitimately on the land, but otherwise the booty fell to the landowner. In the case of the Sutton Hoo finds in 1939, close to home, they were not deemed treasure trove as there was no animus revocandi: it being presumed that as it was a burial site the treasure were not meant to be recovered, at least in this life! So Mrs Pretty , the landowner (I believe from the family who founded our rival firm, Prettys) had the best claim available, although she played fair and bequested the treasure to the nation in 1942. Incidentally as the essence of animus revocandi is hiding with intention to recover, if they true owner ever showed he could of course claim even if it was deemed treasure trove but this never happens as a fortiori so to speak they were dead long ago.
The Crown would pay a reward representing market value to the deemed finder. If there was a dispute about whether treasure was indeed trove a coroner's court had jurisdiction.
The law on this goes back to the time of Edward the Confessor, so is originally very much part of the ancient common law. To be treasure in the first place, objects had to be more than 50% gold or silver content. Next there had to be something called animus revocandi meaning it was hidden with 'intention to recover' (I love it when I can introduce legal Latin phrases - such a shame that modern law discourages them: they are so precise!). If this condition was established the Crown i.e. the state was deemed to own the treasure. Conversely, this meant that if the treasure was merely lost or abandoned it could not be treasure trove. There was then complicated law as to who could claim it: the original owner would still have the first ('superior') claim but subject to this the finder might be able to claim if he was legitimately on the land, but otherwise the booty fell to the landowner. In the case of the Sutton Hoo finds in 1939, close to home, they were not deemed treasure trove as there was no animus revocandi: it being presumed that as it was a burial site the treasure were not meant to be recovered, at least in this life! So Mrs Pretty , the landowner (I believe from the family who founded our rival firm, Prettys) had the best claim available, although she played fair and bequested the treasure to the nation in 1942. Incidentally as the essence of animus revocandi is hiding with intention to recover, if they true owner ever showed he could of course claim even if it was deemed treasure trove but this never happens as a fortiori so to speak they were dead long ago.
The Crown would pay a reward representing market value to the deemed finder. If there was a dispute about whether treasure was indeed trove a coroner's court had jurisdiction.
I recall that my old partner, Michael Sinclair, had a treasure trove case once under the old common law about who was entitled to what but sadly it is so long ago I cannot recall the facts of the case and he has now sailed off on his boat round the world so unfortunately I have no way of prompting my memory which is a shame.
Common law of a thousand years was changed by the Treasure Act 1996. The definition of treasure itself is changed. The new definition is complicated (statutes always complicate things). The Act can be found at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1996/ukpga_19960024_en_1 if you wish to see it in full but suffice to say here that treasure is now not just works containing gold and silver but also some works designated by the Secretary of State as of outstanding historical, archaeological or cultural importance' (prehistoric finds have been so designated). Any hidden treasure so defined now - even if lost or abandoned with not intention to recover - belongs to the Crown if the true owner is not around. As before the coroner must be informed of finds - it's an offence not to do so - and has jurisdiction by inquest over treasure trove. The Secretary of State for Culture and Sport (more power to Andy Burnham) decides whether to transfer to the Crown i.e. put in a museum, and the reward, which can now, to reflect the sad demise of our old friend animus revocandi, be split between finder and landowner.
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