Woman who found coin worth £2,000 in garden becomes first to be prosecuted for not reporting treasure
'Disorganised': Kate Harding pictured outside court. She was found guilty of failing to report treasure
A woman who found a 700-year-old silver 'coin' whilst digging in her garden as a child has become the first in the country to be convicted of failing to hand in suspected treasure.
Kate Harding, 23, was prosecuted under the Treasure Act after she ignored orders to report the coin-like artefact to a coroner.
A court heard the silver piedfort marking Charles IV's ascension to the French throne in 1322 was discovered by Miss Harding 14 years ago as she worked in the garden with her mother at their home in Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire.
Following her mother's death a short time later, Harding kept the 1.4gram item as a memento until she eventually showed it to museum experts last year.
The silver 'coin' was identified as a piedfort dating from 1322, which, while not of great financial value, was of historical significance.
Experts are unsure of exactly what piedforts were used for but agree they were not intended to function as currency.
While they are designed around existing coins of the period, they were substantially thicker and it was has been suggested they were used as guides for mint workers, or more likely, reckoning counters for officials.
Under the Treasure Act 1996, treasure is defined in basic terms as any single object at least 300 years old which is not a coin but has a precious metal content of at least ten per cent, or when found, is one of at least two coins in the same find of that age and metallic content.
The Act gives a finder 14 days to inform the local coroner of potential treasure and creates an offence of failing to carry out that duty where this is not followed.
The prosecution in Ludlow, Shropshire, serves as a warning to so-called 'nighthawkers', who trespass on land under cover of darkness and sell on any finds unearthed using their metal detectors without declaring them to unscrupulous dealers.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1253991/Woman-coin-worth-2-000-garden-prosecuted-reporting-treasure.html#ixzz0gfXG8QU6
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