Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is our purpose?
    The Celtic Coin Index is an Academic project based at the Institute of Archaeology at Oxford University.
  2. Who will have access to the information about my finds?
    Our aim is to make as much of the information available as possible while protecting your personal details and protecting archaeological sites from damage. Precise details of findspots will be made available to the Finds Liaison Officers, the Sites and Monuments Record, and other statutory bodies such as English Heritage, Cadw and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. We will publish details of the finds you show us in our online database (www.finds.org.uk), but the findspots of objects will not be identified more precisely than a National Grid Reference (NGR) of four figures (which identifies 1km square). As we want to protect archaeological sites from damage, such as nighthawking, the most sensitive findspots will not be identified as accurately as this. Please note that the information given to Finds Liaison Officers by finders is subject to the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and the Data Protection Act (1984).
  3. Are you only interested in seeing finds made by metal-detector users?
    Not at all. We would like to see archaeological objects found by anyone. However, metal-detector users do discover the majority of archaeological objects, so we are particularly keen to make contact with them.
  4. What is the Portable Antiquities Scheme?
    Every year many thousands of archaeological objects are discovered by members of the public, mostly by metal-detector users, but also by people out walking, digging their gardens or whilst going about their everyday work. These finds have the potential to tell us much about the past; how and where people used to live and about the types of objects they made and used. Since 1997 the Portable Antiquities Scheme Finds Liaison Offiicers have examined over 100,000 objects, many of which would have otherwise gone unrecorded.The aims:

    1. To advance knowledge of the history and archaeology of England and Wales by systematically recording archaeological objects found by the public.
    2. To raise awareness among the public of the educational value of archaeological finds in their context and facilitate research in them.
    3. To increase opportunities for active public involvement in archaeology and strengthen links between metal-detector users and archaeologists.
    4. To encourage all those who find archaeological objects to make them available for recording and to promote best practice by finders.