From Olympic medals to historic artefacts, bronze has played third fiddle to gold and silver for millennia but the government has decided to give the metal top billing for the first time.
Ministers are announcing plans today to change the definition of treasure, proposing that artefacts made of bronze and other non-precious materials will be classed as treasure alongside those containing gold and silver.
Describing it as “one of the biggest changes to the Treasure Act since it came into effect” in 1996, ministers said that the move would prevent stunning artefacts from being sold into private collections and lost from public view simply because they do not contain any silver or gold.
Metal detectorist groups have expressed concern that the move may result in