Historical artefacts worth millions of crowns have gone missing from repositories of reported finds

Valuable artifacts from the detector finds were moved to an unknown location for fear of looting. Precious treasures and parts of the surrendered files were lost from secure storage, apparently stolen by someone with access. It is feared that they have been sold to private collections in the USA.

Police said they are investigating the irreplaceable loss of tens of thousands of pounds worth of historical artefacts. They were thought to have disappeared after being handed over to officials over the past four years. The finders handed over the items as required by the Treasure Trove Act 1996. They then waited several years to see if they would be classified as treasure by the coroner. When they were told that the valuables they had found had disappeared from secure storage, they were shocked.

The finds were from Cumbria and Lancashire. Preliminary information suggests they may have been stolen from the storage facility by an insider who had access to them directly or through someone inside. Officials have therefore cleared the warehouses and placed the remaining items elsewhere for fear of further theft.

Experts and detectorists fear the artifacts may have been sold on the U.S. black market. "It's devastating for us personally, but also for the entire nation. Some of these objects have not been held by human hands since the Bronze Age. But after we found them and turned them over to officials, they disappeared like steam over a pot," said one of the damaged detectorists.

Another detectorist who found a set containing 3,500-year-old bronze axes said: "I had not heard anything about the finds for two-and-a-half years, so I went to see the officer and was told that one of my axes and all the coins had disappeared. I started communicating with other detectorists and was shocked to find I was not alone."

Any finder must report the items within 14 days and hand them over to the liaison officer. They are stationed around the country and, along with the coroner, decide whether or not a find is a treasure. If it is not treasure, the finder can keep it - otherwise it is considered national heritage (belonging to the Crown) it must be offered for sale to the museum at a price set by independent experts. During the investigation, all these finds are stored securely and only a few insiders have access to them.

Police have confirmed that the investigation is continuing and will update the public when it is complete.

Roman Nemec

Sources: thesun.co.uk. Ustoday.news

The missing items include these bronze axes

The losses also include a 3,500-year-old arrowhead and silver coins of William the Conqueror

Detectorists fear their items have disappeared on the black market