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TREASURE TROVE

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Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 228 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TREASURE TROVE , the legal expression for See also:

coin, See also:bullion, See also:gold or See also:silver articles, found (Fr. trouve) hidden in the See also:earth, for which no owner can be discovered. In See also:Roman See also:law it was called See also:thesaurus, and defined as an See also:ancient See also:deposit of See also:money (See also:vet us depositio pecuniae) found accidentally. Under the emperors See also:half went to the finder and half to the owner of the See also:land, who might be the See also:emperor, the public See also:treasury (fiscus), or some other proprietor. See also:Property found in the See also:sea or on the earth has at no See also:time been looked on as treasure trove. If the owner cannot be ascertained it becomes the property of the finder (see LosT PROPERTY). As the feudal See also:system spread over See also:Europe and the See also:prince was looked on as the ultimate owner of all lands, his right to the treasure trove became, according to See also:Grotius, See also:jus See also:commune et quasi gentium, in See also:England, See also:Germany, See also:France, See also:Spain and See also:Denmark. In England for centuries the right to treasure trove has been in the See also:Crown, who may See also:grant it out as a See also:franchise. It is the See also:duty of the finder, and indeed of any one who acquires knowledge, to See also:report the See also:matter to the See also:coroner, who must forth-with hold an See also:inquest to find whether the See also:discovery be treasure trove or no. Although the taking of the find is not See also:larceny until this be done, the concealment is an indictable offence still punish-able in practice, and formerly was held " akin both to See also:treason and to larceny." In the See also:statute De officio coronatoris 1276(4 Edw. I. c. 2) the coroner is enjoined to inquire as to treasure trove both as to finders and suspected finders, " and that may be well perceived where one liveth riotously and have done so of See also:long time." The Coroners See also:Act of 1887 continues this See also:power as heretofore. In See also:Scotland the law is the same, but the concealment is not a criminal offence; it is there the duty of the See also:king's and See also:lord treasurer's See also:remembrancer, with the aid of the See also:local See also:procurator fiscal, to secure any find for the Crown, whose rights in this respect have been pushed to some length.

Thus in 1888 a prehistoric See also:

jet necklace and some other articles found in See also:Forfarshire were claimed by the authorities, though they were neither gold nor silver. The matter was finally compromised by the deposit of the find in the See also:National Museum. By a treasury See also:order of 1886 See also:provision is made for the preservation of suitable articles so found in the various national museums and See also:payment to the finders of sums in respect of the same. Also if the things are not required for this purpose they are to be returned to the finder. In See also:India the Treasure Trove Act (16 of 1878) makes elaborate provision on the subject. It defines treasure as " anything of value hidden in the See also:soil." When treasure over Rs. 10 is discovered, the finder must inform the See also:collector and deposit the treasure or give See also:security for its custody. Concealment is a criminal offence. An inquiry is held upon See also:notice; if declared ownerless the finder has three-fourths and the owner of the ground one-See also:fourth. The See also:government, however, has the right of pre-emption. In the See also:United States the See also:common law, following See also:English precedent, would seem to give treasure trove to the public treasury, but in practice the finder has been allowed to keep it. In See also:Louisiana See also:French codes have been followed, so that one-half goes to finder and one-half to owner of land.

See also:

Modern French law is the same as this, as it is also in Germany, in See also:Italy and in Spain. In the latter See also:country formerly the See also:state had three-quarters, whilst a See also:quarter was given to the finder. In See also:Austria a third goes to the finder, a third to the owner of the land, and a third to the state, and provision is made for the possible See also:purchase of valuable antiquities by the state. In Denmark treasure trove is known as " treasure of Denmark," and is the property of the king alone. In See also:Russia the usage varies. In one or two of the governments, in See also:Poland and the Baltic provinces, the treasure is divided between the owner of the land and the finder, but throughout the See also:rest of Russia it belongs exclusively to the owner of the land. This was also the law amongst the ancient See also:Hebrews, or so Grotius infers from the See also:parable of the treasure hid in a See also:field (Matt. xiii. 44). See See also:Blackstone's Commentaries; See also:Chitty's Prerogatives of the Crown; R. See also:Henslowe See also:Wellington, The King's Coroner (1905-1906); See also:Rankine on Landownership; See also:Murray, Archaeological Survey of the United See also:Kingdom (1896), containing copious references to the literature of the subject. (F.

End of Article: TREASURE TROVE

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