Annual Reports from Treasure Act and the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

Members of the NCMD Committee recently attended a meeting at the British Museum for the launch of the annual report for the Portable Antiquities Scheme, and the Treasure Act annual report from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport. While the Treasure Act report is for 2024, it contains details of finds made in 2022. […]

Portable Antiquities Scheme – January Update

It has been a busy year for the PAS so far. This latest monthly update aims to keep the detecting community (and others) informed on the work of the Scheme across England from a British Museum perspective. Lots more is happening locally! The main object types recorded this month were coins (1,737), buckles (370), brooches […]

Portable Antiquities Scheme – November Update

To keep everyone in the detecting community as informed as possible, Prof Michael Lewis FSA MCIfA, Head, Portable Antiquities & Treasure at the British Museum, provides a monthly update on PAS happenings from a PAS Central Unit (British Museum) perspective. Please note that this is not a comprehensive report on all PAS work across England. […]

Norman Conquest Coin Hoard

A Norman Conquest Coin hoard has been acquired for the nation by the South West Heritage Trust. The hoard consists of 2,584 silver pennies from the period c. 1066–68, likely buried for safekeeping in the turmoil of the Conquest. The hoard has been valued at £4.3 million making it the highest value treasure find ever. […]

Treasure Process Presentation

View the presentation on the treasure process from a recent meeting at the British Museum. We met with the Treasure Valuation Committee, members of the PAS (Portable Antiquities Scheme) and DCMS (Department for Culture, Media & Sports) to go through what the process entails. (Click image to open file)

Portable Antiquities Scheme in Wales 

The NCMD have been writing to members of the Welsh Government, and associated funders in response to budget cuts that could affect the PAS service in Wales.  We have received the following response from Steve Burrow, Deputy Head of Public History & Archaeology.  “I’m writing to you in my capacity as Amgueddfa Cymru’s organizational lead […]

Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) Annual Report

The recent press launch of the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) 2022 Annual Report was a great success. Hosted by Sir Mark Jones the new Head of the British Museum, there was a strong turnout. Including members of the Portable Antiquities Advisory Group, which includes the NCMD represented by Alan Tamblyn, Dave Crisp and David Millington. […]

PAS Conference 2023

“The contribution of detector finds to archaeology”. This year’s PAS conference was held at the Yorkshire Museum in York, with the overall theme based around the contribution that detecting finds have made to archaeology and the archaeological record. There are currently around 1.66 million finds recorded on the PAS database, of which some 97% have […]

Latest PAS and FLO Update

Yesterday (4th Jan 2023), members of the NCMD Committee met with Michael Lewis, Head of the PAS (Portable Antiquities Scheme) and a number of regional FLO coordinators to discuss the challenges faced within the current finds recording process. These challenges in turn, cause frustrations to our members, so the NCMD is keen to help develop […]