(1)A person who finds an object which he believes or has reasonable grounds for believing is treasure must notify the coroner for the district in which the object was found before the end of the notice period.
(2)The notice period is fourteen days beginning with—
(a)the day after the find; or
(b)if later, the day on which the finder first believes or has reason to believe the object is treasure.
(3)Any person who fails to comply with subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to—
(a)imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months;
(b)a fine of an amount not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale; or
(c)both.
(4)In proceedings for an offence under this section, it is a defence for the defendant to show that he had, and has continued to have, a reasonable excuse for failing to notify the coroner.
(5)If the office of coroner for a district is vacant, the person acting as coroner for that district is the coroner for the purposes of subsection (1).