A preacher from Texas came to Shropshire for a little bit of collection-driven exploitation of the foreign archaeological record near Oswestry (Rob Smith, '
Pennies from heaven: Preacher unearths Anglo-Saxon coin hoard in Shropshire ', Shropshire News Nov 15, 2019)
On his first detecting trip to the UK, Michael Heim managed to uncover a hoard of six coins [..] of Edward the Confessor[...] Chris Langston of Metal Detecting Holidays hosted the baptist preacher at Whittington for the duration of his tour [...] Mr Langston said: [...]
"Generally they are found in groups of up to eight, we've found six so it's quite exciting." [...] Michael works as a preacher in a baptist church in Colorado, and also goes by 'Preacher Digger', his YouTube persona. He produces several videos a week capturing his metal-detecting exploits in his native USA and on his trips abroad. He recently travelled to Latvia for a digging expedition. He was due to leave Shropshire and return home on Friday. Chris, a printer by trade, set up Metal Detecting Holidays two and a half years ago to make a business out of the hobby he loves.
You need a permit to go artefact hunting in Latvia and historic objects found in the soil belong to the state, you cannot take them home. A preacher you say? Now when the 'Treasure' is valued, will half the public money that is raised be going across the Atlantic to Texas (along, presumably, with the other items belonging to the cultual heritage of the UK that Mr Heim pocketed)? Matthew 13:44-46.
2 comments:
FYI all finds were turned in to the PAS (Portable Antiquities Scheme) and what finds were not declared were returned to me. The Saxon Hoard the British Museum has and is still in the evaluation process. A museum does want them in Shropshire. I can choose to donate them or take payment, which if I do, will be split with land owner. Everything I do is by the UK Portable Antiquities Scheme laws. On another note, history like the Saxon Hoard belong in England and in the area they were found so all Englanders can enjoy and learn of their history.
"Everything I do is by the UK Portable Antiquities Scheme laws"
The PAS is not a "law", it is a cobbled-together cop-out for British archies not protecting the archaeological resource from looting and commercial exploitation like that you took part in.
Neither does the PAS operate in Latvia, where other provisions are in place, you ignore the point I made about the actual law there.
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