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Norfolk has more treasure finds than any other county, show figures

Adrian Marsden Six Roman gold coins, emperor headsAdrian Marsden
A hoard of Roman gold coins found near Norwich has recently been declared treasure

More treasure was discovered in Norfolk last year than any other county, according to new figures.

Metal detectorists reported 86 finds in the county compared to 74 in Kent, 68 in Wiltshire and 67 in Hampshire.

The provisional figures were published by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Norfolk finds liaison officer Helen Geake said the county was "one of the richest in England in the past" and also has "responsible" detectorists.

Denise and Damon Pye Denise and Damon PyeDenise and Damon Pye
Helen Geake praised "responsible" detectorists like Denise and Damon Pye, who discovered and reported the Roman hoard over several years

Two recent Norfolk finds include a "really quite exceptional" hoard of Roman gold coins and the largest Anglo-Saxon gold coin hoard yet to be found in England.

Dr Geake outlined several reasons why the county is a treasure hotspot.

"It was one of the richest counties in England in the past, we have a lot of skilled and responsible metal detectorists who find what's out there and who report it, and there's a lot of ploughed land in Norfolk so there's lots of land available to search on," she said.

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What is treasure?

  • Under the Treasure Act 1996, "treasure" includes prehistoric objects, coins that contain gold or silver and are at least 300 years old, or more recent valuable objects that have been deliberately hidden
  • Finders of potential treasure in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are legally obliged to notify their local coroner
  • An inquest then determines whether the finds constitute treasure
  • If the find is declared treasure, the finder must offer it for sale to a museum at a price set by the British Museum's Treasure Valuation Committee
  • A reward is then offered to the finders and other relevant parties, including the landowner
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PA Media Gold Penny, or Mancus of 30 PencePA Media
The Gold Penny, or Mancus of 30 Pence, unearthed by a metal detectorist in a field near West Dean, Hampshire, was sold in 2021

The statistics revealed 1,079 discoveries were found and reported in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2021.

A breakdown of the finds has yet to be revealed, but in 2020, 1,071 treasures were found with 876 being objects and 195 being coins.

A third of the objects and a quarter of the coins were donated to museums.

It is the eighth year in a row that the number of treasure finds has topped 1,000.

Norwich Castle and Art Gallery Anglo-Saxon gold coin hoardNorwich Castle and Art Gallery
These Anglo-Saxon gold coins are part of the most important hoard found in Norfolk "by a long way", according to coin expert Adrian Marsden
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