3-year-old boy finds £2.5m treasure

A three-year-old boy using a metal detector for the first time has unearthed a gold pendant estimated to be worth over £2.5m. James Hyatt made the discovery while out with his father and grandfather in Hockley, Essex. He had only been scanning the soil for a matter of minutes when it started beeping...

Experts believe the rare locket, or reliquary, dates back to the 1500s and was used to hold alleged parts of Christ's crown of thorns or crucifix...

An inquest has declared the reliquary treasure trove and it could be bought for millions by an interested institution, including the British Museum. Proceeds will be split with the family and the owner of the field where the pendant was found.

I am recurrently in awe of the common sense approach British law takes to treasured discoveries.  In other countries the government would claim/try to grab the item, so instead of turning it in, the finder would probably melt this down and sell the gold lump to a jeweler.


Found at Nothing to do with Arbroath.