Jersey close to securing Celtic hoard

Thursday 22 October 2020

The Chief Minister has said it would be a “tragedy” if the record-breaking Celtic coin hoard found in Jersey in 2012 wasn’t kept by the island.

In the States this week, Senator John Le Fondre said that the Crown had now formalised an offer for the island securing the hoard.

Following a question from Constable John Le Maistre, the Chief Minister explained that, “...once discovered under customary law, the crown claimed ownership of the Celtic coin hoard.

"Following an initial valuation, the States entered into an agreement with the crown and paid £737,808 towards the hoard based on the first valuation. Of this, £250,000 was paid to Jersey Heritage for the restoration. The crown also entered into an agreement to recognise the contribution of the finders and the landowner, and that is actually between the finders/landowner...

“Following various processes and valuations, the Crown has only recently formalised a proposed offer with a view to the Government finally securing the hoard to the island."

Pictured: Metal detectorists Reg Mead and Richard Miles discovered the hoard of late Iron Age coins in Grouville in 2012.

Summing up his position on the matter, the Chief Minister said that from his perspective, “it would be an absolute tragedy for the island, and on that basis the Government, not to buy the hoard on behalf of islanders” and that though he was "waiting for the latest update," he believed the valuation "has in some shape or form been resolved."

The 69,347 coins were discovered in 2012, and earlier this year broke the Guinness World Record for ‘Largest collection of Iron Age coins discovered’. 

However, due to both the unique nature of the hoard and the fact it technically belongs to the Crown, work on getting an overall valuation and an agreement on the island’s ownership has been a long process. 

Speaking to Express, one of the co-finders of the hoard, Richard Miles explained that part of the complexity came from the fact that “we don’t have a treasure law in Jersey, but everyone agreed to use the terms of the UK treasure act.” 

Pictured: Though there have been multiple valuations, including an initial one from the UK Treasure Committee and an independent one, coming to a definite number has been an ongoing 8 year process. 

He said that though he and his co-finder, Reg Mead, “make our comments known through the Crown as interested parties” and have assisted in the research work around the coins, they had "no influence" in negotiations and it was now “over to the States” to make the final moves in securing the hoard.

Signifying the importance of the island owning the hoard, he said that “this is a unique opportunity to acquire something in its entirety, as there is so much research to be done,” pointing in particular to the insight it could give as to how “economies and coinage worked 2000 years ago.”

He added however that the Chief Minister had "said everything we wanted to hear” in Tuesday's Assembly.

Echoing Richard's comments, co-finder Reg Mead reiterated that for them it wasn’t about the money or reward. Instead, he said it was imperative to them that the island keep the find, explaining that “it’s going to rewrite history books – they should be absolutely amazed at what they’ve got… they do not understand what they’ve got.”