How the legal Treasure reporting works?

Person wearing a straw hat is kneeling is a square hole in a field, she has a serious look on her face and there's a yellow bucket next to her

How will the new ‘significance’ Treasure cases be reported (in Wales)?

  • The new significance definition of Treasure is additional to the existing classes of Treasure, so these criteria should be considered first, before considering a possible significance case.
  • If you think your find may be of exceptional significance, report it to your local PAS Cymru Finds Reporting Officer or to the Treasure Registry staff at Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales (see contacts below).
  • If another person (e.g. rally organizer, club member, Finds Recording Officer, Treasure Registry staff, local or national museum curator or antiquities dealer) identifies one of your finds to be a possible high significance Treasure case, please follow advice and report the find (see above).
  • The PAS Cymru Finds Officer will work with the relevant Amgueddfa Cymru curator, also including the opinion of the local accredited museum interested in acquiring the find and any additional advice needed from external experts. They will carefully prepare a report for the Coroner, making the best case for its exceptional significance.
  • The Coroner will decide whether a find does meet the required level of significance, deciding if it is legally Treasure or not.
  • It is estimated that only between 1-8 extra finds per year from Wales is likely to be considered as of exceptional significance under the new definition. Most objects discovered by finders will still not be legally Treasure: the new definition will be carefully and selectively applied to make sure only the finds judged to be of the very highest significance are progressed.
  • A find will only be progressed as a Treasure case of exceptional significance, where an accredited local or national museum is keen to acquire it for wider public benefit.
  • If you still have worries or concerns about the new Treasure definition added in 2023, please get in touch with the Treasure Registry team at Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales They will be happy to listen to and register your concern and view, helping them to understand, respond and to reassure finders, landowners and museums, wherever possible.

The new Treasure Code of Practice (2023)

You can access the newly re-written Treasure Code of Practice document in Welsh or English and hosted on the UK Government website.

Read the document 

This provides additional information about the Treasure reporting process, explaining how Treasure reporting works for treasure found in Wales.