Getting access to your finds

March 29th, 2010 by Daniel Pett

Building the Scheme’s new database was fraught with a huge array of privacy problems ranging from findspot to personal details. The Scheme takes this very seriously, but we do recognise that our registered users have always had a desire to get access to their records that the Scheme has recorded on their behalf. Many finders have hundreds of objects, some just have one; but, they all would like to be able to access these without searching for them/

What has been done is pretty simple and we need to do a few things before you can access your finds easily (and this obviously only works for those that have recorded!) These are:

  • Register for a user account with us (if you don’t have one already)
  • Contact your local finds liaison officer and tell them your user name
  • They then link your user account to the details that we safeguard on our database
  • Voila, next time you login, you have access to your finds (published and those on validation) from your logged in area. Look for the link that says “My finds recorded by FLOs” and which looks like the below image

Coming in the next few days to complement this are a couple of features:

  • Mapping of your finds from your home address (if we have it)
  • Distance travelled for your furthest discovery
  • RSS feeds of your objects so you could embed them on your own site

Hopefully, this new feature will enable many to find objects that they could never retrieve from our old database. One caveat, as we have 17,000 people registered on the system, there maybe a delay enabling you.

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Posted in Database | Comments (2)

First prosecution under the Treasure Act

March 2nd, 2010 by roger bland

It has been widely reported that Kate Harding from Ludlow has been the first person prosecuted under the Treasure Act 1996. This note provides clarification on a number of points that have either been omitted from the media reports, or have been incorrectly reported.

  1. It has been reported that Harding failed to report a silver coin. In fact the find was a piedfort of Charles IV of France. Piedforts look similar to coins, but experts agree they were not used as currency; therefore they are classed as artefacts and thus single finds of piedforts qualify as Treasure provided they are made of at least 10% of gold or silver. Two single finds of silver piedforts from Surrey and Staffordshire have been declared Treasure and acquired by the British Museum in 2007 (Portable Antiquities & Treasure Report 2007, cat. 285) and 2008 (2008 T388).
  2. It has been reported that Harding found the coin as she worked in the garden with her mother at their home in Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire. She originally told the Finds Liaison Officer that she found it in 2008 in her garden in Ludlow, Shropshire.
  3. It has been reported that the authorities have been heavy handed on Harding. Harding was repeatedly informed of her legal obligations to report the silver piedfort under the Treasure Act 1996, but failed to do so, so the case was brought to the attention of the local Coroner.
  4. The Police investigated the case at the request of the Coroner and passed the file to the Crown Prosecution Service, which took the decision to prosecute. Harding told the Police she had lost the find, but produced it during sentencing.
    Harding pleaded guilty on 17 February 2010 to failing to report an item which she believed or had reasonable grounds for believing is Treasure (Section 8 of the Treasure Act 1996).
  5. In due course there will be a Coroner’s Inquest to determine the exact circumstances of discovery and whether or not the object is Treasure.

Posted in News, Treasure process | Comments (0)

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