Section:GDN 1N PaGe:21 Edition Date:190829 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 28/8/2019 20:27 cYanmaGentaYellowb
Thursday 29 Aug ust 2019 The Guardian •
National^21
Mark Brown
Arts correspondent
A millennium-old tax scam has
been revealed with the discovery of
thousands of coins in a fi eld , the largest
hoard unearthed from the immediate
post-Norman conquest period.
The British Museum announced the
discovery of the coins from a pivotal
moment in English history yesterday.
Some depict Harold II, the last Anglo-
Saxon king of England, and almost
the same number show the man who
defeated him in the Battle of Hastings
in 1066 , William the Conqueror , the
fi rst Norman king of England.
Gareth Williams, the museum’s
curator of early medieval coinage, said
the hoard of 2,528 coins was unusu-
ally large and “massively important”
in shining a light on the period.
“One of the big debates among
historians is the extent to which there
was continuity or change, both in the
years immediately after the conquest
and across a longer period ,” he said.
“The coins help us understand how
changes under Norman rule impacted
on society as a whole.”
Three of the coins have been iden-
tifi ed as “mules ”, a combination of
two types of coin – essentially an early
form of tax-dodging by the person who
made them.
These coins have designs and
language that relate to both Harold
and William , and would have been
easy to pass off as legal tender as the
average Anglo-Saxon was illiterate and
the stylised images of the kings looked
similar.
The fi nd was made in January in a
farmer’s fi eld near the Chew Valley in
Somerset by a Derbyshire couple, Lisathere were beeps everywhere, it took
four or fi ve hours to dig them all up.”
They soon had a bucket containing
a staggering number of coins, probably
worth millions of pounds. The hoard
would have been enough to buy a fl ock
of 500 sheep in 1067-68 ; its value today
has yet to be revealed.
The legal process will involve a coro-
ner’s examination to confi rm whether
it is treasure. If it is, it will be valued
by an independent treasure valuation
committee, and museums will have
to raise money to acquire the hoard.
Interest has already been expressed
by the Roman Baths and pump room
in Bath. The reward would then be
shared between the landowner and
the metal detectorists.
One of the most tantalising ques-
tions is why someone would bury so
much money. Williams said south -
west England was a violent place in
the aftermath of 1066, with raids by
the Welsh and the return of Harold’s
sons from Ireland.
“Imagine a period of instability with
someone in charge of the country that
not everybody actively supports and
uncertainty in terms of the relation-
ship with the continent ,” he said. “It
is the sort of circumstances in which
anyone might bury their money.”Silver hoard in farmer’s fi eld
reveals tax scam from 1066
▼ Rare examples of tax-avoiding
coins with designs from both before
and after 1066 were among the hoard
PHOTOGRAPH: KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH/APGrace and Adam Staples, who were
teaching friends how to use their new
metal detectors.
One of their friends came across a
single William the Conqueror silver
coin, “an amazing fi nd in its own
right”, said Staples, something a detec-
torist might fi nd only once in 30 years.
“Two steps later, there was another
signal and it was another coin. ThenTeenage drug
dealers off ered
jobs not jail in
pilot scheme
Steven MorrisYoung people caught dealing drugs
are being off ered the chance to access
job training, driving lessons and even
gym membership rather than being
charged and hauled before a court.
Avon and Somerset police said the
scheme in Bristol is the only one of its
kind in the country and is designed to
divert youngsters away from gangs,
prison and a possible life of crime.
The force accepts the project willattract criticism and fl ies in the face
of the national drugs strategy, which
focuses on enforcement through the
criminal justice system.
But it argues that if the pilot scheme
works and is extended, hundreds of
youngsters could be saved from jail.
Supt Andy Bennett , of Avon and
Somerset police , said: “It was becom-
ing clear to us in our drug enforcement
work that these young level-one street
dealers are not doing this by choice.
“They are dealing because others
are putting them up to it. They are
absolutely being exploited.”The scheme launched in February
and so far 17 teenagers, aged 16 to 19,
have taken part. Two have lost their
places: one was found dealing drugs
and will appear in court next month ,
and another was caught with a knife.
The fi rst graduate is due to complete
the scheme soon. “The strong indica-
tion is that it’s working,” said Bennett.
Before a person can be accepted, the
police present the case to the Crown
Prosecution Service. If it assesses that
the case would lead to prosecution, a
local protocol allows the police to off er
the suspect a place on the scheme.Tobacco sales
in England
fall by almost
a quarter in
seven years
PA MediaNearly 1.5bn fewer cigarettes have
been smoked each year in England
since 2011, research has found.
A study, funded by Cancer Research
UK and published in the journal Jama
Network Open, found average ciga-
rette consumption fell by nearly a
quarter between 2011 and 2018, with
approximately 118m fewer cigarettes
smoked each month.
The team at University College Lon-
don (UCL) examined cigarette sales
as well as the monthly self-reported
cigarette use from more than 135,000
people in the Smoking Toolkit Study.
The study found the number of self-
reported cigarettes smoked monthly
declined by 24.4%, backed up by sales
data showing a 24.1% decrease on
average over the seven-year period.
The study’s authors also found the
number of people smoking went down
by 15% , meaning those who continue
to smoke are doing so less.
Figures from the Offi ce for National
Statistics show a bout 16% of people
aged 16 and over smoke, made up of
16.7% of men and 15.8% of women.
The lead author of the study, Dr
Sarah Jackson from UCL’s tobacco and
alcohol research group, said: “It’s bril-
liant that over a billion fewer cigarettes
are being sold and smoked in England
every year. Studies like this help to give
us an accurate picture of cigarette con-
sumption so we know where we’re at
and what more needs to be done.”
The researchers suggested the
decline in consumption was encour-
aged by stricter laws on marketing
and advertising of tobacco, designed
to encourage people to quit smoking.
Over the past 20 years there have
been multiple policy changes aff ect-
ing the sale of tobacco, including the
ban on billboards and print adverts in
2003, the indoor smoking ban in 2007
and the branded packaging ban in 2017.
Cancer Research UK said there was
more to be done as it called for funding
from tobacco companies for stop-
smoking services and treatments.
The charity’s senior policy manager
George Butterworth said: “ Smoking is
still the biggest preventable cause of
cancer and certain groups have much
higher rates of smoking, such as rou-
tine and manual workers, so we can’t
stop here and think: ‘Job done.’”
He added: “Last month, the gov-
ernment committed to making the UK
smoke free by 2030. But stop-smoking
services, which give smokers the best
chance of quitting, have been subject
to repeated cuts in recent years. ”16%
Proportion of over-16s in the UK who
smoke – 16.7% of men and 15.8% of
women – according to the ONS‘Beeps everywhere’:
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