I am not a metal detectorist.
The finder Mr Walker handed the finds in to the British Museum (via SAS) and expected a fair price for his find. Suffolk Archaeology Service are backing Mr Walker and saying that the TVC valuation is wrong. The finder cannot afford to challenge the Treasure Valuation Committee in court and cannot afford to commission an expert valuation on his own. Strikes me of some high-handed tactics and slippery evasion on the part of the TVC. They are offering £550 for a Bronze Age Axe Head and four gold rings.
This is about the interpretation of the gold rings. There have been recent decisions made by TVC to view gold rings as "ring-money" and therefore "coins" and not "treasure". In the TVC's strict view those (sometimes plain, sometimes ornamented) rings were simply tokens or "coins" to be traded. Nothing else. But using this interpretation so could sex or fruit. Indeed almost everything has been used as "money" over the years. The fact that these rings were probably used as personal ornamentation for hair, ears or clothes is ignored.
The gold also has bullion value. If I found four gold rings I would think they were treasure. Metal detecting is not illegal. He was detecting with permission on private land and not on any scheduled monument. This man handed in these items in good faith.
In December 2012 when he was waiting for the decision from the TVC he said...
"As far as the Treasure Act is concerned, it should pay what the hammer price would be at auction, but Bronze Age gold rarely goes onto the open market. I've no idea what I'll get at the moment, it wouldn't be five figures, probably four figures. As long as I get a fair price, I'm happy with that - the true value is in the actual finding of the items."
He sounds a fair man.
This is the BBC report on his original find.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-20760897
I don't know why Mr Walker appealed to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport expecting any kind of support. Ed Vaizey trained as a lawyer not an archaeologist or historian. The more recent Culture Secretary Maria Miller pocketed herself over £45,000 over 4 years by overclaiming for her mortgage interest and Council Tax on her family home. That's £11,250 of fraud per year. She reluctantly handed back a total of only £4,500, gave a sneering apology and then she was forced to resign.
Mr Walker didn't rip anyone off. He did the right thing handing his finds in and expected a fair market price for his treasure. I'm not surprised he thinks people will stop handing in their finds if this is what happens.
