Information for museums


Bidding protocol and supplementary letters

NOTICE TO ALL BIDDING MUSEUMS

The Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel (formerly the TreasureTrove Advisory Panel) wishes all bidding museums to be aware that it will only consider allocation to a museum where a bid is made on the official bidding form and received by the Treasure Trove Unit by the advertised deadline date.

Unsolicited letters of support and/or petitions received from third parties will be returned to the senders without consideration by the Panel. The senders will be advised that they should direct all communications to the museum responsible for writing the bid so that any pertinent content may be included therein.

The Panel judges bids on an equal basis and the current bidding form was devised for that purpose in adherence to the Scottish Executive’s published guidelines of 1999, Criteria for Allocation and the Allocation Process (219 KB).

Advertising of new Treasure Trove cases
  • New cases will be advertised on this website on the 'Current Treasure Trove cases' page.
  • New cases will also continue to be advertised in the Museums Galleries Scotland (formerly Scottish Museums Council) bulletin.
Bidding for Treasure Trove cases
  • Museums should request case details from the TTU for any case they wish to bid for
  • Museums intending to bid for treasure trove cases should submit their bids in accordance with the criteria issued by the Scottish Executive in 1999.
  • All bids must be submitted on the standard bidding form
  • Deadlines for bidding will be notified in advertisements and to all potential bidders.
  • Where a museum chooses not to submit a bid for a case for which it is eligible to bid and where the material clearly fits the stated collecting policy, it would be helpful if the museum were able to advise the Panel as to the reasons for not bidding, eg finance, storage or other policy reasons.
Submitting finds for Treasure Trove assessment
  • All finds submitted to the TTU should be accompanied by a reporting form.
Collection of allocated Treasure Trove finds
  • Museums should make arrangements with the TTU to collect finds once payment has been received by the Crown Office.
  • Please give at least 48 hours notice to ensure a member of staff will be available.
Loans of unallocated Treasure Trove for display
  • Museums wishing to borrow unallocated Treasure Trove material for display are requested to complete a museums loan form and return it to the TTU.
National Fund for Acquisitions Museums Galleries Scotland (formerly Scottish Museums Council) Factsheets