Xxii PROCEEDINGS, 



Mr. William Martin, M.A., LL.D., introduced the subject of 

 " The Law of Treasure Trove, especially in relation to Local 

 Scientific Societies." He said that when gold or silver was put 

 by with a view to reclamation, all knowledge of the deposit 

 and of the depositor having vanished, the treasure accrues in 

 jtira regali to the Crown, the essentials of treasure trove being 

 an advertent depositing. The Cro-mi, when treasure trove 

 reaches the hands of the Treasury, remunerated the finder to an 

 extent proportionate to the value of the articles retained, and 

 they are sent to the British Museum or to some other public 

 institution ; or if the articles are not required they are i*eturned 

 to the finder. If the law of treasure trove were abolished the 

 finder would as a rule in his ignorance dispose of the find for 

 much less than its value, and the treasure would rarely find its 

 way into public museums, while in many cases it would pass 

 from hand to hand until all knowledge of the locality of the find 

 and of attendant circumstances might be lost. He thought that 

 more law of treasure trove was required rather than less. It 

 should be extended so as to include, " Avith adequate safeguards 

 and inducements, all objects of distinct antiquarian value, 

 whether of gold or silver, or not, and irrespective of any require- 

 ment of proof or presumption as to their having been originally 

 hidden." ('Juridical Eeview,' vol. xv, p. 227.) 



Dr. Martin then suggested that in cases of treasure trove the 

 procedure should be through the Post Ofiice ofiicials throughout 

 the country, as for many reasons to be preferred to the Police 

 ofiicers. Notice of the liberal terms oflc'ered by the Treasury 

 should be disseminated ; the articles should be given up to the 

 local Postmaster ; and a receipt should be given by him to the 

 finder, with a coimterfoil and an addressed envelope in which to 

 send the receipt, or the counterfoil, to, say, the Solicitor to the 

 Treasury. If it were known, he thought, that the finder's 

 interests were enhanced by the delivery of the articles into 

 proper custody, much of what otherwise would be lost or cast 

 into the melting-pot would be preserved for futm-e generations. 



A discussion followed, in the course of which : 



Mr. T. Sheppard, Curator of the Hull Museum, said that his 

 experience was that everything discovered was looked upon as 

 Crown property, neither the finder nor the owner of the land 

 expecting anything in return. The suggestions with regard to 

 Post Offices and to the extension of this law to all antiquities 

 required careful consideration. The number of articles brought 

 to the Hull Museum as " antiquities " was appalling. 



Your Delegate said that while he thought it to be a general 

 belief that the finder was paid nearly the bullion value of the 

 articles found, it was not generally appreciated that now, in 

 accordance with the regulations made in 1886, on the suggestion 

 of Sir John Evans, the finder got the archaeological value, which 

 may sometimes be much more than the bullion value, such value, 

 however, being subject to a deduction of 20 per cent., which 



