Hoiked Tenth Century Hoard Soon on Market

Treasure hunter "Elmtree" is jubilant ("Regnalds Hoard Update" Mon Nov 17, 2014 9:40 pm ) [emoticons omitted]

After two and a half years, just been told there isn't a museum that can aford the coins..... so im picking them up on Saturday. Happy days    

This is the hoard here, listed in the PAS database "to be known as: York Area". Note: "some of the coins have a surface appearance consistent with harsh cleaning, while some of the fragmentation also appears to be recent". But members of a metal detecting forum near you are livid that the public was not forced to buy back its heritage from this Treasure hunter, who did not get his reward.

redwulf500 wrote: hi nice finds its a pity that they have messed you about for 2 1/2 years, but it will all turn out for the best......

Stargazer likewise:

It all doesn't look to be 'turning out for the best' for this lad . He did the right thing by reporting it, and has now been left with a major dilemma. He stood to gain a 'windfall' as did the landowner. I am sure the landowner won't be best pleased.

Targets (Tue Nov 18, 2014 3:40) pm adds helpfully:

DNW will auction them if u want ,they auction plenty of hoards

Elmtree (Sat Nov 22, 2014 6:24 pm) - when asked "which museum are you thinking of donating them to?" triumphantly replies:

The museum's have had there (sic) chance ! i wanted them to go to york, but im not in a position to donate them. Spink's have them now....[...] There (sic) going to get sold in march !

"Had their chance" means he basically said, "come up with the cash or I'll flog them". But, he certainly is  "in a position to donate them". See below.

Additional information (elmtree » Sun Nov 23, 2014 9:50 pm ):  i am the land owner and have chose to buy one at the sale, as mike my detecting mate is going to do. [...]  they were found in a field that's never been ploughed. 

Rosy-glassed research students may well think that we should describe such cases with "respect" and patting these people on the heads. I disagree with her. This sort of thing needs to be highlighted, and if the PAS are not going to do it (let me repeat that, if the PAS are not going to do it - look at their report) we should be letting the public know what we think of this sort of behaviour. Hoiking archaeological artefacts in context (read the PAS report)  from a depth of ten inches or more from fields that have never been ploughed is bad enough. Instead of getting the archaeologists in they carried on hoiking till they found another one. Then they cleaned both groups before reporting them - harsh cleaning and modern fragmentation are noted in the PAS report. This is NOT what the Treasure Act Code of Practice says, not a bit of it. Then the finder is moaning because the public refuses to pay a ransom for them adds to the scandal. The fact that this is a rare case when the finder and the landowner are the same person too.  This is not "history enthusiasts", "citizen archaeologists" this is looting undisturbed archaeological deposits for personal profit, pure and simple. Its citizen archaeology trashers who turn out to be moral midgets when cash is in the offing - and they don't care who they get it from.

Vignette: Copy of Aethelred II coin.