as things stand, an artefact is classed as treasure if it s more than 300 years old and made in part from a precious metal, such as gold or silver, or if it s more than 300 years old and one of a number of items found together or a horde, as it s known. treasure is offered to museums first to see if they want to buy it. it s a way of keeping nationally important items on public display. the treasure act protects our heritage, enables finds that we make in fields like this to go into national museums so everyone can share them. if it isn t treasure, it can be sold straight to a private collector. that s what happened to this roman helmet found in cumbria. made of copper, which is not a precious metal, it wasn t deemed treasure, and was sold for more than £2 million to a private collector. chelmsford museum almost missed out on this rare roman figurine because it s made of a copper alloy,
of items found together or a horde, as it s known. treasure is offered to museums first to see if they want to buy it. it s a way of keeping nationally important items on public display. the treasure act protects our heritage, enables finds that we make in fields like this to go into national museums so everyone can share them. if it isn t treasure, it can be sold straight to a private collector. that s what happened to this roman helmet found in cumbria. made of copper, which is not a precious metal, it wasn t deemed treasure, and was sold for more than £2 million to a private collector. chelmsford museum almost missed out on this rare roman figurine because it s made of a copper alloy, and not a precious metal. because it wasn t classed as treasure, when we were looking to acquire this, the detectorist had sold to a buyer abroad. we had to have the government intervene, essentially,