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Title: silver button treasure trove. Post by: Gadget(Ian) on May 10, 2009, 06:12:37 PM A SILVER button unearthed in a St Albans field has been declared buried treasure, after experts found it dated back to the 16th Century.
The button, in the shape of an acorn, was found using a metal detector and taken to Dorset Museum, during an open day when unknown items could be taken in for valuations. The man who found the button, who is from Somerset, informed the museum he found it while using a metal detector during the August bank holiday weekend in 2007. The item was sent to Dorset County Council in October 2007, and was later forwarded to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, for the British Museum. After it was established to have been found in a “rural” area of St Albans, it was sent to the coroner of Hertfordshire, Edward Thomas. Inquests are often held into objects at least 300 years old, where if a local museum expresses an interest in the find, the local coroner must determine whether the item is considered “treasure”. If it is, the landowner where the item was found, and the person who found it, may be entitled to a reward. However, if it is not “treasure”, the item is returned to the finder. In this case, St Albans Museum expressed an interest in the button, after Dr Dora Thornton, the curator of renaissance collections at the British Museum, identified it as a “post-medieval button”. The object is hollow, made from silver sheets soldered together to create the acorn shape, and has two holes in one side. It is 1.5cm in length, and dates back to the 16th Century. Mr Thomas said: “I am satisfied there is interest from St Albans Museum to display it. I'm satisfied it was an isolated metal detecting find that fulfils the qualifications of treasure. Therefore, I declare it treasure.” NOTE: See Website for Photo http://tinyurl.com/q9eo6h (http://tinyurl.com/q9eo6h) Title: Re: silver button treasure trove. Post by: sodbuster on May 10, 2009, 06:37:01 PM I found a silver "acorn" spoon, last year , which has just been returned to me . It was sent to the coroner as treasure trove by our local finds officer but they cannot put a date on it other than it is probably over 300 years old .It was in two pieces when it came out of the ground and had broken across the part where the acorn fits into the cup , I hadn't realised that it had a design on it at all until I started to look for the hallmark.
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