About us
The Treasure Valuation Committee (TVC), comprising of independent antiques or coin experts and a representative of the hobby of metal-detecting, establishes the likely market value of each treasure find. A reward of this value can then be made to the finders of treasure and to the owners of find sites unless there are grounds for no reward or a reduced award to be made.
Responsibilities
The Treasure Valuation Committee is an impartial committee of experts who provide valuations in cases where a museum wishes to purchase an object of archaeological interest found by a member of the public and declared treasure.
Before an object is valued
Under the Treasure Act 1996, finders have a legal obligation to report all finds of potential treasure to the local coroner, who determines whether the find is treasure or not. Across England and Wales there is a network of Finds Liaison Officers, who act as the main contact points for treasure finds. If the Finds Liaison Officer, museum curator or archaeologist believes that a find may be treasure, they will inform the British Museum or the National Museums and Galleries of Wales. The museums will then consider whether they or any other museum wishes to acquire it.
Valuations
Any find that a museum wishes to acquire is valued by the TVC. The TVC commissions a provisional valuation from one or more experts drawn from the antiquities or coin trades. The list of experts from which the TVC commissions provisional valuations is published on the Portable Antiquities Scheme website. The finder, the landowner and the acquiring museum have the opportunity to comment on the provisional valuation and/or to send in a separate valuation for the committee to consider. The TVC will then inspect the object(s) and arrive at a valuation.
Rewards and non-payments
It is normal practice to divide rewards 50:50 between the finder and the landowner, unless another form of agreement has been reached between them. There are some cases, however, where the TVC looks at the circumstances of the find and considers whether the reward should be abated (for example, where a finder has committed an offence under the Treasure Act or where there are reasonable grounds for believing that the finder was trespassing or where significant damage has been done deliberately or recklessly to the object or the place where it was found). These cases are relatively unusual.
Administration and minutes
Administrative support for the TVC was provided by officials at DCMS until 2007, when administration of most cases was transferred to the British Museum. The exception to this is treasure cases where the British Museum is seeking to acquire the object. It was decided that in order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, these would continue to be administered by DCMS.
The TVC meets 6 to 8 times a year. You can download PDF copies of some editions of the minutes.
There is no remuneration for the chairmanship or membership of the TVC.