The Guardian view on treasure laws: time for reform | Editorial

Lockdown saw a surge in artefacts dug up by gardeners. How should such finds be handled?

Reading, listening to birdsong: these were among the small pleasures that were snatched by some from the jaws of the pandemic this spring. So, it turns out, was accidental, domestic archaeology - a result of energetic lockdown gardening. The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), which is run by the British Museum and National Museum Wales, this week announced that 50 South African gold coins dating from the 1970s were dug up in a garden in Milton Keynes. A bout of weeding in Hampshire revealed a stash of gold and silver coins from the 15th and 16th centuries.

Such precious-metal hoards must, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, be reported to the coroner, through the PAS. Classified as treasure", they are subject to a legal process, including a coroner's inquest, through which the items may be acquired by a public museum, with the finder and landowner suitably compensated.