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From the article... >A hoard of Norman-era silver coins unearthed five years ago in southwestern England has become Britain’s most valuable treasure find ever,

From the article... >A hoard of Norman-era silver coins unearthed five years ago in southwestern England has become Britain’s most valuable treasure find ever, after it was bought for £4.3 million ($5.6 million) by a local heritage trust. Different article about the discovery of the Sutton Hoo treasure... >The exact value of the Sutton Hoo treasure isn't widely known, in part because the items in the treasure have never been up for sale. They were donated to the British Museum by Edith, and have remained there ever since. Typically, the items are described as "priceless," suggesting that their value to the museum and as historical artifacts makes them incredibly valuable. >Given their historical significance, it's easy to imagine that the value of the items in the treasure would be valued in tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars.

arethuza 2y ago
One of the Lewis Chessmen is in private hands and was recently sold for £735,000! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_chessmen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_chessmen
yieldcrv 2y ago
> They were donated to the British Museum by Edith, so they got a tax deduction at a completely arbitrary value, valued in a private document of an appraiser nobody has ever seen, and have just been rolling forward the tax deduction against their current year's tax liability for all eternity? good business.
- zdragnar 2y ago
  And now everyone gets to benefit via the museum rather than letting it hide in a private collection.
  - yieldcrv 2y ago
    yes, but when compared to the US tax laws, that incentivize the same thing at much stricter limits, its not really worth saying since its a given the US has a maximum 30% tax deduction for donated assets, while the UK has 100%. they both allow you to carry forward that tax deduction where it exceeds your current year tax liability. (I was inaccurate earlier, the carry forward is 3-5 years in both jurisdictions) good business to arbitrarily value a piece and make sure all publications are unable to come to a value for something "priceless" I don't find that controversial, I think its good business and inspirational. If I was in that position I would ensure the valuation was favorable
    - ascorbic 2y ago
      I'm not a tax lawyer, but as I understand it the 100% deduction is only for items accepted in lieu of inheritance tax, so not something you'll be rolling forward. The Cultural Gifts Scheme (which didn't exist at the time of the Sutton Hoo donation) does allow donations to be set against other taxes, but that is only to 30% of the value.

arethuza 2y ago

One of the Lewis Chessmen is in private hands and was recently sold for £735,000! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_chessmen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_chessmen

yieldcrv 2y ago

> They were donated to the British Museum by Edith, so they got a tax deduction at a completely arbitrary value, valued in a private document of an appraiser nobody has ever seen, and have just been rolling forward the tax deduction against their current year's tax liability for all eternity? good business.

zdragnar 2y ago
And now everyone gets to benefit via the museum rather than letting it hide in a private collection.
- yieldcrv 2y ago
  yes, but when compared to the US tax laws, that incentivize the same thing at much stricter limits, its not really worth saying since its a given the US has a maximum 30% tax deduction for donated assets, while the UK has 100%. they both allow you to carry forward that tax deduction where it exceeds your current year tax liability. (I was inaccurate earlier, the carry forward is 3-5 years in both jurisdictions) good business to arbitrarily value a piece and make sure all publications are unable to come to a value for something "priceless" I don't find that controversial, I think its good business and inspirational. If I was in that position I would ensure the valuation was favorable
  - ascorbic 2y ago
    I'm not a tax lawyer, but as I understand it the 100% deduction is only for items accepted in lieu of inheritance tax, so not something you'll be rolling forward. The Cultural Gifts Scheme (which didn't exist at the time of the Sutton Hoo donation) does allow donations to be set against other taxes, but that is only to 30% of the value.