Treasure Hunters
Treasure Hunters - Manx Radio
Friday, 8 February 2019 - 27 minutes
Detectorists, Searchers, Hunters, some even by the title of Rescuers. There is a band of people on the Island who on are the lookout for ‘the big one’. But how many tin cans and rusty scraps of iron must you go through before you find it, or it finds you? How many hours must be spent before you unearth an artefact deserving of the velvet cushion, behind the glass cabinets of the museum? Back in December of last year, Douglas Courthouse held a hearing of the auspicious kind, something known as a Treasure Trove inquest – a legal proceeding which dates back to the 16th century. It seeks to rule whether an item found by individual can be declared as treasure. Thanks to his metal detector, Gordon Graham couldn’t believe his luck when the medieval ring he discovered was ruled as such in the eyes of Manx law.
