Advice for museums on Treasure acquisitions

Treasure Act 1996 Code of Practice 3^rd revision

Notes to Museums (England and Wales)

The latest version of the Code of Practice seeks to streamline the administration of cases of Treasure by better reflecting how the process works in practice, explaining the roles of the many parties involved, the expectations of each, and the timeframes for parts of the process to conclude. Museums with experience of the Treasure system will hopefully be familiar with most aspects of this, but for the benefit of all, the role of museums and associated timescales are outlined below.

Interest in acquiring:
Treasure items may be acquired by any institution accredited by the Museum Accreditation Scheme, or museums registered as on a pathway towards gaining accreditation. Any museum who thinks they may wish to acquire finds of Treasure, and therefore wish to be notified of new finds available for acquisition, should provide a relevant, reliable point of contact to their local Finds Liaison Officer (in England) and the Treasure Registries at Amgueddfa Cymru-Museum Wales (for Wales) and the British Museum (for England).

Notification of new finds to Museums is provided by the FLO in the relevant collecting area (in England) or by the Treasure Registry at Amgueddfa Cymru-Museum Wales (in Wales). Museums are expected to reply to the FLO/Treasure Registry with expressions of interest in acquisition within 28 days of being notified of the find. A failure to respond within 28 days will be interpreted as there being no interest in acquisition. If more than 28 days is needed - for instance to allow the find to be considered by Committee - the museum must still inform the FLO/Treasure Registry before the 28 days has passed.

Expressions of acquisition interest are expected to be considered and realistic. Museums will eventually have to pay the full value of the find (unless the finder and or the landowner decides to waive claim to their reward entitlements), which is equivalent to the value that might be paid by a willing buyer to a willing seller on the open market (in other words, a theoretical auction hammer price) as determined by the Treasure Valuation Committee. Museums can research the values of parallels that have gone through the process by reviewing past Treasure Annual Reports and minutes of the meetings of the Treasure Valuation Committee (both available on the website of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, https://finds.org.uk/publications and https://finds.org.uk/treasure). The relevant Treasure Registries may also be able to assist with advice.

A museum that wishes to express an interest in acquisition has to provide a short statement to the relevant Treasure Registry explaining the reason for its interest. This may be an explanation of how the find complements the existing collection or thoughts on how the find might be used (e.g. for display or research) or for reasons related to the nature of the find itself (e.g. if it is related to a specific activity or family/individual important to the area). This statement may be shared with other interested parties in the process (coroner, finder, landowner, Treasure Valuation Committee).

Expression of interest by a Museum triggers the case going to Coroner's inquest.

Valuation:

After the Coroner's inquest, Museums will be contacted directly by the Treasure Registry at the British Museum with the provisional valuation(s) and offered the opportunity to comment on them, or commission their own valuations, for consideration by the Treasure Valuation Committee. Museums will be notified as to which meeting of the Treasure Valuation Committee the find will be considered. When the Treasure Valuation Committee recommends a valuation, the Treasure Registry at the British Museum will inform all of the interested parties (including museums). They are given 28 daysto respond to either agree with the recommendation, challenge it, or withdraw their interest. If they wish to challenge the valuation they will be expected to provide new and relevant evidence for the Committee to consider, for instance, a valuation commissioned by a suitable expert (extra time may be allowed for this). Either way, museums must respond to the Treasure Registry at the British Museum within 28 days. If they do not respond, the Treasure Registry will interpret this as meaning the museum has no further interest, and the find will be returned.

Fundraising:

Once the Treasure Valuation Committee's recommended valuation for a Treasure case is agreed by all parties, or if the museum agrees the valuation but the other parties do not respond within a month, the Treasure Registry at the British Museum will issue an invoice for the agreed amount to the museum. From this point, the museum has 3 months to pay the invoice, or 4 months if it needs to apply to funding bodies for support. Museums applying to funding bodies are expected to do so within 1-2 months of receiving the invoice. It is recognised that museums may need more than 4 months to pay the invoice if decisions from funding bodies will come after the deadline, and if other internal fundraising is ongoing. The 4-month deadline can be extended by the Treasure Registry at the British Museum provided the museum makes contact prior to the deadline and clearly outlines the expected timeframe for fundraising, and provides this information to the finder and landowner as well. But if a museum has not applied to funding bodies within 2 months of receiving the invoice from the Treasure Registry, the invoice may be cancelled and the items returned. Museums are encouraged to speak to the Treasure Registry as soon as possible if issues arise with fundraising, and they will be expected to provide monthly updates on the progress of fundraising to the Treasure Registry, finder and landowner, until the money is raised.

Collection:

Because the Treasure Valuation Committee now values some finds from photographs only, some finds will remain in the care of the FLO/Treasure Registry at Amgueddfa Cymru-Museum Wales throughout the process. Others will come to the British Museum to be seen in person by the Committee. When the acquiring museum has paid the invoice, a 'release' email will be sent by the Treasure Registry at the British Museum, which will say where the find is being kept. The acquiring museum should then make every effort to collect the find as soon as possible, and at very least within 6 months of payment.

Display:

All finds of Treasure that are put on display should be accompanied with a label with the statement 'Acquired under the Treasure Act 1996'.

Valuation and acquisition

The basics steps in the valuation and acquisition of Treasure:

The Find is declared Treasure by the Coroner
The Find is provisionally valued by one or more independent expert valuers.
The Find is seen at a Treasure Valuation Committee meeting where it is looked at alongside the provisional valuation(s).
The Treasure Valuation Committee recommends a value for the Find. The interested parties are asked whether they are satisfied.
The Museum is invoiced for the recommended amount.
The Museum is asked to pay within four months of being invoiced.

Upon receipt of the invoiced amount, we write a letter releasing the find to the museum.

Some tips....

Here are some tips that museums have passed onto us whilst they have been going through the funding process. They include information that museums have found useful and so we hope it is something you can make use of when applying for funding.

It may have been several months between your museum expressing an interest in an item and the date of the inquest. The first you will hear from the Treasure Office, after the inquest, is when we send your museum the provisional valuation.

Don't panic when you receive the provisional valuation. From the point you receive it you will have at least 2 months (steps 1-5 in the flow-chart left) in which to prepare your application. After the TVC has been held and all interested parties agree the valuation we will send an invoice to your museum. From this date you have up to 4 months to pay the invoice. This provides enough time to submit complete applications to funding bodies, receive responses and also contingency time if things do not go according to plan.
Contact the funding sources early and get your options ready for when you do receive the recommended valuation. There is no harm in contacting the funding bodies when you have the provisional valuation (step 2). Even if you do not have the recommended valuations at the point of contacting the funding bodies they will be happy to talk to you and you will be able to start preparing your applications.
Approach your local sources of funding, such as the Friends of your museum or local historical societies in good time.
Find out when local committees hold meetings/ if they hold meetings. They may have meetings on set dates and so you want to be ready for them in order that you do not miss out and have to wait until the next meeting.
Some national funding bodies get back to you with decisions several weeks after your formal applications. Check with them to see how long it might be before they get back to you with a decision. Factor in the possibility that after that period they may ask for further information before they give you a decision.
Send funding bodies all the information that is required. Contact us at the Treasure office if there is something you are missing and need, such as copies of images, reports or further information regarding the provisional valuation.
It is important that if you receive a donation from an interested party to let us know before we invoice you. This way we can provide the best possible advice of how best to receive this donation and how this will affect your funding applications.
Please check with funding bodies before applying to ensure your museum is eligible for that funding.

Contact the Treasure Team at any point if you need advice or more information. Keep us informed- let us know how you are getting on and what time scales you are aiming for.

Tel: 020 7323 8037
Email: treasure@britishmuseum.org

The photo above is from 4colourprogress' flickr stream and is licenced under Creative Commons.