Treasure hunting has become a fruitful hobby

Treasure hunting has never been more fruitful in the UK, according to figures from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, which reported 1,358 provisional finds in 2023 and 1,377 confirmed finds for 2022.

These include a 3,000-year-old gold dress fastener from Staffordshire and a hoard of 26 Iron Age gold coins from Berkshire.

In 1996 there were fewer than 200 treasure finds – defined as metal objects or coins more than 200 years old deemed “significant” by a coroner.

Discoveries soared in 2014-15, when the sitcom Detectorists prompted a rush of enthusiasm for the hobby, and they have remained high ever since.

Julian Evan-Hart, who edits Treasure Hunting magazine and discovered a Zeppelin in Suffolk in 2007, has found Celtic coins worth £5,000 but laments that shrinking museum budgets mean most hunters are selling at auction and the treasure is then heading overseas.