STRIKING GOLD--THE CASE OF THE SHROPSHIRE PIANO.
| Author | Bennett, Geoffrey |
In 2016 Bishop's Castle Community College in Shropshire had been presented with five pianos in response to an appeal. The most promising instrument was an old Broadwood upright piano which was selected to receive the attentions of Mr Backhouse, a piano tuner. He discovered a problem that when he struck some of the keys they were partially seized up and not moving freely back to their original position after they had been depressed. This could have been as a result of corrosion as the piano had been stored in damp conditions beforehand. By chance, Mr Backhouse was not only a piano tuner but a piano technician. He therefore decided to lift some of the keys to investigate. When he did so, he found a number of small packages precisely placed in the limited space between the keys and the hollow dustboard below. He initially thought he had found bags of mothballs. Further investigation revealed the largest haul of gold sovereigns ever found in Britain consisting of 913 coins dating from 1847 to 1915 (3) and weighing some 6 kgs. In modern terms this represents a sum in excess of 350,000 [pounds sterling]. The legal issue which this discovery posed was the ownership of the coins and, in particular, whether the hoard fell within the definition of treasure under the Treasure Act 1996.
The definition of treasure in section 1 is intricate but reasonably clear. As it relates to coins, section 1(1) requires that there must be, "at least two coins in the same find which are at least 300 years old at that time" and be of at least 10 per cent precious metal. Although the coins were undoubtedly of precious metal, they clearly fell outside the modern definition of treasure under the Act since they were less than 300 years old. Section 1(1)(c) nevertheless provides that treasure includes, "any object which would have been treasure trove if found before the commencement" of the Act. (4) The curious question therefore became whether the find amounted to treasure trove under the old law which it was the intention of the 1996 Act to replace because of its manifest shortcomings. (5) The essential questions under the old law of treasure trove are: (1) is the article of gold or silver?; (2) was it deliberately hidden with the intention that the object be retrieved later?; (3) is there a claimant, such as the original owner or a successor in title, who has a better claim to the object than the Crown?
These issues were exhaustively explored in an inquest by the Shropshire Coroner which extended over three months and which, on 20th April 2017, declared the find to be treasure. The route to this conclusion was not, however, straightforward. Nobody could doubt that the hoard was of gold of a high degree of purity. One of the most problematic aspects of the old law was, and indeed as this case shows still is, the need to find an intention on the part of the person who deposited the item(s) to recover it or them at a later time. This, for example, would rule out something placed in the ground, or a river, as a votive offering. For this...
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