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WHAT IS TREASURE? THE TREASURE ACT & PORTABLE ANTIQUITIES LEGISLATION BERNICE CARDY When I joined the staff of Swansea Museum in April 1996, the first seminar I was asked to attend was on a law, which was passed that year, called the Treasure Act 1996. The Treasure Act replaced the common law of Treasure Trove. A change in the law was deemed necessary because of the increasingly popular use of metal detectors as a hobby in the 1980s. Chance finds of archaeological material have been noted for centuries by farmers, gardeners and walkers as well as by those who deliberately set out to examine potential archaeological sites. There were always those who were looking for treasure and from the seventeenth century there were 'gentlemen antiquarians' with the curiosity, time and money to explore the past. Locally we have many examples of the wealthy exploring the land, such as Mary Talbot and Lewis Weston Dillwyn investigating Paviland Cave and J. T. Dillwyn Llewelyn excavating the Bronze Age Tomb at Garn Goch. During much of the twentieth century museums, university departments, local history societies and archaeological trusts have succeeded the amateur antiquarians. Metal detectors were developed by the military for mine clearance, but their potential for locating other metal objects was soon realised. The first detectors were expensive, heavy and difficult to use but improvements during the 1970s led to their growing popularity with the general public, and beaches, fields and common land were explored. It was claimed that by the 1980s metal detecting was one of the fastest growing hobbies. Magazines and identification guides were produced and the hobby became more organised, with clubs being formed and a national body set up to represent the detectorists' interests. A Code of Practice for Responsible Metal- Detecting in England and Wales was established. Unfortunately a few unscrupulous metal detectors took to searching known archaeo- logical sites. Also, since only a small proportion of finds were ever seen by museums or field archaeologists, a great deal of potentially important information about our past was being lost. Resentment built up between metal detectors and archaeologists, with entrenched positions and lack of trust on both sides. TREASURE TROVE The old law of Treasure Trove dated from the twelfth century. Under the law, finders were required to report any objects they found. A coroner's inquest, with a jury, was