26th Jan 2010 Find of the year - more exports - USA hoard

Just two weeks to the kick off and I still have more exports applications to process yet before they arrive so I need to get my skates on. The first team to open the second half of the season are all really experienced Senior members with 2 of our oldest serving members returning, Alaskan Geo and Ark Gary. Geo was the first guy ever to hunt here when we had just 13 fields and now we have over 300 to pick from so he has seen a lot of changes to the club.

This is Gary's 26th trip here and he hold's the club record with 13 gold coins, 10 of which are ancient. He is the only member to have found both Celtic, Roman and Saxon gold. Geo found our rarest ever Celtic with the sun and the moon symbols so they know how to sniff out gold. It is interesting that they are both very successful gold nugget hunters over in the USA especially Geo who has literally got pots of the stuff.

With a team this strong you know if they walk over it then nothing is missed. 3 of the guys are trialing out the new Barn II accommodation for the club which is just a mile from our new 66 field site. They will be giving us a frank testimonial of how it works out with 3 guys sharing the 2 bed roomed lodge and I will post their report on the site. There are two other lodges free at the new Barn if anyone want to join and join a serious bunch of gold hunters.

I have posted more export pictures and find lists to the members forum.

Colchester members Fl Don, Mitch, Penn Denis and Christy went on a civil war hunt together in the USA last week and a guy there dug a fantastic little silver hoard in a tin which was captured on video as he opened it . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02fZZTtAHbk

Updated the forum competition page and the milled copper count now stands at 1974 so far for the half season.

I have updated the 'find of the year' page with my current favourites and fixed the menu bar pointing to the page which had a broken link . At the end of the season every guy that comes here gets to vote for his personal favourite find throughout the season (not his own finds of course) The find with the most votes gets the holder a free weeks full board detecting next season and the engraved Roman jug, not forgetting his name on the role of honor shield ! These are not the definitive list but are a few of my current favourites, members can vote for any finds that are on our site for the season 2009/2010.

Billericay Mark's 'excessively' rare Celtic gold coin find is going into a specialist auction at Sprink's in March 2010. Several dealers has shown real interest in acquiring it but this auction will realise the true market value for both the finder and landowner.

24th Jan 2010 More site updates and exports

Updated the individual find pages below with more finds from the first half of the season. We have now found sufficient coins of William IIII to create it's own page William IIII milled silver coins.

Just posted another 3 export pouches with find lists and pictures on the members forum.

I have updated the forum competition page and the milled copper count now stands at 1947

	William IIII milled silver coins		Victorian gold and milled silver coins
	Lead cloth seals		Lead bale seals
	Medallions and Badges		Post Victorian milled silver coins
	George V milled gold and silver coins

22nd Jan 2010 Joe's Sapphire ring offer- more exports

Disclaimed treasures returned to finders

I have posted more exports to the members forum. I have had a couple of e-mails from guys asking why their treasure find has been missed off their applications. Please note, no treasure or hoards you found will appear on your export license as they are currently with the British Museum being evaluated. Only if they are subsequently disclaimed can they be returned to you which can take several months. In that case I will apply for a 2nd export license for that item.

I have updated the forum competition page and the milled copper count now stands at 1899. I still have a few more export pouches to do yet so I reckon the half season total will be around 2000. It all depends how the new 66 field site for Feb 2010 pans out but we are probably looking at between 3500 and 4000 milled copper coins for the season total.

I have updated this site's menu system to include the new forum link and prepared a new Feb 2010 finds page ready for the kick off on the 10th.

A few more bonus finds out of the pouches below.

17thC decorated finger ring		17thC decorated finger ring
19thC Napoleon lead figurine	Perfect hall marks on a George 1st trade weight - Crown G London cipher	Really nice decorated 17thC lock plate

I dropped another bunch of finds today to the museum for recording and ID'ing today including one of the medieval stap ends below. We have found several so far this season and it is not known what the suspension hole was used for but I suspect is was for a pendant of some description. There appears to be several different varieties and fixing methods for the leather strap end. I have been searching the PAS database as I was told there are already several recorded on there.

Medieval Stap type and 'prong' type where two metal sheets were riveted through to secure the leather

Ill Joe's medieval sapphire gold ring find was declared treasure at the coroners inquest in Sept 2009. The ring has been through the valuation committee stage in Dec and both the farmer and finder have been offered a reward. However Joe sent me the letter from the valuation committee and they appear to comparing it's type and value to another ring that is not really a suitable example . They have compared Joe's ring to fig (407) and not the one on the right (402) which is almost an exact match but larger. I spoke to the Treasure registrar today at the British Museum and they are going to review the case. That is the real strength of the English treasure process that you have the right to appeal any offer made and present evidence to the contrary. All previous finds made together with their pictures, ID's and values are available to view on line to find a comparison.

http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/publications/5620.aspx

407. Bexhill area, East Sussex: Medieval gold finger-ring (2005 T214) Date: 13th century Discovery: Found by Mr W Piggott while metaldetecting in April 2005. Description: A Medieval finger-ring formed of a simple hoop and set with a triangular, shield-shaped stone. The stone is deep blue, heavily scratched, and may be a sapphire or glass. Diameter: 20mm. Disposition: Bexhill Museum. J P ROBINSON

402. Dunterton, Devon: Medieval gold finger-ring (2005 T206) Date: 13th century Discovery: Found by Mr C Alee while metal-detecting in April 2005. Description: A Medieval gold finger-ring set with a large irregularly shaped sapphire in a tall bezel, a single rib on either side of the bezel at the junction with the hoop. The hoop is of circular section. Surface analysis indicated a gold content of approximately 87% and confirmed the nature of the gemstone. Diameter: 24mm; weight: 5.6g. Disposition: Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery. B NENK

'I received my letter from the museum and a valuation . They are basing the valuation on figure 407 in the treasure report 2005-2006. Looking that ring up I see it as 2005 T214 from Bexhill, East Sussex. Their letter incorrectly identifies figure 407 as 2005 T274 from Bexhill, East Sussex. Also, the description of figure 407 states, "the stone is deep blue, heavily scratched, and may be a sapphire or glass." This ring also does not look at all like mine. The ring you located, figure 402, treasure2005 T206 looks identical to mine, which they also agree, but state it is larger. Any suggestions,'

Joe

Joe's Black Sapphire Medieval gold ring 21.93mmdia,2.51g

Treasure Report:   2008 T580  

A Medieval finger-ring with a simple wire hoop and a symmetrical hexagonal bezel set with a sapphire.

The finger-ring is gold, and dates from the late twelfth or the thirteenth century.

Dimensions: diameter 21 mm

Non-destructive X-ray fluorescence analysis of the surface of a finger ring from Tendring, Essex, indicated a gold content of approximately 60%, a silver content of approximately 20%, and a copper content of at least 19%. The dark blue stone was identified by Raman spectroscopy as corundum, which for this colour is known as sapphire. The ring weighs 2.48 grams.

16th Jan 2010 Finally back up and working - more exports and updates - forum update

Just 25 days to the start of the 2nd half of the season

Great to get my main PC back up and working properly now. Meanwhile I have continued posting more finds lists and exports to the members forum using an old standby laptop. I have not transferred the bonus do dad pics out of the pouches or sent out Export Word doc's yet from this laptop. I will try and get it done today so you get a copy sent to you.

The new members forum is amazing and members have started uploading their England finds to their own photo albums. These pictures are held on our own SQL server linked to the forum so they are searchable by any key words.

Chicago Ron has also started blogging on the forum with great detecting tips and will be doing a whole series of helpful blogs. Ron has only one slot free on the last week of his first 3 week self catering booking at the New Barn II accommodation in March to hit the new 66 field site if you want to join his team. There are still some free lodges in Feb if you fancy being the first guys ever on this new site and just a mile from the site. Remember you have your own car and can wander aimlessly, for as many hours as you like, around all of the 66 fields until your arm drops off.

I still have to get more laminated maps made up of the new site as it is such a monster and we can get totally lost. One pass around this new site equates to a 16 mile walk so the new pocket sized maps are essential.

Make sure you read up on all the history info and study the maps on the members forum prior to your trip.

I dropped a huge batch of bent hammered gold and silver coins off to our goldsmith for fixing yesterday. I am especially excited to see how the two medieval hammered silver gold coins we found in the first half of the season turn out. Neither of them are torn or missing any chunks. I will be posting the before and after pics once they come back to the coin straightening page

I have updated the forum competition page and the milled copper count now stands at 1760.

Here are a few bonus do dads out of the export pouches I did yesterday on my repaired PC.

Rare unrecorded 1412 -13 Henry V hammered silver penny. The obv has a quatrefoil with pellet at centre which is a York mint. The annulets (circle) by crown should be on the left and one on the breast. This example has no annulet on breast and annulet to right of crown, great find Obv HENRIC DI GRA REX ANG Rev CIVI/TASx/EBO/RACI - York mint	Excellent find - WWII Rifle Brigade baton end	Unusual decorated Georgian thimble

11th Jan 2010 Main PC failure continues - Some updates

The bad weather has delayed the replacement parts for my main PC so I still have limited access to files and photo's. I am still continuing with export applications though by now using my standby laptop. I have posted a load more find lists and pictures to the members new forum. http://www.colchestertreasurehunting.co.uk/detecting. The old forum is now closed for posting, if you are a member and do not have a log on yet drop me a mail. This is closed members forum.

I have updated the forum competition page and the milled copper count now stands at 1628.

Hopefully my new PC kit will arrive today so I am back in full swing.

8th Jan 2010 PC failure

Unable to post any more exports and updates due to main PC failure. I am waiting for replacements parts today.

5th Jan 2010 More exports and updates - members forum

The new members forum is taking shape nicely and I have transferred over half the membership over so far. I have set up an auto RSS feed from our foundintheground.com finds database to populate a finds forum when updates are made. Clever widget.

The site has a lot of extra features where we can post articles like the one below of the 'newbies' first hunt when he found a found a £1 million treasure, great story.

http://www.colchestertreasurehunting.co.uk/detecting

£1 million pound treasure dug on first outing

Uploaded more export find sheets and photo's to both the members forum. I have posted more missed finds from the pouches below including some really nice buttons. The guys found a great new house site this season that produced some early numbered regimental buttons and more of the early unrecorded 5th dragoon guard buttons. That is our 16th find of these superb buttons that are unrecorded in any publication. They must have been stationed here in Colchester which has been a garrison town since the Roman times and still is.

Updated the Forum competition page. The count has now hit 1500 milled copper coins which will probably rise to over 2000 for the half season as I process more export pouches.

1821 Brazil XX Reis Obv Central cross surrounded by castles Rev Crown XX		RN Capt / Commander - 1787 RN Lieutenant - 1787   Back mark H.MEREDITH TREBLE GILT 07 Oc t1777
RN Greenwich Hospital O/R's Hospital Staff Tunic Button - In use 1800 - 1814	19thC monogrammed button	Angel holding a candle Back mark - CHARLES JENNENS LONDON 1800-1832
1869 Guernsey 4 double copper coin		Unrecorded V DG - 5th Dragoons guards buttons - Crimean war period
1800 Dutch 1/2 skilling copper coins		16th/17thC button
18thC Royal navy silver cuff buttons		Medieval book clasp

2nd Jan 2010 Happy new year to all - £18,000 offer - forum update - new land update

The Treasure valuation committee met in Dec to decide on a value for our 7 finds declared Treasure by the Essex coroner in Sept. Ten Brad has received an initial offer of £18,000 for his gold statue find but the other 6 guys have yet to get an offer. Both the landowner and finder can appeal the decision and present proof that the valuation should be higher or accept the offer and then receive a cheque in the mail for half each. The English treasure act is the fairest system in the world where the finder is rewarded with the fair market value as set by a panel of experts and dealers.

Treasure Report:   2008 T581                                                                            
Parish/County:          Tendring District, Essex

A medieval figure of John the Baptist. The saint is shown not in his usual attribute of a camel skin, but in the robes of a prophet. He gestures with his right hand to a salver, which he holds in his left. This was originally designed to carry a lamb, signifying the Lamb of God. A scroll issues from the Saint’s left hand and is inscribed with the words
: ECCE +ANGUS+DEI
(Behold, the Lamb of God)

The figure stands on a small plinth with a finished base. It is designed to be seen in the round and on its back there is a loop for attachment to an object. It would probably have been entirely enamelled, but no traces of enamel survive on the figure.

The figure is gold and dates from the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century.

Dimensions: height 33 mm, width 11 mm, depth 10 mm.

Consequently, in terms of age and as the object contains a minimum of 10% precious metal it qualifies as Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996.

         
J P Robinson
Curator of Medieval Collections
30th March 2009

The new members forum is running well and I am sending out new log on and passwords to all the members.

http://www.colchestertreasurehunting.co.uk/detecting

I have been playing with publishing articles and adding info to the various sections. If will be a couple of weeks until we close down the old forum. I have posted more export find lists and photo's to both forums and will double up postings for the next couple of weeks.

Updated the Forum competition page. The count is now 1434 milled copper coins

New 66 field site for Feb 2010 update

The scale of this new site is mind blowing so we are approaching the searching of this site is a different manner than we normally do.

I sent the landowner a new master map of his land which I had highlighted into 5 coloured parcels and he has replied approving the proposed sectors. Each parcel's fields are numbered on a master map and the 5 sectors are named. A team can pick any one of the 5 parcels for a mornings hunt and then can either stay where they are lunchtime or move to a different parcel in the afternoon. Each sector is approximately 13 fields adjoining each other. I will inform the landowner the night before which parcel we intend searching so that game keepers/workers know where we will be as a lot of shooting takes place on his land. The landowner and I have set a password so that if you are challenged by a gamekeeper while searching the password ensures you are a valid dectectorist on his land.

The sheer scale of this land also means we must approach the plotting of finds made in a very structured manner. Each guy will get a laminated map to plot finds as they go as there is no way to remember where on a 4 mile sq plot you found them. I will transfer that information each day to a huge master finds map I have had produced. Just one pass around this plot is 8 miles so it will take years to build up a picture and the spread of finds on the master map.

Each member can view the master finds map when they arrive. The first team are our pathfinders as the map is blank !!!

31st Dec 2009 More ID's More finds - Curator's report - New members forum

We have a new professional members forum so we get rid of that pesky pop up adds and virus attacks. The new forum is CMS based so it has lots of clever widgets and additional features. Check out the site below . All members will receive a new log on and password sent to them by mail.

I just received the British Museums curator's report on Mark's medieval gold ring find, very interesting report.

http://www.colchestertreasurehunting.co.uk/detecting/

A few more bonus do dads out of the export pouches I cleaned up included a really nice 18thC silver button that was a black lump. There were a couple of Conder tokens that I managed to get an ID on.

Conder tokens are probably the most popular of the English token series. They were widely collected 200 years ago, and are still avidly collected today. During the 1790's there was a shortage of small change in Britain until private merchants started having their own large halfpennies and some pennies struck. Thousands of different designs were issued and the social, economic, and political lives of the people during the 1780-1800 period are mirrored on these coins. These coins are called "Conder" tokens, after James Conder, an early author on the series, though many mistakenly call them "Condor" tokens. The fact that some feature different birds adds to the confusion. Some Conder tokens found their way into circulation in the U.S. and Canada.

After the late 1790's these coins were not so much produced but started to reappear again in the 1810's.

Posted more export find lists and pictures to the members forum.

Updated the Forum competition page. The count is now 1314 milled copper coins

Gloucestershire regiment cap badge	1803 Staffordshire Stafford Penny Conder Token OBVERSE: The arms of the borough of Stafford (a castle and four lions). STAFFORD 1803. REVERSE: A cypher W H and a Staffordshire knot. PENNY. EDGE: PAYABLE BY HORTON AND COMPANY . X X .	ENGLAND, KENT---THOMAS HAYCRAFT SHIPBUILDER'S HALFPENNY TOKEN 1795 This Condor token from Kent, England bears the legend "PROSPERITY TO THE WOODEN WALLS OF OLD ENGLAND" Referring to a ship's hull. Thomas Haycraft was an 18th century shipbuilder in Kent.
Really nice 18thC silver button		Very unusual medieval Jetton looking coin - need to do some more research
WWII Fire brigade button Back mark : SOCn NATIONAL FIRE BRIGADE Reg No 67

Treasure Report:   2009 T579                                                                            
Parish/County:          ‘Tendring District’, Essex

A Medieval finger-ring of D-shaped section with inscriptions on the external and internal surface. The inscription on the outside of the hoop has seen much wear and is largely illegible. It appears to consist of the following letters:

SE  NA R  SE?L

The inscription on the inside of the ring is crisp and legible and spells

PENSETZ

This is a variation on the French word ‘pensez’, meaning ‘think’ (of me).  This single word is often deployed on rings with romantic inscriptions.

The ring’s proportions suggest that it may have been worn on the small finger of a slender woman or by a child.

The ring is gold and dates from the fifteenth century.

Dimensions: internal diameter 18 mm

Consequently, in terms of age and as the object contains a minimum of 10% precious metal it qualifies as Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996.

J P Robinson
Curator of Medieval Collections
15th December 2009

28th Dec 2009 More new land research posted - updates

More updates to individual find page with finds from the 1st half of the season. There were some brilliant numbered regiment buttons finds from corps we have not found before.

	Elizabeth 1st hammered silver coins Low denominations		Military badges
	Elizabeth 1st hammered silver coins High denominations		Numbered Regiment buttons
	18th/19thC tokens		Mounts all periods

I have reset the countdown clocks to the 2nd half of the season which starts early again this year on the 10th Feb. It is amazing how quick time flies and the 2nd half of the season starts in just over a month now. More export find lists and photo's have been up loaded to the members forum.

The guys have ben doing a lot more great research on our new 66 field site for the 2nd half of the season. 2400 acres converts to 3.75 miles x 3.75 miles so there is a monster amount of land to try and cover. Can Rod just posted brilliant info on a huge Saxon/Viking battle site that could have taken place somewhere on the land. Check out the forum for the link to the history of the battle web site. Mass Linda has posted a map of all the Roman roads, dykes, ring ditches etc so check those out also. Remember we can only search this land out of animal hunting season from Feb to April so if you can get away after the new year for a hunt then you can stay at the New Barn accommodation just up the road from the site. The pound took another dive against the US and Canadian dollars over the last few days making the hunts even cheaper again.

Updated the Forum competition page. The count is now 1177 milled copper coins

Special thanks to Hendrik from Belgium for sending me a picture and ID'ing one of our unknown jetton finds below. I have updated the Jetton page

25th Dec 2009 Happy Christmas to all - more exports and updates - Treasure case numbers issued

More finds uploaded to latest finds Nov page

Happy Christmas to everyone out there, members and readers alike. Special thanks to all our farmers, experts and the museum staff for their sterling work during another great season.

I get to take a day off from processing finds to get pairs of socks and eat loads of turkey.

I posted more export find lists and pictures onto the members forum and there were some great bonus do dads in the pouches like the early bronze weaving shuttle ? There was another new 17thC token guy for our set in Can John's pouch and I have updated the 17thC token page. I have great buttons to play with yet.

Updated the Forum competition page. The count is now 1084 milled copper coins. As I process a guys pouch I update the page.

Unrecorded Navy button (left) in poor shape - Normal 3 anchor types (examples right ) do not have the rope on the two small anchors and there are 3 letters below main anchor - sent off to our button expert Tim for his views.

Tudor buckle	Fascinating find - Decorated bronze weaving shuttle ?? It feels Celtic but it could be earlier - one fro the museum
Medieval badges Ref Mitchiner p244 939 - 941   'A badge for a Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre in bronze and dating somewhere around C13/14th possibly very slightly later . This is a very scarce item and it relates to The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem being a Catholic chivalric order of Knighthood that traces its roots to Godfrey of Bouillon, principal leader of the First Crusade. According to reliable sources in the Vatican and Jerusalem, it began in historical reality as a mixed clerical and lay confraternity (association) of pilgrims which gradually grew around the most central of the Christian holy places in the Middle East, the Holy Sepulchre or the tomb of Jesus Christ.This would have been a pin for a member of the order , there is a mark on the reverse where the original pin would have been fixed '
17thC Peter Pelle, bay maker of Colchester Essex hammered copper trade farthing	Victorian silver vesta case

I just an e-mail from the treasure registrar at the British museum with the case numbers issued for our latest reported items. You should be getting letters from them shortly.

Treasure Case No: 2009 T502
Post-Medieval silver-gilt dress accessory from‘Colchester Area’, Essex.
(Receipt No: 6799)

Treasure Case No: 2009 T520
Silver fleur de lis mount from ‘Tendring District’, Essex.
(Receipt No: 6799)

Treasure Case No: 2009 T521
Post-Medieval silver mount from ‘Tendring District’, Essex.
(Receipt No: 6799)

Treasure Case No: 2009 T522
Post-Medieval silver bodkin from ‘Tendring District’, Essex.
(Receipt No: 6799)

Treasure Case No: 2009 T615
Post-Medieval silver seal matrix from ‘Tendring District’, Essex.
(Receipt No: 6799)

Treasure Case No: 2009 T616
Post-Medieval silver bodkin from ‘Tendring District’, Essex.
(Receipt No: 6799)

23rd Dec 2009 Roman silver cooked - Another Roman hoard coin - More updates and exports

Updated the Forum competition page. The count so far is now over 1000 milled copper coins.

I have finished 'cooking' the Roman silver find by Ohio Jerry and managed to get part of the legend showing. I sent it off to Mark for his final views as this is one of the rarest Roman silvers ever dug here. By his comments It appears to be on par with the very rare Emperor Galba dug several years ago by Ark Gary.

Very rare 69 AD Otho Roman silver coin- as dug to 'cooked'

There are only 2 possible obverse legends for Otho - IMP OTHO CAESAR AVG TR P and IMP M OTHO CAESAR AVG TR P - so even though I suspect there is an "M"at 7:00 or 8:00, you can see that it's going to be next to impossible to be absolutely certain - this really doesn't matter, however. Neither is any scarcer than the other.

I'm going to go out on a limb somewhat and say I believe that the reverse is SECVRITAS P R - Securitas standing left, holding out a wreath with right hand and leaning on a scepter with left - this allows her left arm to be visible at an angle between her body and the scepter. This seems to be what we have happening on the reverse of your coin, particularly if we were to rotate the reverse about 15º counter-clockwise - and if I had to hazard a guess at the "letters" semi-visible around 2:00-4:00, they seem to resemble "TAS" - so even though there are a couple other types with a standing figure, this type seems to come closest to what I can see in the photo, is the only reverse type with a legend containing "...TAS..." - and is also the most commonly encountered variety of reverse for Otho.

Here's a SECVRITAS P R from my own collection to which you can compare it http://www.stoa.org/gallery/Civil-War/20_Otho_denarius


Mark

PS - I seem to remember a Galba a couple years back - that was from a Spanish mint and probably the equal of this in overal rarity - but it is true that Otho, in general, is one of those "special names" in the roster of emperors

I have just completed Canadian Ed's export pouch and man did he dig a bucket load of finds including a whole bunch I did not photo while the hunts were underway. I have posted them to the Nov finds page It appears he was the first guy to find a coin out of the Roman bronze hoard as he had an exact match of the hoard coins in his pouch. I have reported it to Colchester museum for inclusion into the 'pot' which Mass Bruce, Mike and Scott found a week later. As you can see from Mass Bruce's example below they are identical. Mark Lehman sent us his views when the first 7 were found below

Can Ed's coin 350-353 AD Magnentius & Decentius appears to be the first coin found from the Roman bronze hoard discovered later by Mass, Mike,Scott and Bruce. This was in Ed's export pouch and has been reported to Colchester museum

Mass Bruce's example 350-353 AD Magnentius & Decentius - hoard is currently at the British museum

	Edward 1st & II silver coins		Edward III silver & gold coins
	Henry VII & VIII coins		Roman coins
	Roman artifacts		Roman jewelry

21st Dec 2009 More exports, finds & updates

Updated the individual pages below with finds from the first half of the season. There is now a new section on the members forum dedicated to guys research on the new 66 fields site for the 2nd half of the season. Check out the fascinating info on the castle and abandoned church.

	King John to Richard II early hammered silver coins		Seal matrix
			Clothing fasteners

As I process the export pouches and post them on the members forum I am updating the copper count on the Forum competition page. The count so far is just under a 1000 milled copper coins.

There have been a couple of real nice bonus do dads out of the export pouches, missed while the hunts are underway, including a real nice medieval seal matrix and another treasure.

Medieval seal matrix - appears to be an impression of a squirrel facing right	16th/17thC silver clothing fastener - missing hooked pin and top loop - reported as treasure to museum

Canadian Bill has been cleaning up his medieval seal matrix find and sent me a new wax impression of it. What a cracking job, the legend and bust of Christ is now mint.

Medieval seal matrix - ESS-26B3A7

Dates

MEDIEVAL (Certain), 1200 AD - 1400 AD

Object Type:	Seal Matrix
	Medieval (1200-1400) cast copper alloy circular seal matrix with faceted handle on reverse. The handle has six facets and a raised moulded collar before terminating in a pentagonal suspension loop. The matrix has a forward facing halo'd Christ with a cross in the halo. The surrounding legend possibly reads: MARTIN LE (or DE) (P)REVOST probably meaning Martin the provost of a religious house. It has a dark green-brown patina. It is 23.70mm long, 18.57mm in diameter and weighs 9.93 grams.
	Inscription:	MARTIN LE (or DE) (P)REVOST

17th Dec 2009 More uploads and updates

I have uploaded a load more export finds list and pictures to the members forum. I am processing the guys finds and export applications who are coming back for their 2nd trip this season first, so they have a chance to take them home with them on their next trip if they are back approved in time. I have some really interesting items to take to the museum for further analysis like Cal Jim's 2 medieval seal matrix.

There is an excellent site showing a whole series of 13thC personal lead seals with ID's - click here to view

I have updated more individual find pages below with our finds from the first half the season, you can also check out more on our foundintheground database and use the search tool.

I have updated the forum competition page with the latest total.

Medieval bronze vessica-shaped seal matrix - crow impression facing left	13thC Medieval lead seal matrix - Lombardic script

	Coinweights		Lead tokens
	Trade weights		Jettons

13th Dec 2009 Page updates

Updated the individual pages below with this seasons finds

	Watch winders		Charles 1st silver coins
	Number military regiments		Commonwealth coins
	Clog fasteners		Foreign hammered silver coins
	Scottish hammered silver coins		Foreign milled coins
	Georgian gold and silver milled coins

12th Dec 2009 More Romans ID'd - returned treasures - new kit

I dropped off more finds for recording out of the export pouches to the museum yesterday and several disclaimed treasures were ready for collection. They included Can Dan's hand made gold ring that he found next to an 850 BC axe head. In almost all cases our plain gold ring finds are disclaimed by the British museum and returned to the finder as there is no way to prove their date without an expensive gold test that they will not undertake on a ring of little significance.

For a gold or silver item to be officially declared treasure they have to able to prove that they are over 300 years old, if not they are disclaimed and returned to the finder.

I have uploaded more export finds lists and pictures to the members forum.

I am getting ready for the 2nd half of the season on the new land and took the huge AO master map of the site into Staples who have an amazing set up for copying, reducing and laminating. I got a full set made of each size from AO down to A4 so we can choose the best size for guys to use out in the field. I have split the site up into 5 colour coded manageable chunks and numbered all the fields to allow easier finds recording. There are 66 fields in total on the new site so each chunk is approximately 13 fields. Guys are in full flight on the members forum researching the site and I will add key fields like the 1066 AD medieval castle location and fair sites onto the maps. This new site is so massive that I will setting out our large pop up tent each day in case the weather turns rough. I have already bought all the extra kit so that guys have a portable tent heater and a cooker to be able to make hot drinks and warm up during breaks.

Mark Lehman has been ID'ing more of our Roman coin finds out of the export pouches below.

108 AD Tajan

13.55g, 30.30mm

9th Dec 2009 Our Rarest Roman silver find ID'd - new land contracts signed

I have a meeting this week with the museum to drop the last couple of treasures and finds for recording on the national database. Hopefully there will several of our disclaimed treasures ready for pick up icluding Chicago Ron's gold pendant.

Updated our Hoard & Treasure page with latest info

More export find lists and pictures posted to the members forum.

Updated the forum comp page with the latest copper total free forum competition page

60 + new fields

The contracts were signed yesterday for our new 2400 site from Feb and I now have the large scale OS map of the fields. I spent several hours driving around and taking pictures of the fields and have posted 58 pictures I took on the members forum. It is a real mixed bag of fields, small ones, large ones, monster ones, woods, ponds, steams. Crops are mostly wheat with the odd rape seed. A rough count puts the field numbers at 60 +.

This site has never been detected before and is right next to the most important area of Roman/Celtic Colchester. The numbers of fields I viewed is mind blowing but we have the GPR pictures of the known Roman village to use as a starting point. Continuing research by the club members has shown two abandoned medieval villages, abondoned medieval church, site of a castle and huge numbers of Roman dykes, rivers, roads etc. Because of the sheer physical size of the site I will probably break it down into 4 more manageable chunks of 600 acres each so we have some idea of what we are covering. In a morning a team can pick one of the 600 acres plots and in the afternoon decide either to stay where they are or pick another 600 acre plot. I will be getting the huge supplied poster sized field map laminated which we can use as a master plotter for finds made. A single site this large will require years of hot spotting especially as we can only search it out of animal hunting season between Feb to April. The first team on the site will be the early 'mud and slush' hunt on the 10th Feb. The New Barn II we are now using is just a mile from the site and can be used extensively as a base to search this new site. This new Barn is split into 3 seperate lodges so parties from singles to 7 can be accommodated. Drop me a mail if you can get away after Christmas and be the first guys ever on this new plot. I might even extend the season into late April if there is sufficient interest.

The two final Roman silvers I have been 'cooking' for the the last month had sufficient detail showing through now so I sent them to Mark Lehman our Roman coin expert for his views. The report that just back from him is amazing as one of them is an Otho, the rarest Roman silver coin ever found here. What a great find

As dug to latest 'cooked' 69AD Otho silver Roman coin

I still have this coin in the 'cooker' to see I can get more obverse detail

6th Dec 2009 Cooking Roman silvers and exports- 1300 BC Ring update

On display at the BM

Ron, who was on the last barn hunt of the season, went off and visited the British Museum after his tour and snapped this picture of a gold armlet on display there that is an exact match of the ring Oregon Ed found below earlier in the season. Thanks to Ron for sending it to me as it answers a question we all had as to why the ring was so small for a finger. I wonder if the rest of the armlet is still out there ? Ed's ring is currently with the experts at the BM and it will be interesting to read the final curators report.

Monster find -Ed's Circa 1300BC Bronze age gold open backed triple banded gold ring

3.48g, 13.73mm dia x 6.74mm H

Reported to Colchester museum as treasure

Just posted more export finds lists and photo's onto the members forum. Chicago Ron had a curious Roman bronze coin in his pouch with an unusual obverse that I have sent off to Mark Lehman for his views. I have just about finished cooking the last 2 Roman silvers the Ohio boys found several weeks ago with mixed results.The 1st Roman silver is in very poor shape and is laminating badly from it's as dug condition. The crust on this coin was an 1/8 inch thick and there is sufficient detail showing through to send it again to Mark Lehman for his views. The 2nd Roman is a lot earlier and thicker and I have sent that off to him as well for his views. If you are 'cooking' Roman silvers yourself it can take months to complete the process as 'horn' silver growth is like concrete.

600 AD Saxon silver sceat 1.20g, 12.12mm

Updated the Saxon page with the latest finds

Updated the forum comp page with the latest copper total free forum competition page

As dug

Cooking

Almost cooked now- 17.34mm ,1.86g

As dug - latest 'cooking' pictures

Still 'cooking the 117AD Hadrian silver Roman 3.22g, 18.81mm

Curious Roman bronze with female bust and castle on obverse ?

28.43mm, 14.72g Sent to Mark for ID

5th Dec 2009 Paperwork and export time - Saxon gold hoard

Watch the latest video on the amazing gold treasures found

Amateur’s treasure trove valued at $5.5 million

Largest Anglo-Saxon gold haul ever was found in farmer's field

Finally got the 'painful' yearly paperwork done and can now get on with the export preparations. All guys export finds lists and photo's are posted on the members forum in full. This is such a value add exercise as every piece of metal found here during the first half of the season is closely re examined again, photographed and listed as part of the export applications into a Word document. There are always nice do dads missed while the hunts are in full swing. Last season I found a crusty Roman silver in with a guy's 'copper coin' bag that 'cooked up' to be our oldest ever coin find, 136BC silver Roman. As I do the pouches I will update the free forum competition page with the total of 'milled copper coin' finds so far. I have completed a couple of the export applications and cleaned up what looked like a crusty plain lead disc out of Atlanta Mike's pouch and discovered the impression of a 13thC personal lead seal matrix, great find. I have attached the Word document page so you can see what kind of finds a guy makes during his trip. Every find over 50 years old must be photographed and itemised to form part of the export application. That includes pottery and any item man made.

Circa 1260 AD lead personal seal , 4 have been found attached to pasture rights. The design is typical of mid 13thC non heraldic seals

Yesterday I went and met the new 'Barn II' owner again to and they have been really busy getting things ready for us for our Feb trip. The big Barn next door to the lodges has been completely cleared out for storing our gear, places to hang cloths, change our boots on a muddy day and they even put tables and chairs in there for us to sit down. You can arrive at the Barn II on your first day as early as you like and change here to go out detecting and not wait for the rooms to be ready, great idea.

Oregon Ed sent me a really nice testimonial of his trip when he got that stonking 1300 BC gold ring, posted it to the testimonial page

Atlanta Mike - 'coin hunter' of the year 2008/9

Atlanta Mike's 2009 complete export pouch - click on pictures to enlarge

Mike is one of our top Senior members and last year won the clubs 'coin hunter' of the year award and again this season has set another impressive total to beat with 93 coins dug in a week. The pictures below show what a seriously skilled and dedicated detectorist can unearth.

The export process is straight forward. This Word document is attached to an export application form and fired off to export duty. Important pieces are take to the local FLO at the museum for recording with find spots on the national PAS database. Those unknown or specific items, like the Roman votive offering or bust finial , are further examined by experts and can be sent to the British museum specialists to determine their exact ID and date. Export duty advisors looking at the application can request further details on any items prior to granting an export license. This ensures that no nationally important pieces or treasures are missed.

1. 1361-69 Edward III hammered silver penny - Treaty period - York Type 2 with quatrefoil on the breast - quatrefoil with pellet at centre of reverse cross 2. 1485 Henry VII hammered silver half penny - 'brush' hair bust , Reverse cross fourchee 3. 19thC Danish 2 skilling silver coin 4.1696 William III milled silver sixpence - love token 5. 1553 Mary hammered silver groat 6. 1603 James 1st hammered silver sixpence 7. 1561 Elizabeth 1st hammered silver 6 pence 8. 1817 George III milled silver sixpence 9. 1567 Elizabeth 1st hammered silver 6 pence 10.19thC Victorian milled silver sixpence - worn date 11. Post medieval hammered silver half groat 12.1562 Elizabeth 1st hammered silver 2 pence 13. 1483 Richard III hammered silver penny 14. 1609 James 1st hammered silver half goat 15. 1279 -Edward 1st hammered silver penny 16. Victorian model crown coin mdcccxlviii (=1848) 17. 1310-14 Sterling bust English Jetton Edward II Class XI Rev - Long cross patonce 6 pellet clusters in angles, border pellets 18. 1340 AD French Jetton 19. 1694 William and Mary copper half penny 20. George III guinea gaming token	1. 17thC William Greeveson of Durham hammered copper trade farthing 2. 1587 Rose Ryal coin weight 3. C13/14th Medieval badge Ref Mitchiner p244 939 - 941 4. 1603 James 1st coin weight - Britain crown, 2nd coinage 5. 15th/16thC 'Ship with 2 lions' type coin weight for the gold noble 6. 1586 Hans Krauwincel II Rose orb Jeton 7. Roman baldric mount 8. Roman bust figurine finial - 42.39mm L , 22.07g 9. Roman votive figurine 48.34mm L, 14.68g 10. 19thC token with rider 11.15thC copper alloy thimble 12. decorated medieval book clasp 15. Medieval lead hanging weight 16.20thC Wix token 17. 17thC mount with 2 integral lugs 18. 19thC Conder token - elephant 19. 17thC spur fragment 20. 1634 Charles 1st hammered copper Rose farthing - Type 2
1. Medieval book clasp 3. . Medieval book clasp 4. Georgian buckle 5. Georgian scissors 6. Georgian spur fragments 8. Post medieval lead alnage cloth seal 9. 1819 George III milled silver sixpence 10. Medieval pot leg 11. Georgian watch winder 12.18thC crotal bell 13.17thC hinge 14. 1582-3 Elizabeth 1st hammered silver penny - Bell mint mark 16. 19thc lead Russian bale seal 17. Medieval Edward hammered silver penny 18.18thC silver button 19. Victorian pressed copper brooch	24 - 18th to 20thC copper coins
27 - 18th to 20thC copper coins	24 - 18th to 20thC copper coins
210 - Post Tudor buttons
1. 17thC button 2. Georgian chest key 3. Medieval gilded buckle with integral chape 4. 16thC Tudor button 5. 1770's 3 shilling and 6 pence coin weight - SD 36 6. 17thC mount with 2 integral lugs 7. 1553 Hans Schultes I 'Ship penny' jetton 8. 3rd Roman coin - illegible 9. 17thC lead token 10. 1670's Charles 1st milled copper farthing 11. Georgian barrel key 13.17thC crotal bell 14. Georgian thimble 15.17thC lead token - anchor type 16. 20thC Army badge 17.15thC lead token 18. 3rd Roman coin - illegible 19. Georgian thimble 20.Victorian jewelry clasp	1. 20thC harness buckle 2. 19thC buckle 3. Post medieval harness ring 4. 20thC harness buckle 5. 19thC buckle 6. 20thC harness buckle 7. 20thC harness buckle 8. 19thC buckle 9. 19thC buckle 10. 19thC buckle 11. 20thC harness buckle 12. 20thC harness buckle 13. 20thC harness buckle 14. Cav, Stables plate 17. 19thC buckle 18. Georgian buckle fragment 19. Post medieval harness ring 20. Victorian clip
1. 25 Clay pipe fragments 11.14 Post Tudor pottery shards	1. 12 -18th to 20thC copper coins 10. Georgian lead tobacco jar lid handle 11. Post medieval hanging lead weight 12. 18thC 65th Regiment of foot button 13. Post medieval lead alnage cloth seal 14. Post medieval lead cloth seal 15. 17thC hammered copper trade farthing - illegible 16. Post medieval trade weight - no markings 17. Post medieval trade weight - no markings 18. Post medieval trade weight - no markings 19. 2 Georgian watch winders 20. Medieval lead spindle whorl
1. Georgian harness name plate 3. 13thC lead personal seal 4. Post medieval lead standing weight 5. 17thc crotal bell 8. Post medieval square weight 9. Post medieval trade weight - no markings 11.20thC lead bale seal 12. 20thC lead bale seal 13. Georgian draw pull 14. 20thC harness buckle 16. Padlock back plate 17. Post medieval lead bale seal 18. Post medieval lead standing weight 19. 20thC lead bale seal	1. 4 copper nails 4. Post medieval lead alnage cloth seal 5. 20thC Toy pistol handle 6. . Post medieval lead bale seal 7. Victorian Pendant fragment 9.Victorian clasp 11.Medieval pot fragment 13. Georgian clock key 15.Lead musket ball 16. Glass stem fragment
1. 84 Post Tudor pottery shards

I am still 'cooking' the last two Roman silver coins found and the detail is coming through very slowly especially on the obverse.

As dug - latest 'cooking' pictures

Still 'cooking the 117AD Hadrian silver Roman

29th Nov 2009 Huge hoard in Sweden - final finds uploaded - half season summation

A huge medieval hoard of 9000 silver coins has been found in Sweden and it really highlights how fortunate we are in England to have a robust Treasure Act in place to reward the finder with the true market value. The British system is the envy of the world as it actively encourages finders to report all treasures and hoards found. Dedicated local FLO's (Finds liaison officers) are in place to specifically handle these type of finds with defined processes and laws in place to ensure fair play to finders and landowners.

9000 Medieval Silver coins found in Sweden

Here is the english translation by Mass Bruce

LUND. Ten year old Alexander Granhof from Karlshamn and his grandfather Jens from Landskrona receive 40 000 SEK in reward for the last spring found the biggest discovery in southern Sweden of medieval silver coins.

The National Heritage Board has decided, reports SVT Sydnytt.
The two were out walking on a newly plowed field north of Nöbbelöv when Alexander saw some objects in the field who then turned out to be coins. Excavations showed that about 9 000 silver coins from around the year 1300 were two ceramic containers.

The coins were taken over by the Historical Museum in Lund.
The history fans Jens was out walking on the field to show their grandchildren the site of the Battle of Lund.

Just uploaded the last of the guys finds from last week to the latest finds page Nov 2009 finds page. Those 'Barn' guys had a great hunt and found the first Braintree 17thC trade farthing type to add to our collection. These are such a great relic as they are mid 17thC Circa 1650 and have the guys name, profession and where he was from on them generally. I have updated the 17thC token page

17th C William Osborne, baker of Braintree Essex hammered copper trade farthing	17thC George Nicholson, grocers of Thorpe Le Soken Essex hammered copper trade farthing

I have finished 'cooking' the 82 BC Roman silver find by Ohio Tom and it turned out superbly. The obverse legend is different from the example pictures Mark Lehman sent me so I have sent him the now clearer obverse pictures for his comments.

The other two Roman silver finds are 'cooking' along slowly.

As dug and nearly cooked - 3.40g, 18.81mm

Finished 'cooking' the 82BC silver Roman - Mark's example from his collection on right

End of the half season summation - thanks to all

That's it, we are closed now for detecting until early Feb when the 2nd half of the season kicks off again . It has been another bumper start to the season and our best ever gold find rate with 20 pieces being found. They range from our earliest ever gold find, 1300 BC gold ring, to a beautiful George IV full sovereign coin. The last Celtic gold coin found was off a new field, poughed for the first time, it is probably the rarest example ever found here and there could be more out there. To find two English medieval hammered gold coin finds in a whole season would be staggeringly rare, the guys got 2 in the first half which is without precedence. What is even more astonishing is even with 300 fields now for the guys to pick from these finds came from all over the place, old land, new land and what we had previously considered 'crap' land.

That is the beauty of the way our club runs the hunts, guys picking their own sites to search each day from the maps and research. The site where the Edward hammered gold and Cunobelin Celtic were found is an 800 acre site we had for several years , in the middle of nowhere, where you could not have dragged me by my finger nails to search it. Canadian Rod discovered an old house site on it by research and Ron's team were looking for hammered silver around it when the gold coins were discovered.

Other brand new site for this season that initially looked like it 'sucked' went on to produce a wealth of finds including two of the rarest silver coins you can find, Saxon penny's. Then another new site produced a 3rd Saxon penny making 3 for the half season. You have to bear in mind how rare these are to find, in 6 years of searching we have only ever found 4 so this is a staggering result. This effectively is how the season went on week by week and I was surprised as much as the guys that found them.

A new 800 acre site from last season that produced the medieval gold statue, just a few hammered silver coins but mostly Georgian finds suddenly with more effort from the members produced two 850BC axe heads, the 1300 BC gold ring and then our first ever Roman bronze coin hoard. The field the hoard came from is enormous and we could not have got them all yet. It will takes years of the plough turning that spot over to see the total number buried. We are hoping that there are some silver Roman coins buried within this hoard.

All of these finds are due to the high degree of skill and dedication by the members who are out there for long hours in all weathers. The level of tiny hammered silver finds like, cut qtr's, half pennies and farthings is at an all time high proving that the guys are seriously on their game. I would like to thank all the members for continuing to make these hunts such a great success with great humour even when out there getting skunked and rained on. Special thanks to all the museum staff that handle all our treasures and finds and especially to the landowners that allow our to search their properties.

The 2nd half of the season will be very exciting as we will be spending a huge amount of our resource on the two new sites we have been asked to search. The largest one is 2400 acres, around 60 fields and could be our best ever site. Members have been researching the site and 'goggle earthing' it to discover a huge known Roman village at it's centre, dykes, Roman roads, two abandoned medieval villages, disused churches etc. Unfortunately we only have a small window of opportunity to search this site from Feb to April (out of hunting season) so we will only get to scratch the surface of this site.

So with all the new land coming and if we can manage to find the hot spots, this could end up as out best ever season on record.

26th Nov 2009 Curators report - more finds uploaded - Sal's vid

I have knocked up quick video of Sal's 2009 hunt but there are just too many clips to include them all and too many finds to add to it. Even reducing it to a small streaming video size it is still 36Meg. Click here to view.

I have taken the remaining pics of the finds from last weeks hunt and uploaded a few more to the latest finds page Nov 2009 finds page. Hopefully I can complete all the uploads tomorrow.

I just received the curator's report below from the British museum on one of our previous finds reported as treasure, very interesting 15thC silver knight figure.

Updated the hoard and treasure page with the latest update from the British museum.

1594-6 Elizabeth hammered silver half groat - Wool pack mintmark

Treasure Report:   2009/T218                                                                   
Parish/County:          Tendring District, Essex

A small Medieval figure of a knight, missing his arms and the bottom part of his legs. The sinuous pose suggests that the figure is meant to represent St George spearing the dragon. The dragon ought to have been positioned beneath his feet, but this part of the composition is missing. In this respect and in terms of its dimensions, the figure resembles mass produced pilgrim souvenirs generated by the cult of St George at Windsor Castle. What distinguishes this figure is that it is cast in the round unlike pilgrim badges of the same period.

On the reverse are the remains of a loop, used either for stitching on to a garment (most likely) or for suspension.

The figure is silver and dates from the fifteenth century.

Dimensions: length 18 mm, width 9 mm.

J P Robinson
Curator of Medieval Collections
 26th November 2009

I did more work today on the 82 BC Roman republican silver find with a tooth pick as the 'cooking' is really softening up the crust. The detail is really showing though now so back in the 'cooker' for a final time possibly. Mark Lehman sent me a picture of a similar example from his collection

As dug and nearly cooked - 3.40g, 18.81mm

AR Denarius Serratus, 82 B.C.
Q. Antonius Balbus
18mm, 3.69gm, axis: 4:00
Obv: Laureate head of Jupiter right, SC behind.
Rx: Victory in quadriga right, holding wreath and palm; beneath: T / Q ANTO BALB (ligate) / PR.
Coinage of the faction opposed to Sulla – along with the Senate who, unusually, approved this issue.
Syd-CRR 742, RSC-Bab Antonia 1, SR 279.

25th Nov 2009 Paperwork time - more uploads - 82 BC Roman silver 'cooked'

Louisiana Sal took hundreds of video clips with his hat cam that he left me during his visit that I am making into a 'movie' at the moment - will upload tomorrow

I have been busy doing paperwork for the last couple of days and will be making a start on the export applications shortly for the first half of the season. I have just uploaded more of last weeks finds to the latest finds page Nov 2009 finds page. I still have more to photo yet from the guys last day on Sunday. Sal's first 'hard core' Barn hunt was a great success and everyone went away with some great finds.

I am still 'cooking' the 3 Roman silver coins finds and the detail shows that one of them is an early BC Republican silver with a chariot on the back. I have enough detail now to send them to Mark Lehman for his initial views and ID. I put them straight back into the 'cooker' as there is more detail to be revealed. This process requires patience as the 'crust' on these early Romans can be an 1/8 inch thick and can take months of cooking in some cases.

As dug

First 'cook'

Latest 'cooking'

82 BC Roman republican silver 3.40g, 18.81mm - Chariot on rev

AR Denarius Serratus, 82 B.C.
Q. Antonius Balbus
18mm, 3.69gm, axis: 4:00
Obv: Laureate head of Jupiter right, SC behind.
Rx: Victory in quadriga right, holding wreath and palm; beneath: T / Q ANTO BALB (ligate) / PR.
Coinage of the faction opposed to Sulla – along with the Senate who, unusually, approved this issue.
Syd-CRR 742, RSC-Bab Antonia 1, SR 279.

2ndC Roman silver 3.29g, 19.01mm - Hadrian 117AD

2ndC Roman silver 2.17g 17.83mm - Trajan 53 to 117AD

22nd Nov 2009 More finds uploaded - more accommodation choice - last day of the season

Thanks to the guys on the Italian forum for ID'ing this Venetian hammered silver coin find from yesterday . Several of our other Venetian coin finds on the Foreign hammered page were also attributed to the wrong 'Doge' so I have updated that page.

These coins circulated (illegally) in England from the late 14th to the 16th century and were known as ’Galley Halfpence’. I have found two really good sites with pictures and legends to early Italian gold and silver coins for reference.

Venetian coin site

Italian coin site

1247 Henry III hammered silver voided long cross cut half penny - Class 5e Rev WIL/LEM/ONL/VND - Moneyer Willem of London	1247 Henry III hammered silver voided long cross cut 1/4 penny (farthing) Obv HENRICVS REX III Rev RIC/ARD/ONC/CANT Moneyer Richard of Canterbury	1377-1399 Richard II hammered silver halfpenny Obv + RICHARD REX ANGL Rev - CIVI/TAS/LON/DON - London mint 0.36g, 14.36mm

I have uploaded a load more silver finds to the latest finds page Nov 2009 finds page.

Updated the find of the year page with a couple more of my favourites of the season so far.

Updated the Saxon page with the last 3 hammered silver penny's

Louisiana Sal's 'Barn' guys have just one more days left to the end of the first half of the season for the club. This is Sal's first barn hunt he has run and his new team have done consistently well every day at picking the sites to search. This type of event is where you have your own self catering accommodation, own mini bus and can come and go as you please on all of the 300 fields available. The hard core guys on his team have been out hunting from 7am to 9pm so in a week you can get 90 hours of detecting out there. My role is to take all the finds away, report treasures, ID, photograph and at the end of their tour record all the relevant finds with the museum and then prepare the export license applications.

During the half season break I will be adding another 2 self catering accommodations so the guys have plenty of choice of type and location as to where they want to stay.

I have found another really nice newly converted 3 bedrooms one below just a mile from our main sites. I will be popping along to see it during the half season break.

3 bedroom Barn conversion - 2 twin and one double bedroom

20th Nov 2009 More neat finds uploaded - Excessively rare find ID'd

Ohio Jerry found what I thought was a hanging weight last week and Can Bill has just ID'd for us below. It turns out to be an exact match of one recorded on PAS and is an 'excessively' rare 16thC Tudor combination lock, great find. Just posted more hammered silver and finds to the latest finds page Nov 2009 finds page

X Ray of 16thC 'Five-Ring Combination' Lock

Symbols on lock barrels

April–June 1268 – 29 November 1314 - Philippe IV gold coin weight for masse d'or

King on throne seated facing, holding a sceptre

Legend POIS A MASE

Masse de Philippe le Bel, 10 January 1296, gold, 7.04g. Obv: "PhILIPPVS:DEI:GRA(cia):FRANChORVM:REX" "Philip, by the Grace of God, King of the French".

16thC Tudor clothing fastener with religious inscription

IHS: dating from the 8th c., this is an abbreviation for "IHESUS," the way Christ's Name was spelled in the Middle Ages (despite popular belief, the monogram stands neither for "Iesus Hominum Salvator" --"Jesus Saviour of Men" -- nor for "In His Service.") Popularized by St. Bernardine of Siena, the monogram was later used by St. Ignatius of Loyola as a symbol for the Jesuit Order.

The IHS monogram is an abbreviation or shortening of Jesus' name in Greek to the first three letters. Thus ΙΗΣΟΥΣ, ιησυς (iēsus, "Jesus"), is shortened to ΙΗΣ (iota-eta-sigma), sometimes transliterated into Latin or English characters as IHS or ΙΗC.

The symbol is said to appear rarely in the catacombs, only in the catacomb of Priscilla and the atrium of the Capella Gr�ca (Greek Chapel).1 It was popularized in the fifteenth century, however, by Franciscan disciple Bernadine of Sienna as a symbol of peace. In 1541 St. Ignatius Loyola adopted the symbol with three nails below and surrounded by the sun as the seal of the Jesuit order.

Contrary to some authors, the monogram originally stood for neither for Iesus Hominum Salvator ("Jesus Savior of Men") nor for "In His Service." Some attribute its origin to Constantine's vision, where he saw a cross with the inscription "In hoc signo vinces" ("in this sign you shall conquer,"2 which is abbreviated, according to them, as IHS. However, this seems to require a stretch, as do claims that it is really a pagan symbol. The simplest explanation, as an abbreviation of Jesus' name, is best.

19th Nov 2009 Monster rare Saxon penny - More great finds uploaded

The guys are still finding some really tiny hammered silver half penny's as well as full medieval groats, just posted a load more to the latest finds page Nov 2009 finds page. I was cleaning up what looked like just a crusty broken Edward penny and was amazed to see it was a rare Saxon silver penny of Edgar (Eadgar), first one we have ever found. Dr Martin has sent me back the ID and recorded it on the Early medieval Corpus database as EMC 2009.0377. The 'cooking of the Roman silver coins found last week is coming along slowly and I have posted the latest pictures below.

957 AD King Edgar -Saxon hammered silver penny 18.29mm, 0.59g- sent for confirmation of ID and recording to the Fitzwilliam museum

Many thanks for this find, which I have recorded as EMC 2009.0377. It is a coin of Edgar's Bust Crowned type, with the last letter of the king's name, R, visible on the obverse. Unfortunately the remaining portion of the reverse inscription is a garbled version of MONETA (MONEAT), and consequently the mint and moneyer are uncertain.

Best wishes,

Martin

King Edgar was the youngest child of King Edmund the Magnificent and St. Aelfgith. His mother died the year after his birth and his father when he was only three. He was, therefore, fostered by Aethelstan Half-King, the Ealdorman of East Anglia, and his wife, Aelfwinn. The family were keen supporters of monastic reform and Edgar's education was therefore placed in the hands of the movement's mastermind, St. Aethelwold, Abbot of Abingdon.

In AD 955, Edgar's uncle, King Edred, died and his elder brother, the fourteen year old Edwig, became King. However, when Edgar reached the same age two years later, the kingdom was divided and he was given the Northern regions of Mercia and Northumbria, while Edwig retained Wessex. Edgar immediately recalled his uncle's advisor, St. Dunstan, from exile and made him Bishop of Worcester, before his transfer to London. Edwig died in AD 959 and Edgar became King of all England.

As dug

Latest pictures of the 3 Roman silvers still 'cooking' to remove the crust

1471-83 Edward IV 2nd reign hammered silver halfpenny - Type 6

* Note round coins of this period are rare - oval flans normally

Obv EDWARD DEI GRA REX

Rev - CIVI/TAS/LON/DON - London mint

11.8mm,0.30g

18th Nov 2009 More finds uploaded

Sal's 'Barn' teams boys have made a great start to the last hunt of the 1/2 season with some real nice hammered silver and Roman artefacts on their first full day. They got 5 medieval silver coins and the littlest and largest versions below.

I have uploaded a load more great finds to the latest finds page Nov 2009 finds page.

1471-1483 Edward IV 2nd Reign hammered silver halfpenny Obv - EDWARD DEI GRA REX Rev - CIVI/TAS/LON/DON - London mint 0.32g,11.95mm	1351- 1361 Edward III hammered silver groat (4 pence ) - Cross 3 Pre treaty period Obv EDWARD D G REX ANGL Z oFRANC oD oHYB Rev - CIVI/TAS/LON/DON - London mint 27.66mm, 4.50g
Size comparison of a groat and a halfpenny

Louis XIV (1634-1715) - British made coin weigh for the Louis d'or gold coin ., known as a pistol or pistole. This example is a 1/2 pistole

Huge 2nd C Roman fibula brooch - these thin examples are believed to be casting failures by the museum

14th Nov 2009 2 gold and 3 Roman silver week - last hunt of the half season

What a brilliant weeks detecting with a whole raft of really neat relics like Can Bill's Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre .I will try and get a whole bunch of finds posted tomorrow as I am well backed up with finds. Bavaria Terry dug this really crisp Victorian gold coin and Ohio Jerry got a gold cufflink from the same area next to an old house site. The 3 Ohio boys each dug a Roman silver coin during the week but Tom's was an absolute classic find. He was washing up a 19thC copper coin and said there is a coin stuck on the back of it. I expected a milled silver but was amazing to see it was Roman. Luckily it was not welded to the coin and I managed to pick it off cleanly. As you see by the original picture below it gave the Roman silver 'crust' a green appearance. The Roman silver found wednesday is starting to 'cook' off nicely so I sent it to Mark for his initial ID and he has ID'd it as Trajan (98-117 AD). Once I get more detail on the other two I will send them to him for ID.

Medieval badges Ref Mitchiner p244 939 - 941

'A badge for a Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre in bronze and dating somewhere around C13/14th possibly very slightly later . This is a very scarce item and it relates to The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem being a Catholic chivalric order of Knighthood that traces its roots to Godfrey of Bouillon, principal leader of the First Crusade. According to reliable sources in the Vatican and Jerusalem, it began in historical reality as a mixed clerical and lay confraternity (association) of pilgrims which gradually grew around the most central of the Christian holy places in the Middle East, the Holy Sepulchre or the tomb of Jesus Christ.This would have been a pin for a member of the order , there is a mark on the reverse where the original pin would have been fixed '

This is our best ever half season so far for gold with 20 pieces found. I have just updated the gold page.

Louisiana Sal arrives here Monday with his team for the last weeks hunt of the season before the 1/2 season break. We re open again early next season on the 10th Feb as these are special request hunts by members to detect the new 60 field site. This new site is only available from the end of the pheasant hunting season 1st Feb to Mid April.We need as many members as possible to pound that sucker as it is 2400 acre of prime Roman/Celtic land next to Colchester which has never been detected. If you can get away then drop me a mail to help hotspot this monster sucker.

1872 Victorian milled gold half sovereign

19thC gold cufflink - 9 carat

1stC Roman silver - 'cooking' it to reveal the detail - Mark has sent back a provisional ID

Roman silver - 'cooking' it to reveal the detail

Roman silver - 'cooking' it to reveal the detail

This coin was stuck to the back of a 19thC copper coin when dug, hense the original green colour !!

11th Nov 2009 Great relics - land visit report

16thC Tudor gilt on silver clothing fastener - reported as treasure to Colchester museum

14.55mm, 1.56g

Updated hoard and treasure page

I had a meeting with the museum yesterday and dropped off the last of the reported treasures, no recently disclaimed items were ready for collection yet. I visited one of the new plots of land on offer and have posted loads of pictures on the members forum. It is a real mixed bag, drained lakes, weed, pasture and gardens around a really old hall (200 acres) which had some really famous visitors staying there including Queen Mary and Sir Winston Churchill. There is a know Roman villa in one of the fields. I am just waiting for the contracts to be agreed so we can start searching it.

Just posted a load of finds to the latest hunt page Nov 2009 finds page. Some great relics turning up including a stonking Royal Artillery lead cloth seal and a really crisp small Roman bronze, both found by Can Bill. Mark Lehman has just ID'd it below.

19thC Royal artillery lead cloth seal - the cloth was bought for the coats and trousers and made up at the local depot to fit the soldier - Tower London

Roman terret ring (reigns guide)

4th Nov 2009 2 more new sites - New self catering details - Next hunts start 7th Nov

Detectorist finds £1 million pound treasure

I am having a great week off before the hunts start again on the 7th Nov to catch up on paperwork. I have posted out the last of the export pouches and created a new Nov 2009 finds page to speed up load times. I have uploaded some more of last weeks finds to it.

I am seeing the owner of another new plot with have been offered this week with view to searching it straight away. It is 200 acres in the middle of a known Viking village so great potential. The owner has also asked us to go and see one of her friends sites who is also interested in us searching it. It is centred around a really early old hall and within 5 miles of our new Barn accommodation, not got any more details yet.

A new page on the accommodation site has been added with full details of the New Barn accommodation. This a totally flexible way to stay, from singles up to groups of 8, any length of stay and any arrival/departure days. This is having your own car, go as you please type event with full find ID, recording and exporting support as normal.

Note our existing Barn accommodation we rent is now restricted to teams of 6 max due to new fire regulations.

More pictures of details click here

30th Oct 2009 Excessively rare Celtic gold - more accommodation near new site

Closed this week to catch up on finds exporting and paperwork. Next hunts start on the 7th Nov

More finds and coins uploaded to the latest finds page Oct II 2009 hunt page 2

CCI no. 09.3512.

I just got the feedback form the Celtic coin index on Mark's Celtic qtr gold find. The reason I could not find it in my specialist books or Spinks catalogue is that is is not in there. John who runs the CCI has classed it as 'excessively rare', probably only two other examples of this type exist. Both the landowner and finder have decided to put it through a Spinks auction as it was from new land and there could be more out there. I spoke to Spink today and they are possibly prepared to make them an offer prior to their next specialist auction in the new year. Amazing find.

Excellent find - Early medieval lead token - This one is not in the reference books but they are normally based on coins of the period so this short cross design makes it C13thC

I have been to see new 'Barn' type accommodation which is close to our new 60 field plot we have permission to search from Feb. It is brand new and in mint condition and offers very tasteful comfortable lodgings. It is broken down into 3 separate lodges, each with it's own lounge, kitchen and bathroom. One lodge has 2 bedrooms, the other two have one each. They are really spacious and tastefully furnished and have all the usual mod cons, microwave, washing machine, fridge etc. There is even a boiler room with a washing machine and tumble dryer perfect for hanging wet clothes. I will be adding it to the accommodation site shortly with more details.

26th Oct 2009 Another monster find - week off - B&B trial

Billericay Mark made a remarkable find on new land with a 50BC Celtic gold 1/4 stater stater of a tribe I am not familiar with. It is possible that it is our first Remi tribe find so I have sent it off to the Celtic Coin Index for recording and their views. This coin is really crisp.

Updated the gold page with the latest finds

Possible 50BC Remi tribe Celtic gold 1/4 stater - sent to CCI for recording and ID

1.14g,12.55mm

This week a couple of our senior members are trialing a new local bed and breakfast accommodation and their initial reports indicate it is very comfortable and they serve a great breakfast, more details on members forum. I am closed for the normal full board hunts for 2 weeks as I take a mid term break to recharge the batteries and catch up on paperwork. The normal hunts begin again on the 7th November.

I have been offered another plot of land by the owner of a new site we have not searched yet. She is away on business until Wednesday so I do not know any more details yet. Hopefully I can get the contracts signed before the 7th Nov when we commence detecting again. This year we close for the first half of the season on the 23rd Nov. We reopen early again for the 2nd half of the season on 10th Feb 2010 which is special request hunt by the Ohio strawberry farmers. There is a slot free if you fancy joining a possible 'mud and slush' hunt. This hunt will be primarily aimed at hot spotting the new 60 field site we have permission to hunt from Feb 1st

I still have a bunch more finds from last week to post yet, hopefully I will start uploading in the morning to the latest hunt page.Oct II 2009 hunt page 2

I have just received several letters from the British museum disclaiming reported treasures, members have been informed and the finds will be returned to them in due course. I have a meeting booked with the museum in a couple of weeks to drop off the latest treasure finds and hopefully to pick up more disclaimed treasures.

Finished cooking Brad's silver Roman - 17.62, 1.84g send off for ID

23rd Oct 2009 Penn Jeff does the double gold - Find of the year award - more new land - Roman cooked

1346-1361 Edward III gold half noble - Closed E at centre of cross - Cross 3 - Pre treaty

Obv EDWAR D GRA (DEI G) REX ANGL AZ FRANC

25.10mm, 3.80g

Pickings have been slim out there on new land but Penn Jeff still managed to pull up another early medieval gold ring that I have reported to the museum as treasure. He also pulled up the monster find, Edward III hammered gold 1/2 noble coin, massively rare find. Alaskan Geo then banged in probably the best Henry III voided long cross hammered silver penny I have ever seen. The legend and bust are mint, great find.

Alaskan Geo presented Tenn Brad with his 'find of the year' trophy for that stunning medieval gold figurine last season. The members vote at the end of the season for their favourite find and the winner gets a free trip as their prize. Brads statue was officially declared treasure at Chelmsford Coroners court on the 23rd Sept '09 and has now gone forward to the Treasure Valuation committee stage. Both the finder and landowner get a 50/50 share of the reward by law.

We have been offered another new plot of land around an old hall and I have to arrange a meeting for next week to view it. It appears to be around 200 acres with a lot of Roman presence. More details to follow.

Updated the gold page with the latest finds

More finds and coins uploaded to the latest finds page Oct II 2009 hunt page 2

Early medieval gold ring 15.26mm dia, 2.08g- folded gold construction - reported to Colchester museum as treasure

Treasure Report:   2008 T581                                                                            
Parish/County:          Tendring District, Essex

A medieval figure of John the Baptist. The saint is shown not in his usual attribute of a camel skin, but in the robes of a prophet. He gestures with his right hand to a salver, which he holds in his left. This was originally designed to carry a lamb, signifying the Lamb of God. A scroll issues from the Saint’s left hand and is inscribed with the words
: ECCE +ANGUS+DEI
(Behold, the Lamb of God)

The figure stands on a small plinth with a finished base. It is designed to be seen in the round and on its back there is a loop for attachment to an object. It would probably have been entirely enamelled, but no traces of enamel survive on the figure.

The figure is gold and dates from the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century.

Dimensions: height 33 mm, width 11 mm, depth 10 mm.

Consequently, in terms of age and as the object contains a minimum of 10% precious metal it qualifies as Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996.

         
J P Robinson
Curator of Medieval Collections
30th March 2009

Alaskan Geo on right presents Tenn Brad with 'find of the year' silver trophy

Totally mint strike of a 1247 Henry III hammered silver voided longcross - Class 5b

Obv HENRICVS REX

Rev HEN/RIO/LV/NDE - Moneyer Henri of London

1.45g, 18.29mm

As dug and 'partial cooking'

Finished cooking Brad's silver Roman - 17.62, 1.84g send off for ID

21st Oct 2009 Brad on another rampage - monster finds

Tenn 'gold statue' Brad is out there on a rampage again with a nice bunch of hammered silver finds already . He also found a really crusty Roman silver with probably the thickest crust I have ever 'cooked' off to to reveal the detail which appears to be really crisp. I have sent it off to Mark Lehman for his initial views. Mark has also ID'd two other Roman bronzes that Brad found below. The 'Shewolf & Twins' reverse is really clear as the coin was protected by the initial silver wash when it was made.

Huge 4th to 6thC bronze brooch 47.63mm W, 30.66g

I have reported two more treasure finds to the museum and updated the hoard and treasure page

More finds and coins uploaded to the latest finds page Oct II 2009 hunt page 2

As dug and 'partial cooking'

Roman silver coin still 'cooking' it to remove horn crust

Huge 2ndC Roman sent off for ID

28.21mm dia x 4.58 mm thick

19.14g

4thC Roman coin sent for ID

16.67mm, 1.41g

3rd C Roman bronze coin sent off for ID

23.40mm, 4.57g

Neat 17thC seal matrix

18thC silver decorated clog fastener

This find of last week has been ID'd by Cal Jim, what a great relic.

'It looks to me like a carved WW1 bullet, a piece of trench art (like hobo art). You know, "there are no atheists in trenches."

Checking out trench art, I found this picture of other trench art, so I believe that is a proper id. Very, very cool find! ' Jim

17th Oct 2009 Celtic gold recorded - More buttons ID'd - Canadian invasion week

Started a new hunt page to speed up load times Oct II 2009 hunt page 2. Posted a whole bunch more finds and hammered silver to the page.

John Still's has recorded the last Celtic gold find and sent me the CCI number below.

10 to 40 AD Cunobelin Celtic gold qtr stater - sent to CCI for recording

12.41mm, 1.26g

The Canadian invasion week was brilliant fun as NS Greg made up a special shield with a handmade gold coin embedded in it for the overall best pouch of the week. Can Ryan won it easily with that stonking medieval hammered gold coin find and even managed to find a full medieval groat on the last day, congrats to Ryan on a great week. Tenn 'gold statue' Brad is back here this week on his free trip for winning the 'find of the year' with that monster Medieval gold statue find last season. He presented Billericay Mark with his Wis Wayne memorial trophy for the detectorist with the 'best attributes' during last season. Mark has won this 2 years running for being the guy that represents all that is best in detecting. Helpful, patient and an ambassador of the hobby. Mark has found some serious finds over the years, Roman gold, Celtic gold and has a treasure on display in the museum and a beautiful medieval gold ring currently going through the treasure process.

Canadian Ryan holding his shield

Tenn Brad (right) presenting the award to Mark

1300-10 Edward II hammered silver farthing - New issue inner circles both sides - Type 28 Obv +EDWARDVS REX Rev CIVI/TAS/LON/DON - London mint	1310-14 Edward II hammered silver halfpenny - Type 12, New obverse legend Obv +EDWARDVS REX Rev CIVI/TAS/LON/DON - London mint 0.57g, 14.88mm
1354-1355 Edward III hammered silver groat - Series E, fleur de lys on breast and tressures Rev CIVI/TAS/LON/DON - London mint 4.04g, 26.45mm

Great find 1846 Victorian 'New houses of Parliament' token

C.S Barry Esq Arch

Thanks to Tim for more button ID's.

Royal Horse Artillery 1802 -1829	106th Ipswich Volunteers Suffolk Officers - Silvered - 1800-1815	RN Flag Officer - 1787 In use 1787 - 1795 In Gilt	UK Army - Officer's Shoulder Rank Insignia
Capt / Commander - 1774-1787 RN Master & Mate - 1787-1807	RN Flag Officer - 1812 Left Leaning Stock In use 1812 - 1827	UK - Britain UK Customs 1837 - 1838 Customs Officer's Tunic Button Maker - Unknown

16th Oct 2009 Button ID's - More great hammered silver - more of our database entries & ID's

Tim our button expert has made a start at ID'ing the unknown buttons found this season. The guys have been find some amazing hammered silver from the smallest medieval farthing to huge groats. I have just posted a bunch more to the latest finds page Oct 2009 hunt page.

The Royal North Devon Yeomanry (Hussars) 1902-1922	Honourable East India Company, Ship's Officers Button	GPO - General Post Office - Don't look like a QVCPoss' ERII crown

Size comparison of Henry half penny, Edward farthing & Victorian crown

1279 Edward hammered silver farthing- new issue with inner circles both sides - oval flan - Type 28f Obv EDWARDVS REX AN Rev CIVI/TAS/LON/DON - London mint 0.31g,11.07mm	1485 Henry VII hammered silver half penny - Cross furchee - Open crown Obv HENRIC *** REX Rev CIVI/TAS/LON/DON - London mint 0.39g,12.55mm

Interesting pair of Henry VIII hammered silver groats with same Crowned Portcullis initial mark but from totally different die sets- Portrait of Henry VII but name of Henry VIII 1509-26 Henry VIII hammered silver groat - Portcullis crowned initial mark Below is a 'proper Henry VIII bust   1532-42 Henry VIII hammered silver groat - arrow mintmark First period - London, Tower (POSUI)

ESS-258C67 Roman colchester two-piece brooch

Dates

ROMAN (Certain), 40 AD - 80 AD

Object Type:

Two-Piece Colchester Brooch

Incomplete Roman Colchester two piece brooch. The upper part of the bow and wings survive. The wings are rectangular in plan, and curve slightly in profile to encase the now missing sprung pin. The reverse of the wings has an incomplete pieced lug, which would have secured the axis bar and chord of the spring attachment. It its current condition, the brooch is 26.36mm long, 15.87mm wide, 11.79mm thick and weighs 6.86 grams. It is light-green in colour and the surface is pitted.

ESS-26D793 Medieval seal matrix

Dates

MEDIEVAL (Certain), 1200 AD - 1400 AD

Object Type:

Seal Matrix

Incomplete Medieval cast copper alloy seal matrix. The matrix is circular with a broken faceted handle on the reverse. The design is of a lamb with flag. The surrounding legend reads *--SVNVLEGEL, which could be read as [....]SV NV LE GEL, or the ending could be LEGE L, as Lege (read) is often a componant of inscriptions. The central design of a lamb with flag is often accompanied by the inscription ECCE AGNUS DEI, although that is not the case with that example. It is 17.19mm in diameter, 8.77mm thick and weighs 4.61 grams

Inscription:	*--SVNVLEGEL
	With thanks to Laura Burnett and David Williams for their interpretation of the legend.

15th Oct 2009 Reid's mint Roman silver - another hoard coin found - more museum recordings and curators report

Thanks to Mark Lehman for the ID of Chicago Reid's mint Roman silver find which required very minimal cleaning. NS Andy found another one of the Roman hoard coins the guys discovered a couple of week ago. I have sent it off to Colchester museum to add to the hoard. I spoke to museum and they will not officially declare it a hoard yet until the British museum have assessed all the coin types to determine if it is a hoard or a scattered loss. For the find to be a hoard they have to be of the same type in the same area of land. I have put Mark's original write up on the 7 first found below the coin as this new one is of the same type. I have reported several more treasures this morning to the museum including a complete 17thC silver Bodkin needle posted below. I have updated the find of the year page with my latest favourites, winner get a free week trip next year voted for by the membership.

I have just received the British Museum's curator's report for Idaho Gene's medieval gold ring find , very interesting, French love token. It will now go forward for a treasure inquest and the museum have shown intention to purchase it.

Treasure Report:   2009 T110                                  JPR/EM                                              
Parish/County:          ‘Tendring District’, Essex

A Medieval finger-ring consisting of a single loop, flattened, with an inscription running along the narrow internal surface. Much of the inscription is illegible, but the remainder appears to read:

TOUT ??E ?E VOUS CE ??UE

The language is French and the disposition of the words characteristic of late medieval love tokens.

The finger-ring is gold and dates from the fifteenth century.

Dimensions: external 22 mm, internal 18 mm.

Consequently, in terms of age and as the object contains a minimum of 10% precious metal it qualifies as Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996.

         
J P Robinson
Curator of Medieval Collections
7th October 2009

Loads more great finds and hammered silver posted to the latest finds page Oct 2009 hunt page.

Updated the hoard and treasure page with the latest finds.

350-353 AD

17.05mm, 2.79g

ESS-0F1F33 Medieval seal matrix

Dates

EARLY MEDIEVAL (Probably) to EARLY MEDIEVAL (Probably), Circa 1200 AD - Circa 1400 AD

Object Type:	Seal Matrix
	Medieval (13th to 14th Century) cast copper alloy vessical seal matrix. The reverse has a central ridge along its length, with an integral loop at its apex. The matrix depicts a central standing figure, with hands clasped in front. The surrounding legend reads + NO HONI MESDONRI:' The matrix has a dark green patina. It is 31.75mm long, 18.22mm wide, 5.1mm thick and weighs 8.32 grams.
	Inscription:	+ NO HONI MESDONRI:'

C17th C Complete silver Bokin needle - reported as treasure to the museum

14th Oct - Another Celtic gold - mint Roman silver

Amazing day of detecting. The guys picked a huge ugly site we have not hunted for several years and I said 'what do you want to go on that sucking site for' ? I made a really good call as they banged in a load of hammered silver, Celtic gold and mint Roman silver. Good job I don't pick the sites to hunt LOL.

NS Andy was on a different site and found another Roman coin of the same type to add to the hoard we have reported last week.

I have loads of finds to catch up with posting and have not photo'd the Roman silver yet.

Loads more great finds and hammered silver posted to the latest finds page Oct 2009 hunt page.

Updated the gold page with the latest finds

The Canadian boys are certainly on fire this trip with Vancouver Brent finding a beauty celtic gold qtr stater. This is the King Of Colchester Cunobelin tribe and I have sent it off to the Celtic Coin Index for recording and confirmation of the type. Brent was the first Canadian to ever hunt here 6 years ago and this is his first ever gold coin find, took him long enough !! Chicago Reid also found the most mint condition Roman silver coin I have ever seen dug here on a sprawling 800 acre site in the middle of no where.

10 to 40 AD Cunobelin Celtic gold qtr stater - sent to CCI for recording

12.41mm, 1.26g

Medieval heraldic shield pendant - yellow and red enamelling remaining - Cal Jim just ID'd the family

Jean de Chalon "le sage" (1190-1267)
Count of Burgundy and Chalon (sur Saône). Count of Auxonne from 1230.
John was the son of Stephen III, Count of Auxonne. He took the name and the coat of arms of Chalon. In 1237, he swapped Auxonne and Chalon with the duke of Burgundy, for the lordship of Salins (and its valuable saltworks).
John married Mahaut, sister of Duke Eudes III of Burgundy, then Isabeau daughter of Robert I of Courtenay and finally Laure of Commercy.
He fought at Toulouse 1211 and Avignon 1226

1633-4 Charles 1st hammered silver shilling - Portcullis mintmark Group D Garnished oval shield with CR at sides

Tower mint under Charles I

1762 George III milled silver 4 pence

Fascinating London hall marked trade weight - Stamped Crown W for 1696 William III and both Crown A for Queen Anne 1704 - Re stamped after William's death

11th Oct 2009 More neat finds, hammered gold and database entries

Canadian Ryan banged in a stonker, Edward III hammered gold 1/4 noble and still in one piece so a simple job for our goldsmith to straighten. I cannot tell the exact type of 1/4 noble until I can see the obverse but it is around 1350 in date, great find

Taco'd Circa 1350 Edward hammered gold 1/4 noble - Cross 3 -Needs straightening to ID exact type from rev shield.

Obv + EDWARD DEI GRA REX ANGL

Rev

18.92mm. 1.9g

This is a sestertius of Hadrian - and a very young portrait style, too - his portrait still resembles Trajan at this point and he's shown with a very long neck and bare chest - probably about 117-120 AD, but without a clue about the reverse I can't be any more specific.

Mark

Very interesting find by Chicago Ron is this Irish Edward IV with distinctive pellets both sides of his neck. These coins were stuck like this with almost no legend so luckily it has the quatrefoils at centre of reverse cross to ID it. Loads more great finds and hammered silver posted to the latest finds page Oct 2009 hunt page.

Updated the gold page with the latest finds

Irish 1473 -1478 Edward IV hammered silver penny - quatrefoils at centre of reverse cross- pellets by neck on obv

Really neat dated button - PHOE N IX Fire Office 1810

Medieval bronze vessica seal matrix - crow impression facing left

ESS-259721 Roman pendant (possibly)

ROMAN (Certain), 40 AD - 400 AD

Object Type:	Pendant (Possibly)
	Roman cast copper alloy artefact, possibly a pendant similar to ESS-6DEAF4. It is rectangular in plan with a square cross section, the width and thickness both taper towards the ends. The surface is worn, however vertical lines are visible on one surface, and there is a trace of a moulded collar at each end. It is 29.83mm long, 6.12mm wide, 5.74mm thick and weighs 3.95 grams.

ESS-257201 Medieval Mount

Dates

MEDIEVAL (Certain), 1200 AD - 1400 AD

Object Type:

mount

Incomplete Medieval (1200-1400) cast copper alloy quatrefoil umbonate mount. One of the four arms is missing, and another is incomplete. The two complete arms are sub-rectangular with a curved terminal and central rivet hole, each containing the remains of an iron rivet. The central section of the mount is pyramidal, with each of the four sides having an openwork circle, The apex of the mount is rounded. The reverse of the mount is hollow. The metal is corroded and it is a patchy brown in colour. It is 27.08mm long, 19.13mm wide, 8.32mm deep and weighs 3.97 grams. It is similar to an example in Read (2001) Metal Artefacts of Antiquity, page 13 no 117 (figure 10 no 117).

MEDIEVAL (Certain), 1200 AD - 1450 AD

Object Type:	Bar Mount
	Medieval cast copper alloy bar mount. The main body is cirulcar with large central openwork hole. There are two projecting arms extending from opposite sides. Each arm has a circular terminal containing an incomplete copper alloy rivet. The arms have a 'D' shaped cross section. The mount has a green-brown patina. It is 24.55mm long, 8.91mm wide, 4.39mm thick and weighs 2.13 grams.

10th Oct 2009 More database entries - Andy pops a little gold

NS Andy is on fire over the last few days and pops a beauty little sucker, George III third of a guinea, great find and just a tiny little scratch on the cheek. Billericay Mark also found a neat George III 1/3 gold guinea forgery, heart attack find.

I have posted a few more of our recorded finds just back from the museum. The national database can be found at finds.org and you use the ESS number to get more information on the find. Chicago Ron has found what looks like an early bronze arrow head but I am not sure as the iron rivet is confusing, it will go off to the museum for further investigation, brilliant find if it is.

Updated the gold page with the latest finds

Loads more great finds and hammered silver posted to the latest finds page Oct 2009 hunt page.

1798 George III milled gold 1/3 guinea

Neat relic - 1804 George III milled gold 1/3 guinea forgery

Bronze arrow head ??

ESS-264A25 Medieval mount

Dates

MEDIEVAL (Certain), 1300 AD - 1550 AD

Object Type:

Mount

Medieval cast copper alloy mount. The main body of the mount is triangular, with a projecting arm extending from its shortest edge. The arm has a broken and incomplete semi-circular terminal. The upper surface of the mount has cast decoration in the form of four chevrons. The reverse has an incomplete integrally cast rivet. There is a small amount of gilding surviving on the upper surface. The mount is green-grey in colour, with red-brown showing through on the breaks. It is 18.38mm long, 11.49mm wide, 3.36mm thick and weighs 1.36 grams.

ESS-EB4138 Medieval annular buckle

MEDIEVAL (Certain), 1400 AD - 1500 AD

Object Type:	Annular Buckle
	Medieval cast copper alloy double loop annular buckle with decorative frame comprised of alternating raised and sunk panels. The strap bar is narrow, and has corrosion around its middle from the now missing pin. The buckle frame is worn and corroded. It has a dark green patina. It is 34.94mm in diameter, 2.49mm thick and weighs 5.87 grams.

ESS-270C74 Roman cosmetic pestle

Object Type:

COSMETIC PESTLE

Late Iron Age to early Roman cast copper alloy cosmetic pestle. Formed of a bar with circular cross section, it tapers in thickness towards both broken terminals. There is an incomplete sub-rectangular projection at the centre of the pestle. It has a dark green patina and the surface is pitted. It is 46.18mm long, 6.86mm wide (across incomplete projection), has a maximum diameter of 5.41mm and weighs 2.81 grams.

9th Oct 2009 More great finds posted

NS Andy is on fire at the moment and found our first Berwick upon Tweed minted medieval silver penny and a beauty Medieval shield pendant of De Clare. Ill Mike found the our first solid silver livery button in really crisp condition.

1333-4 Edward III hammered silver penny - class 3a

Rev VILLA/ABE/REV/ *** - Berwick upon Tweed

Loads more great finds and hammered silver posted to the latest finds page Oct 2009 hunt page.

1243 AD Medieval harness shield pendant of De Clare

'Found more on De Clare-- seems there was a Gilbert "The Red" (red haired) de Clare & son of Richard-- was one of the Earls of Gloucstershire (7th , I think) and had a whole bunch of other lands in 20 counties in Eng and Ireland. Joined the Montfort rebellion against the king. Married a jaon (Johanna) daughter of Edward II Longshanks , she was born in Acre - the site in the holy land where the Crusaders / Templar's lost it all . He was born in 1243'.

1422-61 Henry VI hammered silver halfpenny - Annulet issue - Reverse with annulets in VIL and Cal qtrs - Type A2

Obv +HENRIC x REX :ANGL

Rev VILLA CAL IS - Calais mint

0.39g, 13.43mm

1679 Charles milled silver 3 pence

8th Oct 2009 Stonking finds - museum recordings - 3 more sites - Mindy's award

I have archived half of this news page to speed up load times March 2009 to July 2009

Cal Jim presented Min Mindy with the NS Greg 'most dedicated dectectorist' of the year 2009 award last night at the Barn house. Big congrats to Mindy who is one serious 'hard core' Gal and is out there in all weathers while the guys are running for cover !!

Nice socks !!

I dropped off another dozen treasures to the museum this afternoon and picked up all the items we left for recording and ID. There were several I was really anticipating their experts reports on, Can Bill's Christ medieval seal matrix was top of the list. Their seal expert has managed to decipher the legend as MARTIN LE (or DE) (P)REVOST probably meaning Martin the provost of a religious house. What a great find. I will be posting a bunch more of the recordings and ID's during the week. I also had a meeting this morning with the CLA and we are being offering another 3 new farms for searching. I also got more details of the 500 acre site we were offered last week. During the mid season break I will be visiting these new sites to get the contracts signed.

Meanwhile I am really backed up with finds to post and there has been some stonkers. I took the Medieval head widget that Ill Tim found to the museum this afternoon and apart from agreeing that it is of the medieval period they could not ID the part as of yet. It almost looks like part of a nut cracker and I will be doing more research on it prior to it going to the museum for ID and recording.

The most fascinating find is a Henry II 'Tealby' penny struck on a square silver planchet, great find.

Check out the latest finds page for more finds Oct 2009 hunt page

1158 -1189 AD Henry II hammered silver penny ' Tealby' cross and crosslet type. 16.21mm x 18.23mm, 1.31g

Henry II hoped in 1158 to remedy the situation of poor quality coins by introducing the Cross and Crosslets penny (more commonly known as the Tealby penny, due to a large hoard found there). The name Cross and Crosslets comes from the reverse design of a central cross with smaller crosses in the four angles. The silver standard of this issue was generally very good but the workmanship was truly dreadful. Bad strikes continued and the coins were not particularly aesthetically pleasing, thus in 1180 Henry decided to try a new tactic.

The coinage from the tenth century right up to 1180 had continued to have regular design changes but the whole point of this design rotation was to keep the coinage to a high standard. The problem was this whole approach was simply not working anymore, no matter how many moneyors were being mutilated someone would still find the allure of clipping a coin more enticing than the fear of the consequences. It was believed that the constant design changes were more of a hindrance than a help, because every few years the people would have to familiarize themselves with a new design, thus it was going to take a while for people to notice what to look out for when accepting the new coins. Such things as knowing whether a coin was underweight or clipped etc. The recent struggles between Stephen and Matilda had also emphasized the need for not change but continuity and stability.

Thus in 1180 it was decided to introduce a new coin design of better workmanship, of a more uniform size and even shape (Tealby pennies sometimes came out square!) and more importantly of a design that could stay in circulation indefinitely.

Medieval nut cracker ? 50.39mm L

Medieval seal matrix - ESS-26B3A7

Dates

MEDIEVAL (Certain), 1200 AD - 1400 AD

Object Type:	Seal Matrix
	Medieval (1200-1400) cast copper alloy circular seal matrix with faceted handle on reverse. The handle has six facets and a raised moulded collar before terminating in a pentagonal suspension loop. The matrix has a forward facing halo'd Christ with a cross in the halo. The surrounding legend possibly reads: MARTIN LE (or DE) (P)REVOST probably meaning Martin the provost of a religious house. It has a dark green-brown patina. It is 23.70mm long, 18.57mm in diameter and weighs 9.93 grams.
	Inscription:	MARTIN LE (or DE) (P)REVOST

6th Oct 2009 Latest Saxon ID - Prize draw result - Mindy's gold

Great news is that we finally got some rain, it has rained for two days but the ground is still very dry. However it did not stop Min Mindy banging in a crisp Vicky gold coin in the dry nuggety conditions. Great find and Mindy's 2nd gold coin. I have uploaded a load more hammered silver coins and do dads to the latest finds page.Oct 2009 hunt page. I have bunch more to upload yet.

Updated the gold page with the latest finds

1869 Victorian gold half sovereign

Ark Gary did the honours and picked the name out of the hat for the 'free trip' prize draw. Ill Mike was the first name drawn and wins his free ' Barn' trip next season. Ron did a great video of the whole event and it is posted on the members forum.

Just got got a mail from Martin at the Fizmuseum on the last Æthelred II found. I thought it was type 7 but it turns out to be a type 2. Recorded as EMC 2009.0331 on the Early medieval Corpus database.

Sorry - another normal Crux coin. If you look carefully at the illustations in North you will see that Late Transitional has double drapery at the front of the bust. It also has separated R and X, which is certainly not the case here. The surviving letters on the reverse are probably consistent with an attribution to the Stamford moneyer Godelef.

Regards

Martin

1605 James 1st hammered silver sixpence

1351 Edward hammered silver groat -Pre Treaty period, Series G , mint mark Cross 3 , annulet in 3rd qtr

Obv EDWARD D G REX ANGL Z FRANC D HYB

Rev CIVI/TAS/LON/DON - London mint

3rd Oct 2009 Fame again - more treasures and hoards - great finds

Our 9 treasures that had their inquest on the 23rd Sept made the local papers which I have a copy of and will post later, fame again. I have a meeting next week with the museum to drop off another 8 treasures and a Roman bronze hoard that will go on to the British museum for evaluation. I will also be picking up the last batch of our finds left for recording by the museum onto the national finds.org database.

Can Dave made this beauty George IV full gold sovereign find yesterday going up and own potato rows, stunning coin and Dave's first. Other great finds included several large hammered silver coins including the really crisp Henry VII silver groat by Chicago Reid. It has an interesting legend of a half groat and no9t in the reference books.

Updated the hoard and treasure page with the latest finds.

I have created a new finds page to speed up loading times Oct 2009 hunt page

1824 George IV milled gold full sovereign

Henry VII groat and half groat size comparison- 4 pence and 2 pence
1508 Henry VII hammered silver half groat - Archbishop Bainbridge - cross keys below shield - Marlett mintmark - York mint 19.93mm, 1.38g	1504 Henry VII hammered silver groat - Crosslet mint mark - Tentative issue - Double band to crown Obv HENRIC VII DI GRA REX AGL Z F Interesting Obv legend not in JJ North with AGL instead of ANGL - It matches half groat legend of the period 2.90g, 26.41mm

More news pages

July 2009 to Oct 2009

March 2009 to July 2009

Feb 2009 to March 2009

Nov 2008 to Feb 2009

Sept 2008 to Nov 2008

Brad's gold medieval gold statue

June 2008 to Sept 2008

March 2008 to June 2008

Oct 2007 to March2008

Sept 1st 2007 to Oct 2007

English Saxon gold coin found

NEWS June 2007 to Sept 2007

NEWS March 2007 to June2007

Double Cunobelin Celtic gold

NEWS March 2007 to April2007

Chicago Reid's Roman gold ring

NS Andy's Saxon strap end

NEWS Nov 2006 to March 2007

NEWS Sept 2006 to Nov 2006

Medieval Iconic gold ring find

NEWS May 2006 to Sept 2006

First Celtic gold of the season

NEWS March to May 2006

Celtic Woad cosmetic grinder and Jeff Roman Pecker find

NEWS Oct 2005 to March 2006

Viking silver strap end- Rare Roman silver coin finds

NEWS Sept 2005 to Oct 2005

Great Saxon silver finds Offa Rex - Coenwulf - Hammered gold

NEWS March 2005 toSept 2005

Villa Dig - Roman gold - Celtic gold hoard found

NEWS Sept 2004 to March 2005

Can Majos and Mass Bills gold rings - Texas Dave's hammered gold

NEWS March 2004 to Sept 2004

Roman gold coin - Mass Bruce's axe hoard

NEWS Jan 2004 to March 2004

2000BC Axe - Boston Buds Saxon gold

More Archived News Pre 2004

michelle@colchestertreasurehunting.co.uk