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Found something? What to do next

A guide by Rob · Law last checked 25 September 2026

The signal was good, the hole is open, and there’s something in your hand that’s older than anything you’ve dug before. What you do in the next hour, and the next fortnight, decides whether it becomes part of the record or just another thing in a drawer. Here’s the order to do it in.

1. First, make sure it’s safe

Two kinds of find mean stopping immediately:

(Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2023; National Council for Metal Detecting, 2025)

2. Stop digging if it’s more than a single object

If you find something below the ploughed soil, a cluster of finds, or anything unusual, stop digging. Tell the landowner you’re getting expert help, and contact your Finds Liaison Officer (FLO) (Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2023). A hoard lifted in a hurry loses most of what it could have told us: what the coins were in, how they were stacked, what lay alongside them.

It’s natural to worry that calling in an expert means losing the find. It doesn’t: the official advice is that reporting it “does not change your rights of discovery, but will result in far more archaeological evidence being recovered” (Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2023).

3. Record exactly where it came from

This is the step people skip, and it’s the one that matters most. Without its findspot an object loses most of its value to history.

Stand over the hole and take the location with your phone before you move. The Portable Antiquities Scheme accepts it in any of three forms: a National Grid Reference, latitude and longitude, or what3words (Portable Antiquities Scheme, no date).

what3words is the easiest of the three. Open the free app where you’re standing and it gives you three words, such as ///pretty.needed.chill, for the 3-metre square you’re in. That’s more precise than the 8-figure grid reference (a 10-metre square) most archaeological research asks for, and more precise than the law requires for possible Treasure: within 10 metres, ideally within 1 metre (Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2023, no date). The PAS database takes the three words as they are, so there’s nothing to convert.

One habit makes it reliable: copy the words straight from the app, never from memory. Some what3words addresses look or sound very like others, and a slip of one letter or a misheard word can point somewhere else entirely (Arthur, 2023). So:

I’d encourage anyone who wants to pin down a spot precisely to use what3words on their phone. It’s really easy, and you can save each location in the app to come back to later. I know from my years in the emergency services that police, fire and ambulance control rooms can all take a what3words location, because it gets someone to an exact point on the ground quickly. That’s a good enough recommendation for a finds bag.

If there’s no signal, the words still work. The app finds your three words from GPS, so it works without mobile coverage, but it needs data to load the map, so you can’t check the pin is on your hole (what3words, no date). In a valley or a field corner with no data, noting map coordinates as well makes a sensible fail-safe.

Record precisely, share vaguely. The precise location is for the record, not for the internet. The exact findspot on the PAS database is never shown to the public: only vetted researchers and staff see it, and everyone else sees the parish (in England) or community (in Wales), or just the district for particularly sensitive sites (Portable Antiquities Scheme, no date). The PAS also advises finders and landowners to keep the site confidential and off social media (Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2023). The same goes for your three words: they lead straight to the hole, so never post them. That’s also why this site only ever shows a find’s location to the nearest kilometre or so.

4. Don’t clean it

Most finds need nothing but dry storage. Anything that might be Treasure should not be cleaned at all before it’s reported (Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2023). Scrubbing a coin can remove the very surface the experts need to identify it, and can wipe out its value along with it.

5. Might it be Treasure?

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the main categories are (National Museums NI, no date a; Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2023):

If you’re not sure, treat it as possible Treasure and ask your FLO. The duty to report starts when you realise it might be Treasure, and not recognising it at first won’t get you into trouble, provided you report it once you do (Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2023).

6. Who to tell, and how quickly

The rules change at every border, and the deadlines are not all the same:

Where you found itWhat must be reportedHow quicklyWho to tell
EnglandTreasure, by law. Everything else voluntarily, through the PAS14 daysYour Finds Liaison Officer, who passes Treasure to the coroner for you
WalesAs England14 daysYour FLO, or the Treasure Registry at Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales
ScotlandEvery find of archaeological, historical or cultural significanceReport it: all such finds can be claimed by the CrownTreasure Trove Scotland
Northern IrelandTreasure, and archaeological finds generally, by law14 days for TreasureNational Museums NI
Republic of IrelandAny archaeological object96 hoursThe National Museum of Ireland, or a designated local museum

(Treasure Act 1996, s. 8; GOV.UK, no date; Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2023; Treasure Trove Scotland, no date; National Museums NI, no date b; National Museum of Ireland, no date)

Two warnings go with that table. Northern Ireland: any searching that involves digging, metal detecting included, needs a licence, and licences are only granted for archaeological projects (National Museums NI, no date b). The Republic: searching for archaeological objects without the Minister’s written consent is a criminal offence (National Museum of Ireland, no date). If you’ve found something there, the 96-hour clock is running.

In England and Wales the law says Treasure must be reported to the coroner, but in practice you tell your FLO. Notifying them in time counts as meeting your legal duty, and coroners generally don’t want finds brought to them directly (Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2023). Not reporting possible Treasure without a reasonable excuse is a criminal offence (Treasure Act 1996, s. 8).

Always tell the landowner too. Finds other than Treasure normally belong to them, which is why a written agreement before you start detecting saves arguments later (Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2023).

7. What happens after you report Treasure

In England and Wales, roughly in this order (GOV.UK, no date; Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2023):

  1. You get a receipt when you hand the find over.
  2. An expert writes a report saying whether it meets the Treasure criteria. If it doesn’t, it comes back to you and the landowner.
  3. Museums are asked whether they’d like to acquire it.
  4. The coroner holds an inquest to decide whether it’s Treasure. You may be invited.
  5. If a museum wants it, the independent Treasure Valuation Committee sets a fair market value. You and the landowner can comment on the valuation, and appeal if you disagree.
  6. The reward is that value — what the museum has to raise — shared between the finder (if you had permission and acted in good faith) and the landowner, or as your written agreement says. You can choose to donate instead; there’s no obligation. The target for payment is 18 months.
  7. If no museum wants it, it’s disclaimed and returned to you after 28 days, unless the landowner objects.

8. Recording everything else with the PAS

For finds that aren’t Treasure, recording with the Portable Antiquities Scheme is voluntary, and well worth doing (Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2023):

9. If you see someone doing it wrong

If you come across nighthawking — illegal detecting on land without permission or on protected sites — or theft from farms, call the police. Most forces have a heritage crime contact (Portable Antiquities Scheme, 2023).

The short version

  1. Safe? Explosives or bones: stop and call the police.
  2. More than one object, or below the plough soil? Stop digging and get help.
  3. what3words (plus a grid reference or coordinates) and a photo before it leaves the spot. Bag it and write the location on the bag.
  4. Don’t clean it.
  5. Could it be Treasure? Assume yes until your FLO says no.
  6. Tell your FLO within 14 days — 96 hours in the Republic of Ireland — and tell the landowner.
  7. Keep the exact location, three words included, to yourself.

References

This is a plain-English guide, not legal advice. If in doubt, ask your Finds Liaison Officer.

Before you dig

Finding things is the easy part. These are the people who make a find count for something.

Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland

Those four are for England and Wales, where the Portable Antiquities Scheme records finds and the Treasure Act decides what must be reported.

Scotland runs its own system, and every find is reportable there — not only treasure. Treasure Trove Unit ›

The Republic of Ireland is different again, and severely so. Searching for archaeological objects without the Minister’s written consent is a criminal offence carrying fines or imprisonment, and the definition is broad enough to cover coins, buttons and buckles of almost any age. Do not assume British rules travel with you. The law, from the National Museum ›

Northern Ireland is stricter still. The Treasure Act applies and finds go to National Museums NI within fourteen days, but any searching that involves digging — metal detecting expressly included — needs a licence, and licences are only granted for archaeological projects. National Museums NI ›

This site covers discoveries from all over the world, and so does the variation in the law — from a recording scheme that thanks you, to a criminal offence. Wherever you are searching, find out what applies there before you go, not after.

Found something? What to do next › · Buying or selling a find? What is legal to sell, and where ›