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 Replies: 11 / Views: 1,301 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2596 Posts |
Many of the metal detector finds that I purchase from the UK are DECLARED AND RECORDED with a P.A.S. what does this mean? I know that in the US you dont have to do anything but keep what you find and the laws are different in the UK so I was just wondering what is the process that people go through in europe when they find coins.
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
IIRC, in the UK, the state gets first shot on any historical treasure, 20% of the value. Once cleared, the rest can be sold.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Any finds legally have to be declared, before the Coroner, to be considered as Treasure Trove or not.
As biggfredd has indicated, the museums, on behalf of the British People, get first pick on what is to be retained by them. If anything is retained, the finder is compensated.
The system works reasonably well. To secretly keep your finds is illegal.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
PAS is the 'Portable Antiquities Scheme' http://finds.org.uk/Its a database for the recording of finds in the UK. It relates to the UK 'Treasure Act' which decides who gets what (items or money) from finds. In general its pretty good and designed to stop important items from leaving the UK, it balances this with the desire of amateurs, like us, to find, own or sell historical or old items. And rightly so - most of the important finds are by amatears with metal detectors wearing wellies in the pouring rain  I think the main reason for PAS is to provide a channel for reporting finds and for the dedicated recording of them. Unless you find a hoard or something very rare - and I mean very rare you can report your items to them and then do with them what you want. Its a pretty fair system and rightly so - even if they decide your item is too important to leave the UK you get full market value for it, usually this is split by the land owner and finder 50/50. |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
Quote:
I was just wondering what is the process that people go through in europe when they find coins I suspect most are still never reported - Most of the rest are reported and recorded through PAS, PAS will advise if its considered 'treasure' (this is where it gets a bit more complicated and time-consuming) or if you can keep the item. Most single or small quantity coin finds the finder can keep, we have millions of these 'common' Romans in the ground so the museums are not interested, they already have thousands of top quality examples. I know Greece, Bulgaria and Italy all have much stricter rules about items leaving their shores. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4253 Posts |
I was given to understand that individual coins did not have to be reported, only lager caches. More then likely I am wrong on this,
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
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I was given to understand that individual coins did not have to be reported, only lager caches Thats correct, PAS is voluntary but 'Treasure Trove' is compulsory, a coin is only considered 'treasure' though if it is: one of at least two coins in the same find which are at least 300 years old at that time and are at least 10% precious metal by weight. or one of at least ten coins in the same find which are at least 300 years old at that time. So if you find 1 silver or 9 bronzes in the same location they do not need to be reported, at least this is my understanding of it. Even if you did find more and reported it the museums are really only interested in the context of the find, what they can learn from it and not the physical coins themselves. Edited by bobbyhelmet
02/10/2012 11:18 pm
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2596 Posts |
Thanks for the info I've been hearing alot this year about coins that I have purchased being DECLARED AND RECORDED with a P.A.S. and I sort of figured it meant something like what you guys have explained ,thanks for clearing that up. So basically the museums add it to their records on these coins and that helps them keep up to date on how many of a certian type are found and the rarety etc.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2596 Posts |
Thanks for the link bobbyhelmet that cleared up everything. I have a new favorite site, now if I can just get over to europe this summerthat would be the perfect vacation-metal detecting every day all summer long in the UK.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
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DECLARED AND RECORDED with a P.A.S. Its possible using that site you can find references to the coins you bought, I think stuff like that really adds to the interest of them. |
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Valued Member
279 Posts |
As an Italian, I can confirm that my country is very restrictive.
Coins must be purchased from authorized and serious vendors, and must be issued a certificate of legal origin, and an invoice, and a photo of the coin.
Is strictly prohibited the use of metal detectors.
you can't buy,uncleaned lot, because obviously dubious origin.
I always buy from authorized dealers, with all certificates.
the law must be respected.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2596 Posts |
once I get some done with cleaning I will post a few and maybe we can find a reference to them online. It usually takes a few days to clean using these three methods.The three methods that I use are -soaking-(I only soak coins in distilled water and not usually more then a week), -mechanical- usually with a bamboo skewer, or sometimes a dental pick, and -chemical- which usually works the best after soaking the coins for about a week but in that week I will also take them out a few times and pick at them to take off as much of the crud I can then I put them in a chemical mixture(rochel salt solution) for 5-15 minutes and repeat repeat the process(with less chemical soaking-more of a rinse)until I think the coins are done. The less crud you have on a coin the better the results and usually they come out with a nice patina.
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Replies: 11 / Views: 1,301 |
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Posted 02/10/2012 10:27 pm
