# The Price That No One Bid > A committee valued the Staffordshire Hoard at 3,285,000 pounds and nobody bid. A helmet out of the same kind of field made 2,000,000 at hammer because it was the wrong metal. In this archive a statute decides which machine sets the price. > The Study - 2026-09-03 > Canonical HTML: https://iconotheca.com/study/the-price-that-no-one-bid/ ## Key points - Some of the largest figures in this archive were produced by people who were not buying anything. A committee, a Treasury official, a coroner's jury and two Acts of Parliament each set a price that no bidder ever tested. - Which machine applies is settled by statute and, in England and Wales, largely by metal. Section 1 of the Treasure Act 1996 defines treasure as an object at least 300 years old with a metallic content of which at least 10 per cent by weight is precious metal. A Roman helmet of copper alloy falls outside it and can be sold. - The Crosby Garrett Helmet is the control case. Because it was copper alloy it went to Christie's on 7 October 2010, made 2,000,000 pounds at hammer and 2,281,250 with premium, and defeated the museum campaign that had reached 1.7 million. Nothing about its importance changed the outcome; its alloy did. - A state-set price can be a disciplinary instrument. After the 1946 Mildenhall inquest the British Museum's Secretary told the Treasury that full market value, probably about 20,000 pounds, was not payable because the finders had concealed the discovery. A 90 per cent reduction was applied and 2,000 pounds was paid. ## Some of the largest numbers in this archive were set by people who were not buying ## In England and Wales a statute decides which machine applies, and it decides mostly on metal ## A committee valued a hoard at 3,285,000 pounds and the museums had to find it ## The same statute sent a helmet to Christie's, because it was copper ## In 1946 the state assessed 20,000 pounds and paid 2,000 ## Parliament took four machines and set their value by Act ## A pre-emption is a price with exactly one bidder ## How to read a price that nobody bid ## Why this archive is free to read The market reports hammer prices because hammer prices are public and comparable, and the effect is that the objects whose value was fixed by a committee, an inquest or an Act fall out of the record entirely, or worse, get quoted alongside auction results as though they were the same kind of number. They are not. A figure produced without a bidder tells you what a state was prepared to certify, what a museum could raise, or what a legislature decided a man was owed, and each of those tells you something real on its own terms. What it will not tell you is what anyone would have paid. ## Questions **What makes an object treasure under English law?** Section 1 of the Treasure Act 1996 covers, among other categories, any object at least 300 years old when found which is not a coin and whose metallic content is at least 10 per cent precious metal by weight. Objects meeting the test vest in the Crown and cannot be sold by the finder. **Why was the Crosby Garrett Helmet allowed to be sold?** Analysis showed it was made of a copper alloy common in the Roman period, so it contained no significant precious metal and fell outside the Treasure Act. The finder and landowner were free to sell it, and it made 2,000,000 pounds at hammer at Christie's on 7 October 2010. **Does a Treasure Valuation Committee figure mean the object is worth that much?** It means a public body assessed that sum as market value for an object that the law prevents from reaching a market. No bidder tests it. It works in practice as the amount a museum must raise to keep the find, and as the reward paid to the finder and landowner. **Can a treasure reward be reduced?** Yes. After the 1946 Mildenhall inquest the British Museum's Secretary advised the Treasury that full market value, probably about 20,000 pounds, was not payable because the finders had concealed the discovery. A 90 per cent reduction was applied and 2,000 pounds was paid, shared equally between the two men. **Were John Harrison's timekeepers ever bought?** No. They passed from Harrison to the state by statute in 1765 and 1766 and have been public property since. Every sum attached to them was voted by the Commissioners of Longitude or by Parliament, and the 20,000 pound prize offered by the 1714 Act was never awarded in the form that Act described. ## Sources - [1] Treasure Act 1996, section 1, definition of treasure, including the 300 year and 10 per cent precious metal by weight tests. - [2] Art Fund, 'Staffordshire hoard', recording the 2010 acquisition at a total cost of GBP 3,285,000, the 900,000 public appeal and the 600,000 from trusts and foundations. - [3] Richard Hobbs, 'The Secret History of the Mildenhall Treasure', The Antiquaries Journal 88 (2008), pages 376-420. Page 383 for the inquest of 1 July 1946 and the jury; page 391 for the Treasury correspondence, the assessment of about GBP 20,000, the 90 per cent reduction and the GBP 2,000 paid. - [4] Sally Worrell and others, 'The Crosby Garrett Helmet', Papers from the Institute of Archaeology, volume 20 (2010), for the find circumstances, the fragment count and the portable x-ray fluorescence identification of the copper alloy. - [5] Archaeology (Archaeological Institute of America), 'Heads Won, Tales Lost', for the Christie's sale of 7 October 2010, lot 176, and the sum raised by Tullie House Museum. - [6] hoyesarte.com, 'Cultura confirma la adquisicion de la obra de Bruegel el Viejo para el Prado', 20 October 2010, for the unanimous approval of the purchase option at an appraised price (precio tasado) of seven million euros. - [7] Royal Museums Greenwich, 'Longitude found: the story of Harrison's timekeepers', for the 1737 award of GBP 500 with GBP 250 paid up front and the Board's 1765 recommendation of GBP 10,000 with a further GBP 10,000 made conditional. - [8] Cambridge Digital Library, Papers of the Board of Longitude, RGO 14/1, 'Acts of Parliament and awards', for the 1714 Act, the 1765 Act and the 1773 to 1774 re-constitution of the reward criteria following Harrison's application.