Thanks to Suzanne for this interesting post about the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Ed
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, all finders of gold and silver objects and groups of coins from the same finds, over 300 years old, have a legal obligation to report such items under the Treasure Act 1996. Prehistoric base-metal assemblages found after 1st January 2003 also qualify as Treasure.
Isle of Wight treasures
Neil MacGregor Director of the British Museum has issued a report on the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) which shows just what treasures have been found recently, a number of which have been found on the Isle of Wight.
Although a small area compared with some counties the Island has recorded nearly 2,000 finds in 2012 which are covered in the latest report. PAS records for 2012 show that there were 1,921 finds. There were 24 Treasure cases.
Britain’s Secret Treasures
During November and December ITV screened ‘Britain’s Secret Treasures’. This series of programmes showed treasure found across the UK including the Isle of Wight when finds at Godshill and Newchurch were featured.
Featured in the 2012 report is an Island found object very familiar, although not in this form, to most children.
Post-medieval Buzz Wheels
Do you remember the ‘whizzers’ once made of cardboard and later of plastic which were packed in breakfast cereal boxes? They were round discs with two holes in them which had string threaded through.
After twisting the string a few times the whizzer would make a humming noise and the harder the string was pulled the more noisy it would become. Well, back in the post-medieval period children had the same toy.
Then called a buzz wheel they were made from old coins or tokens. In 2012 a buzz wheel was found on the Island which was made from a token bearing the effigy of a man’s head. As an unusual find it featured in the national report.
Who to contact
Frank Basford is the local Finds Liaison Officer and should be contacted when anything which falls under the scheme is found. He can be contacted on 01983 823810.
The PAS exists to record archaeological finds found by the public in order to advance archaeological knowledge.
Image: © Buzz Wheel by Frank Basford
