Hampshire named buried treasure hotspot with high number of valuable discoveries found

Government figures show the county and the rest of the south-east of England is the top destination for discoveries.

In total, 67 finds were made in Hampshire last year, according to provisional figures from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

SEE ALSO: Amateur archaeologists find 'extraordinary' Roman artefact dubbed 'paranormal paracetamol' near Havant

The statistics, covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland, highlight that some 265 finds were made in the south-east last year.

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Norfolk was the top county, with 86 discoveries made, along with Kent, 74, and Wiltshire, 68.

There were 1,079 discoveries in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2021, making it the eighth year in a row that the number of treasure finds topped 1,000.

A breakdown of the types of objects found in 2021 is not yet available.

Detailed figures available for 2020 show 1,071 treasures were found, including 1,039 finds from metal detecting. Of reported finds, 876 cases were objects and 195 were coins.

Around a third of objects found and a quarter of the coins were acquired by or donated to museums – totalling 304 additions.

The DCMS figures show the number of reported treasure finds for 2020 and provisional figures for 2021 within England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

SEE ALSO: Hampshire hotspot for treasure after record haul of discoveries

In 2019, there were 104 treasure discoveries in Hampshire – part of a record year where 1,311 instances where recorded.

Treasure hunters have unearthed several extraordinary discoveries in the Portsmouth area. In January, amateur archaeologists found what they described as a ‘paranormal paracetamol’ near Havant – a silver find dating back to Emperor Constantine (306-337 AD).