Metal detecting holidays in England with the World's most successful metal detecting club.

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Oct 2005 Latest Finds Page
1560-1 Elizabeth 1st hammered silver groat (4 pence)
1605 James 1st hammered silver half groat (2 pence)
2- 13thC seal matrix - Jewish symbol & capital 'R' - Initial capital 'I'
Eastern Counties Railway button
Post 1840 Naval officers button
Very unusual tiny snake buckle 17thC

GLORIA EXERCITVS - 2 soldiers standing, facing, holding spears in outside hands and leaning inside hands on shields, flanking a single legionary standard with a chi-rho Christogram on it
As you probably noticed, there is almost no legend on the obverse. All that ever made it onto this undersized flan is the "...B C" at 4:00 or so - and it's too bad, too, because the detail of the coin is so good and crisp otherwise - but the legend never made it onto this coin in the first place - the flan was too small for the dies. The "...B C" indicates that it was struck for someone before they had become emperor. Unfortunately, there are 4 suspects and we will never be able to be completely sure which it is. Three of Constantine the Great's sons:
Constantine II
Constans &
Constantius II,
also:
Delmatius - a cousin - but Delmatius is pretty rare, and it's fairly unlikely that's who it is.
All four used this reverse in the 335-337 A.D. time-frame.
My best guess is that it's Constans because his shorter name could account for the seemingly broad spacing of the couple of extant letters.

FL IVL CONSTANTIVS NOB C
CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C
FL IVL DELMATIVS NOB C
FL CONSTANS NOB C

are the most common forms of their names for this series. Also, unfortunately, the exergue similarly failed to make it onto the coin, so I can't tell you at which of the myriad of operating mints it was struck, either.

Info supplied by Mark Lehman

Illinois Tim's 45 BC Addedomaros Celtic gold stater 5.63g, 17.96mm

CCI 05.0678

Chicago Ron's Celtic gold stater 'Wadden Chase' type 5.95g, 17.68 mm

The Whaddon Chase stater (yes, it is that type) will be CCI 05.0680. These coins are probably not very much earlier than the Addedomaros staters - it all depends really on when one dates the Addedomaros issue. It seems fairly certain that the Whaddon Chase staters could be from the later stages of the Gallic War, say about 54 BC at the earliest; they could be a little bit later, but are unlikely to be after say 40 BC at the very latest. If Addedomaros's spiral staters are his latest stater issues, then they could be somewhere around 30-25 BC, so perhaps up to 25 years later than Whaddon Chase. It just depends where each type fits, and we don't have an exact idea. I suppose it's true to say though that there is almost certainly a minimum of ten years between them, and more likely 20.

One of my colleagues recently suggested that the WC staters were issued by Cassivellaunus, to pay off Caesar during the Gallic War. They certainly seem to be found mostly in the territory of the Catuvellauni (so this one would be a bit further east than usual . The main catalogue reference for this type is VA 1476 in Van Arsdell's 'Celtic Coinage of Britain'. They're relatively common (300 or so recorded) but a lot of these are finds from the original WC hoard, found in Bucks in 1849.

Ark Gary's 45 BC Addedomaros gold staters 5.55g, 16.02mm CCI 05.0679
Hunting livery button
Spur fragment

'In your photos, I can't make out any of the obverse legend or even see a clear profile of the portrait. My guess, from what little I can see is that it might be Antonine-era: c. 140-180 A.D. The reverse has a "generic" standing female personification holding a cornucopia in her left arm, and I'm not altogether sure what she's holding in her right. A scepter, a long torch, a caduceus, a standard - any of those are possible, and with only a couple of letters visible, we could only tell which personification it's meant to be by the "attributes" - what she holds, that is. The S - C in the lower fields could be found on just about any Imperial AE of the era - it merely means the Emperor was paying lipservice to the powerless Senate by saying the bronze was issued ex senatus consultio - by the permission of the Senate.

As I keep writing and looking at the picture of the reverse, I'm starting to think it might be: PAX AVG - although the spacing of the letters is a little odd - usually they would spread the letters out more to take advantage of all the space. And really, a laundry-list of TR P's, COS's, and IMP's is far more usual for a reverse legend at this time. Very useful, when clearly readable, for dating the coin to a particular year or even month, in some cases.
Even if it is Pax, that tells us little. These reverses were dictated by the Imperial propaganda-machine and every emperor who ever fought a war (IOW, every emperor) used some form of the Pax reverse either to declare victory, or as wishful thinking.

When and if the obverse ever cleans up a little better - or if you can get a better angle of light that shows the profile to better advantage, please let me know the diameter in mm and I'll make a better stab at the ID for you'.

Info supplied by Mark Lehman

Very unusual decorated spur fragment - not in the reference books - Decoration suggests that it is really early
17thC clothing fastener
Great relic - 18thC Brown Bess musket plate with the initial 'E' and 70 inscribed on it
18thC clothing fastener
18thC cup trade weight
1605 James 1st hammered silver halfpenny
Monogrammed livery button
Ark Gary's second 45 BC Addedomaros Celtic gold stater 5.50g, 16.35mm
Edward IV 1464 -70 London mint - Plain cross initial mark hammered silver groat 2.63g, 25.65 mm
1605 James 1st hammered silver penny

Early Roman silver coin in rough shape sent off to Mark at the URF for a best guess 1.96g, 15.61mm

'That's a "Legionary Denarius " of Marc Antony.
32-31 B.C. is when it was minted, but these, being of baser silver than the denarii of the early empire (and finer silver than the denarii of the 3rd century), seemed to stay in circulation for a very long time, first because they weren't worth turning in at a discount, and later because they were too valuable to turn in. They circulated widely in the Provinces, and in fact, are found in hoards up to 300 years later than their mintage-date. You can see this one is quite worn, so it probably had been around for a long time before it was lost. The obverse has a galley sailing (rowing) right (your photo is 90 degrees off to clockwise) and the legend: ANT AVG III VIR R P C. The reverse shows a legionary eagle (Aquila) between two legionary standards and names the legion between them as: | LEG | XI | which I believe, but am not sure this is. They're known for legions I through XXX (with a few missing). XI is a common legion, some are scarce, some rare'.

Great find - solid silver Mid 18thC button with markers mark BB
1356-61 AD Edward III hammered silver penny 1.31g, 19.97mm
Cabinet or draw key 19thC
17thC button
Army Ordnance Corp button
1835 Russian lead bale seal
17thC Charles 1st hallmarked large bell shaped trade weight
Post Medieval acorn design belt mount
15thC long cross lead token
16thC Antwerp hand coin weight
1553-54 Mary hammered silver groat (4 pence)
16thC Elizabeth 1st hammered silver half groat (2 pence)
1696 William III milled silver love token
Stunning 1356 Edward III hammered silver groat (4 pence) Type F London mint 4.43g, 26.95mm
1578 Elizabeth 1st hammered silver half groat
18thC Toy Cannon
18thC Toy Cannon
Neat find - lead foot !!
Early 18thC buckle
15thC flower pattern lead token
19thC flower button
15thC bronze door key
George III London hallmark trade weight
18thC bell
Huge Medieval bronze pot foot
Early Medieval bridle fitting - Cheek piece
1579 Elizabeth 1st hammered silver sixpence
1697 William III milled silver sixpence - small crown Exeter mint

Charles 1st hammered silver one pence -

1625-42 AD Struck at the Tower mint under the King type 3a1

Charles 1st hammered silver one pence

Wis Dave's 1/4 Uninscribed Celtic gold stater 1.43g, 12.98mm found by Wis Dave

'Yes, this is interesting. It's an uninscribed quarter stater, traditionally attributed to the Atrebates (in the South Thames) but almost certainly a North Thames issue. We have records of about 25 of them, and without exception they've come from the North Thames area: it was previously attributed to the Atrebates because of the style, which resembles their uninscribed quarter staters with a wreath on the obverse. The date of this quarter would be around c. 45 BC, I would estimate, so like the Whaddon Chase it could be just a little earlier than the Addedomaros coins. It is catalogued in Van Arsdell as VA 260-1, but not only wrongly as Atrebates but also listed as silver. Many of the surviving examples are struck from the same pair of dies, which develop some fairly major flaws, especially on the reverse; the lack of many dies suggests this wasn't a very big issue, in comparison to the Addedomaros spiral for example.

If I remember rightly there are one or two examples of this type in the huge East Leicestershire hoards which came up about 3 years ago, but mostly they're Essex/Suffolk area. This'll be CCI 05.0683'.

Chicago Ron's 'Snettisham' type ? Celtic gold full stater 5.85g - 17.05mm

'Having seen this one I've had to think again about 05.0680, the Whaddon Chase type I wrote about earlier. Although quite different in their individual style these are probably both the same variety of WC stater, actually listed as VA 1498. This is a rather puzzling type because it's not clear whether it really belongs to the WC group or - as you suggested - the Snettisham type. There are 18 examples of it here and those with findspots are a mixture of Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk - on that basis it could arguably be either WC or Snettisham. In terms of style, they are perhaps among the very last WC staters rather than being the first Snettisham, which appear to have been based on the Whaddon Chase design. In terms of date this might only be a difference of a few months, and almost certainly not more than a few years, so it's perhaps unreasonable to expect we'll be able to tie it down quite so neatly. CCI 05.0687'.

Coenwulf hammered silver penny - Saxon period 798AD

EMC 20050226

'This is a good example of the earliest East Anglian coinage of Coenwulf (North 363). It is quite rare, as there are only two other examples of North 363 on EMC, from dies of different styles'.

Celtic gold 1/4 stater of the Cunoblein tribe 1stC BC to 40AD.(Biga type) head facing left found by Wis Paul 1.38g, 10.89 mm

'another cracking little coin. It is the biga type as you say, still quite rare: we have just over 20 of the quarter recorded. I had hoped to have a look at the dies in comparison to the rest of the coins in Oxford this morning, but ran out of time and I'm now back in Guernsey again. That'll have to wait a while, but in the meantime it looks as though it's one of the later strikings of this type, because of the simplified CAMVL inscription on the obverse. The earliest examples have each letter very clearly defined, but they soon merge into what looks almost like a zigzag on some coins.

Saying it's a 'late striking' is all relative of course: it's possible that the biga type was struck over a very short period, perhaps even just months and certainly unlikely to be more than say five years or so, sometime around 8 - 13 AD I would estimate. It'll be CCI 05.0688

Henry VIII hammered silver half groat 2nd coinage

1526-44AD

1.18g, 18.34mm Canterbury mint

1915 George V milled silver six pence
1800's Victorian milled silver sixpence
1216 AD Henry III shortcross hammered silver penny 0.64g, 17.21mm
1605 James 1st hammered silver six pence
2.86g, 25.63mm
1216 AD Henry III shortcross hammered silver - fractured

1247 Henry III voided longcross hammered silver penny Class V5

1,33g,18.11mm

1279 Edward 1st hammered silver penny
1.20g, 17.79mm
Mid 18thC silver thimble
15thC lead long cross token
Rare Profile issue 1509 AD - Henry VII hammered silver groat (4 pence)

Chicago Bob found a monster of a gold ring which weighs in at a hefty 14.40g, 25.47mm dia.

This has been reported to the museum as potential treasure and will go to the British Museum to determine it's age

1642 AD Tower mint under parliament Charles 1st shilling (12 pence) 5.12g, 30.05mm

1207 AD 'Rex' issue King John Irish one pence 1.24g, 17.26mm

This example is minted in Dublin and the Moneyer is Roberd

Heart stopping find - What appeared initially as an old gold find unfortunately is modern as the Saxon's did not stick the pearls on their gold with super glue LOL

1670 hammered copper Half penny

HFR - S.R

Post Medieval purse bar fragment
16thC German Jetton
15thC lead 'weave' pattern token

'It's almost certainly 3rd century by the radiate crown on the obverse - it looks nothing like a 4th century "post-reform radiate". I'm not making out any legends or the reverse type on that one, either. What is the diameter in mm? I'd say, depending on diameter, that it's either an official antoninianus from the darkest hour of the Empire - Gallienus-Claudius Gothicus - 260-270 A.D. or a contemporary (so-called "barbarous radiate", although I dislike that term - the folks who made and used them were no more barbarians than the Italians) imitative radiate'

Info form Mark at the URF.

Post Medieval belt mount
Post Medieval belt mount
Military button - not ID'd yet
Very interesting 17thC trade farthing with flower pattern - not researched yet
This is the second of these type of crosses found that have a Medieval feel to them.
Lattern handle spoon 16th -17thC
1839 Victorian milled silver sixpence

Large 1stC Roman bronze

'Are there any letters at all visible in the obverse legend on the sestertius-sized piece? My only guess, and it's certainly no more than a WAG at best, is Trajan Decius, based solely on the portrait. I can't make anything recognizable resolve out of the reverse image for that one yet, either. If (and it's a big if) it is Trajan Decius, it would date to 249-251 A.D'.

Info form Mark at the URF.

Is this a USA button ?
Cocoa advertising thimble
Diamond knop 15thC silver spoon handle - Reported to museum as potential treasure
18thC copper alloy spoon
Large 18thC working toy cannon
1844 Victorian milled silver shilling
1696 Willian III milled silver sixpence - early harp large crown

1272AD Edward 1st hammered silver penny

1.05g, 18.08mm

2.03g – 17.7mm

'obviously don't have to tell you that this is Vespasian, but this one is so nice and clear that I will give you chapter and verse from the standard references - no uncertainties with this one!

15 minutes later:
Hah! - I read that last sentence with a new personal appreciation of the word "hubris". This was no simple lookup!

First, this combination of obverse and reverse does not go together - this coin should not, strictly speaking, exist. That should have been my first clue - that, or maybe the low weight at 2.03 gm, or MAYBE the spots of core-exposure. This is a fourree. A contemporary counterfeit, made to deceive. A copper blank was wrapped with silver foil and struck with dies made to emulate types found on denarii..Mulings of obverses and reverses that do not belong with each other are common on fourrees. This piece may be even more interesting for being an ancient forgery than it would have been had it been official.
I have in my own collection a fourree denarius of Otho with a reverse of Vespasian - inscribed like this one: COS ITER TR POT (but with a different type) Evidently, the second consulship of Vespasian was a popular subject for forgers' dies, and also, that was a time of particular activity for those involved in this risky business.
My best guess is that it was manufactured around 72-75 A.D., and probably made the trip from Italy to England - I'm not familiar with this sort of imitative from England, although AEs of the Julio-Claudians were extensively - and crudely - imitated in the Isles.

Cool find, still, even if it did lead me a merry chase!'

Mark

EMC 2005.0229 found by NY Ken

King Offa - 780 - 792 King of Mercia hammered silver 1.27g, 16.67mm

OFFA REX (‘King Offa’) and, on the reverse side, Eð / IL / VA / Ld (‘Ethilwald’ - the moneyer who authorised the minting of the coin).

12thC Bronze beehive thible
1649 Commonwealth hammered silver one pence
Colchester and East Essex Co-op - 3 pence token
1638-9 Charles 1st Second milled issue silver shilling (12 pence)
1660 hammered trade farthing
1422-7 Henry VI hammered silver penny Annulet issue Calais
1604- 19 James 1st hammered silver half groat (2 pence ) Second coinage

1696 William III 1 Gold Guinea coin weight

8.07g, 20mm dia, 3.3mm T

Longcross Medieval hammered silver half groat in rough shape
16thC decorated bronze finger ring

1st to 4thC Roman bronze fibula brooch - unusual design not in my reference books

4.14g, 27.42mm L, 11.62mm W

17thC pocket sun dial fragment

50.27mm L, 11.62mm W

1696 William III miled silver six pence
1602 Elizabeth 1st hammered silver sixpence
Curious hammered silver penny - Appears to a Mary or Elizabeth 1st - 'Rosa Spine Spina' but does not match either as it has a distinct cross above the crown - almost like an Edward VI - needs more investigation
14thC Soldino hammered silver coin
9thC Bronze silvered Saxon strap end fragment 9.54g, 27.89mm L
Medieval decorated copper alloy clasp fastener 3.59g,30.91mm L
Medieval Spur rowel
18thC clog fastener
Heart attack find from a Roman site, handmade bracelet with stone but there is 925 Sterling silver mark on it LOL still a great find though !

1892 Queen Victoria milled silver sixpence (top left)

1896 Queen Victoria milled silver three pence (bot left)

1817 George III milled silver shilling, 12 pence (right)

1558- 1603 Elizabeth 1st hammered silver penny
1603 James 1st hammered silver sixpence - first bust
Medieval lead token - very unusual design- requires further investigation
Post Medieval belt mount acorn pattern
Interesting strap end fragment with 17thC 'S' stamp
1652, 8 Maravedis revalidated with VIII counterstamp on 8 Maravedis of 1625 of uncertain mint, Felipe IV (1621-1665) of Spain
Whiskey decanter badge - Birmingham hallmark solid silver 1927, Maker H&H
18thC double D buckle
1660 Hammered copper trade farthing