Metal detecting holidays in England with the World's most successful metal detecting club.
Twinned with Midwest Historical Research Society USA
Sept 2011 to Jan 2012 Latest news archive |
||||||||||||
12th Jan 2012 More exports and reported treasures - fixed coins ready Still busy finishing off the export licenses and updating the site pages. All the latest fixed hammered gold and silver coin are ready for pick up and I will be posting the before and after pictures tomorrow. I have also been updating the forum competition button total as I process the guys export pouches. Current total is 7219 'Rusty bucket'? Rare Roman helmet found in Britain LONDON — A rare Roman cavalry helmet dating from Emperor Claudius' invasion of Britain nearly 2,000 years ago was unveiled on Tuesday after painstaking restoration lasting nearly a decade.
Stunning Roman helmet
Just found this in a guy’s export pouch I am preparing. It was black and caked in mud but I gave it a quick wipe to discover it is silver underneath and I reported it as treasure. It has a lion’s head inscription. I am not exactly certain but is a medieval clasp of some description. I contacted the finder who has given me the find spot and date and the British museum have already issued a treasure number. The Treasure number issued for this case is 2012 T21. There have been some more great bonus finds in the pouches including this early King John short cross penny below.
More neat bonus finds out of the export pouches, Georgian miniature domino and 1199 King John hammered silver short cross penny - Class 4c
As dug and partially cooked pics of 2nd C Roman silver I had to get a provisional ID for the export licenses application from Mark Lehman on Miss Jeff's silver Roman that has been cooking since Oct. The black crust is mega hard and it will take a lot more work to reveal what appears to be a mint Roman silver underneath. Mark's ID is below. This is a denarius of Marcus Aurelius, 166 AD, and aside from some minor considerations (for example, I'd like to see if there is anything in the exergue on the reverse - it might or might not be inscribed: "PAX" - and that would make a difference) I can pretty well tell what's likely to be under the crud on the obverse. It appears to be in a pretty nice state of preservation (if what's under the crud is as nice as what's been exposed). Mark
Updated all the individual pages below with finds from the 1st half of the season
|
||||||||||||
9th Jan 2012 More exports and approved licenses - disclaimed treasures- Forum comp total passes 7000 - new gear arrives
That was quick as I got a huge batch of approved export licenses in the post this morning. I though with the Christmas break it would take a while longer yet. I have posted the list on the members forum and you can decide if you want them shipped or picked up on your next trip. Still got another dozen or so export applications to compile yet before the start of the season on the 1st Feb. I have posted a bunch more to the members forum and updated the Forum comp page with the latest button count. It is amazing that we have dug 7000 + so far with a final total probably close to 8000 for the half season. I just completed Kansas Barry and Teresa's export pouches and they dug 300 buttons just between them. I expect the final total for the season to be between 15 to 20 thousand which is lot of holes to dig !! Amazing that we all thought initially some of the members guess were crazy high but the new land for Feb could produce 15,000 on it's own. Fascinating competition this season. Check you current guesses on the competition page - current total 7037
Lots of new kit arrived or on order for the start of the season I just took delivery of 30 smart new coffee mugs today + 30 tumblers and a dozen spoons for lunchtime Barn teams to use . I still have 2 dozen of the old ones but some are starting to get tatty and we can keep those as spares to cover any breakages. We now have 3 sets of those 5ltr stainless steel push button top hot water thermos's for all day coffee and tea out in the field for each Barn team and full board. The additional 2.5 litre one can be used for hot soup or milk. I also ordered up another new set of the brilliant Thermos cooler chests we use, I got another 30 litre one for fizzy drinks and the 13 litre ones for hot meals in the field. I ordered up another load of ice packs for the drink as several leaked last season. Min Mindy has started a trend at the Barn house with her tasty slow cooker meals, roast beef, chicken and tasty thick soups. She currently uses a cheapy 4ltr version she bought so I have ordered up 3 of the bigger 6ltr state of the art jobbies with digital timer and keep warm features. The Barn teams now can hunt even later with no worries about the food spoiling. Several of the Barn leaders want to use as they are just so easy to use and food is ready when they get home early or late. I have also ordered up another touch screen Garmin nuvi Sat Nav for Barn teams to use. I bought this model last season to trial and it is brilliant and a lot easier to use than our existing push button Garmin units.
15thC medieval gold ring 4.00g, 22.11mm
I have received several more letters from the British Museum disclaiming more of the guys treasures including another one of NS Andy's finds. Andy has already got back the medieval twisted gold ring, Medieval Sapphire and gold bezel and now his decorated flow and banded medieval ring. The curator report put the ring at 15thC which is 100 years earlier than I first thought at Tudor. Treasure Report: 2011/T255 A medieval finger-ring with a D-sectioned hoop. The outside of the hoop has cabled decoration which alternates with bands of beading enclosing areas engraved with flowers. The ring would originally have been enamelled, but no traces of enamel remain. It is distorted and has evidence of much wear. The finger-ring is gold and dates from the fifteenth century. Dimensions: length 22 mm, width 18 mm.
|
||||||||||||
4th Jan 2012 More exports and finds - More land ?- Ron's article on the Treasure Act & exporting
1857 Bank of Upper Canada one pence bank token
1340 Edward III hammered silver penny - Canterbury mint Under a month now to the kick off to the start of the 2nd half of the season and I am still beavering away with export applications. I found 4 more silver treasures in the guys pouches while revisiting every piece dug. I have reported them to Colchester museum and have arranged to drop of them off next week. Among Can Drew's pile of copper coins in his export pouch I was amazed to see a huge token with a design I had never seen before. Quick clean up revealed a beauty 1857 Bank Token from Canada !! It is amazing when you revisit every piece of metal in guys pouch there is often a thick brown coin that a guy did not realise was a hammered silver like the Edward III above. I am still waiting to hear if we have secured another large plot of land for the 1st Feb. One of our landowner has relatives who have a further 3000 acres of land who might be interesting in allowing us to search it. The existing landowner has already added 5 new fields to his 66 field site for the 1st Feb kick off so we still have 300 + fields ready for the start of the 2nd half of the season. Every guy hunting here gets their own a personal A4 map to carry around showing all the fields they can hunt in a numbered grid. I wanted to get some more laminated copies of these maps made up but will have to wait until we get the feedback from the landowner. Chicago Ron is featured in this months Gold Prospectors magazine and he ensured that the author included all the relevant information on the Treasure Act and correct exporting criteria while detecting in England. Ron has been a senior member her for 7 years and has had numerous treasures go through this Act and has part of a Celtic gold coin hoard displayed at Colchester museum. Check out Ron's England detecting videos on his U Tube site . Includes all his UK & USA gold finds Uploaded more export find lists and pictures to the members forum. I have also been updating the forum competition button total as I process the guys export pouches. Current total is 6585
|
||||||||||||
30th Dec 2012 More site updates and exports
Germany Bremen Stadt 1 Groten 1751 silver coin
Uploaded more export find lists and pictures to the members forum. Boston Beau had a great bonus German silver in his pouch I cleaned up and ID's as the legend was so clean and a perfect date. I have updated a load more individual pages below with finds from the first half of the season. It was great first half of the season for milled silver and only our 3rd foreign milled gold coin. I have also been updating the forum competition button total as I process the guys export pouches. Current total is 6456
|
||||||||||||
27th Dec 2012 More updates, exports and holiday snaps Nice to get a short break over Christmas but I have so much to catch up on before the 1st Feb kick off so I have to press ahead. I have updated a load more individual pages with finds from the first half of the season. Most of the pages are getting too big and want splitting into other sub categories. The first half of the season produced a load of milled silver 'firsts' for the club, 2 Charles II shillings, Mary four pence and a stunning Queen Anne penny. I have added Kansas Barry's 211 BC Roman silver coin to the top of the Romano/British ancient silver coin page as this is the oldest ever coin found in Britain. New additions are added to the bottom of the page.
Senior members Wash Tom (middle), Jake and Min Mindy
Wash Tom just sent me the snaps of their detecting trip to the Bahamas on the beaches. Both Mindy and Tom found neat gold rings and loads of clad coinage , but what stunning place to hunt. All 3 guys are back again in the 2nd half of the season and it ain't gonna be as warm and sunny in Feb !! More export find lists and photo's posted to members forum.
|
||||||||||||
24th Dec 2011 Hoard reports -more treasure updates and disclaims - bonus export finds
A man from Preston has found a rare medieval badge while testing out his new metal detector.
The collection of more than 200 coins and pieces of jewelry was found in September close to Silverdale by Darren Webster, 39.
13thC silver annular brooch I have just received notification from the British Museum of more disclaimed treasure including WA Jim's silver annular brooch and Boris's medieval gold ring. The curator's report dates this find as late 12thC and it is in mint undamaged condition. These finds are physically at the British museum in London so it takes a couple of months for them to be returned to the finder. I have just applied for the export license for this find. I posted a list below of the latest disclaim treasure numbers and updated the Hoard and Treasure page.
George III 1/3 guinea gold coin weight
Medieval dagger quillion -A Medieval cast copper alloy dagger guard or quillion probably dating from 1200 - 1300 AD. 71.03mm L
More find lists and export pictures uploaded to the members forum. Lots of bonus bit and bobs in the pouches including this really neat George III coin weight and Ont Jim found an exact match of his hammer looking find on the PAS database and it is an early dagger quillion. PAS ref and link SWYOR-C960B2 I have been updating the forum competition button total as I process the guys export pouches. Current total is 6383
Late 12thC gold finger ring
Treasure case 2011 T212 - Silver hawking bell - Ill Mark - disclaimed Treasure case 2011 T505 - 14thC Medieval gold mount - Ill Mark - disclaimed Treasure case 2011 T88 - 12thC Medieval gold finger ring with green stone- Can Boris - disclaimed Treasure case 2011 T206 - 17thC silver bodkin needle - Tenn Brad - disclaimed Treasure case 2011 T214 - 16thC silver gilt dress hook- Can Dan- disclaimed Treasure case 2011 T244 - 12thC medieval silver pin - Gene Z- disclaimed
Treasure case 2011 T253 - 16thC silver dress fitting - James - disclaimed
Treasure case 2011 T254 - 13thC Sapphire in gold setting - NS Andy - disclaimed
A couple of X Barn members who have eating allergies and don't want to hunt long hours are trialing a new hotel for the club. They will have their own car so after I drop them off to the fields they can leave when they like. They both wanted double rooms so they can get a good nights sleep. I have asked the guys to give me full and honest feedback on their stay and if it checks out we can use it for the club. This modern hotel and leisure club, located to the south of Colchester, is the premier hotel in north Essex.
|
||||||||||||
21st Dec 2011 More exports -more page updates Loads more export find lists and pictures posted to members forum. I have also updated a load more of the individual find pages below with finds in these categories from the 1st half of the season. A complete list of individual finds pages by type can be found on the Index page
|
||||||||||||
18th Dec 2011 More exports - new shelter for the field - page updates - Ron's latest pound of gold video Chicago Ron has just posted his latest end of the year video with Ill Mark and they found 16oz of gold each, amazing to watch then fondle their piles of silver and gold finds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLjROsRaEgY
A couple of years ago I bought a 'supposedly' quick pop up shelter to leave out in the field for guys. It was very well made but too complicated and took ages to put up and take down and blew away too easily. It is now sitting in the garage unused. I have been surfing the net looking for another 2 minute shelter as we already have the portable fire and cooker I bought to leave in the tent for guys to keep toasty and make hot soup.
I am still busy banging away preparing export license applications and posting full find lists and photo's to members forum. I have reported three more potential Treasures to the museum that I cleaned up, Atl Mike's possible 17thC decorated open topped silver thimble above, a cast decorated silver hanger and a 17thC Charles 1st silver button. Mike also had an early copper plate that was caked in mud. After I soaked it for a couple of days in distilled water multi coloured enamel showed through and with the two mounting points reminds me of Roman scale armour. I will be dropping it off to the museum at my next meeting so their experts can take a look. I have started updating a load of individual find pages on our site with the finds so far this season. I have a ton of updates to complete yet. I have also been updating the forum competition button total as I process the guys export pouches. Current total is 6200
|
||||||||||||
9th Dec 2011 Disclaimed treasures, donations and more exports - radio licence approved
I finally got through our Ofcom radio licence yesterday for the club and we now have 20 top of the range professional Motorola Mototrbo Digital DP3600 devices. These give crystal clear digital reception with the ability to call other individual users on the system or do a general broad cast. We will be using these on our new 4.5 sq plot from Feb 1st. Features
More export find lists and picture sheets have been posted to the members forum and a new category has been requested by the members so that the voting for the 'pouch of the year' at the end of the season is easier. The best pouches will be uploaded to this new topic so guys can review the 'best of the bunch' at the end of the season before they vote for their favourite.
Stunning 1704 Queen Anne commemorative silver cuff links
3 ancient gold ingots I dropped off the last of the reported treasures to the museum yesterday and picked up several more disclaimed items such as Col Bruce's excellent gold inscribed ring below. Unless the museum experts can prove that the find is below the Treasure Act threshold of 300 years old then it cannot go forward for inquest. This ring probably dates around the 1770's by the style of the script. This find is therefore returned to the finder and can be taken home once an export license is approved. I also picked up 3 disclaimed gold ingots as again they are undatable unless an expensive non destructive test is carried out. These were found in close proximity to our Saxon gold coin hoard so they could be of the same period . They are now going off as a group to a Saxon expert to evaluate them further as they match the gold ingots found at the famous Sutton Hoo hoard site. Org Mary's stunning Queen Anne cuff links have also been disclaimed as the date for queen Anne (1702 -1714) straddles the Treasure Act cut of date of 1711. The museum were very interested in acquiring these finds as none of this type have ever been found before. Both the finder and landowner have generously donated this find to the Colchester museum. Wash Tom has also donated a very early medieval animal headed spout to the museum which I dropped off yesterday. I have been updating the forum competition button total as I process the guys export pouches. Current total is 5977 Updated the Hoard and treasure page with the latest information on their status
An italicized long s used in the word "Congress" in the United States Bill of Rights 17th/18thC gold ring - inscription uses old style long S as a normal S - Maker Rh - no hallmarks 4.41g, 19.66mm Inscription reads 'CONTENT IS A TREASURE'
|
||||||||||||
1st Dec 2011 Exporting in full flight - finds fixing
2 gold nobles, Portuguese milled gold and a 1/4 noble for fixing
Bruce's disclaimed treasure for fixing
I have been busy this week preparing the export licence applications and posting full find lists and photo's onto the members forum. This is always an interesting time of the season as guys get to see exactly what the clubs expert hunters can achieve in a week. Chicago Ron's pouch had 12 pages of finds to process and most of them are captured on video as he dug them below. I have also been getting a pouch ready to take to our gold smith for him to work his magic again. I have several tricky finds fro him to try and repair like Col Bruce's disclaimed silver ring and a Gold Nobel a guy sent me that had a horrible straightening job done on it with 2 large creases. I am giving it to our goldsmith to see if he can make the botched job any better. I have a whole bunch of bent hammered silver to take along as well.
The export process is very exacting and every metal object over 50 years old must be photographed and submitted to export duty with a detailed finds list. That includes every musket ball and copper coin. Export duty submit the papers to an expert 'advisor' who ensures no finds listed are of National Importance and require a hearing to allow them to be exported. Reported treasure finds are not included in a guys export application as they have to go through the Treasure process first to see if they are acquired by a museum or disclaimed. If you are coming to England metal detecting is is illegal to take any find over 50 years old of the country and if caught you face a huge fine and up to 8 years imprisonment. Check out the Export page on this site for more info Note Export duty has moved from MLA to Arts Council and new address and phone numbers apply. From Monday 3rd October 2011 please send all export licence applications to:
I have been updating the forum competition button total as I process the guys export pouches. Current total is 5822
1. 1641-3 Charles 1st hammered silver shilling - Triangle in circle mintmark Tower mint under Charles 1st
1. Worn hammered silver coin with Apothecary weight emblem
1.1490-1550 Nuremberg Ship penny jetton
|
||||||||||||
22nd Nov 2011 Stonking 'cooked' Saxon silver and cooking Roman silvers update I still have a bunch of finds from last week to post to the latest finds page but I have been doing serious 'cooking' over the weekend and it is amazing how different soil conditions effect the hardness of the horn silver crust that grows on ancient silver coins. One of the Roman silver coins has been 'cooking' for over a year now. The Saxon sceat coin is 500 to 700 years 'younger' than the Roman silvers so the crust although very hard 'cooks' off a lot quicker and the detail on the coin below is stunning. It is the first series of that type we have found with a crowned bust facing right. If you find any Saxon coins in the UK then you can send them to Dr Martin Allen who runs the National early medieval corpus database and he will record the findspot, issue you a unique EMC reference number and send you back a full ID. I have the 3 large Saxon reference volumes on Saxon coins but there are just so many types that it is far better sending it off to the expert for their opinion. Check out the Saxon coin page for examples of the ID's and EMC numbers issued to members coins. Martin has recorded it and send back it's type and EMC number below. I still have 7 members Roman silver coins in various stages of 'cooking' and it takes just patience to let the crust slowly melt away. Mass Mike's- 1/2 found Nov 2010 is showing detail and 90% done
As dug
'Cooked' 1.08g,11.96mm Saxon silver sceat - Circa 600-775 AD - cooking it to remove crust - sent to the Fitzwilliam museum for recording on the Early medieval Corpus database and ID The new find (EMC 2011.0261) is an interesting example of an imitation of Series C (note the unusual style of the portrait and the pellets around the head). Martin
Jeff's crispy Roman starting to show more detail
Wendell's Latest BC Roman pictures - back in to the cooker
Sal's Cooked half a silver Roman - sent off for ID to Mark Lehman - Britannia on reverse
Mindy's 'Cooking' half a silver Roman - sent off for ID to Mark Lehman - interesting reverse
Mass Mike's year old 'Cooking' half a silver Roman - even more 'cooking' to do yet
|
||||||||||||
19th Nov 2011 Saxon and Roman silver to end the first half of the season
1743 George II milled silver penny and size comparison with an Elizabeth 1st shilling
1560-1 Elizabeth 1st hammered silver shilling - Martlett mint mark Sal's team has a brilliant end to their hunt and to close the first half of the season. Louisiana Mike got the little and large of silvers with a crisp Elizabeth shilling and a George II tiny milled penny. Sal got three really neat Roman finds including a very crispy Roman silver. However the best find was a Saxon silver sceat with great detail under the crust. I have put it straight into the 'cooker' to remove the crust and then send it off to the Fitzwilliam museum for recording. I have tons more finds to post to the latest finds page yet. I will start preparing the export application paperwork shortly and will then update the competition page as I count the buttons. All of Sal's team are taking their buttons home so I have no update this week to do on the forum comp page. During the half season break I will time to approach the 9 new land owners who have shown interest in us searching their land. Hopefully some of these new guys will be on board and we can start using their land when we kick off in the 2nd half of the season on the 1st Feb.
Saxon silver sceat - Circa 600-775 AD - cooking it to remove crust
Huge 4thC Roman cruciform brooch
Roman decorated dagger pommel
|
||||||||||||
17th Nov 2011 More hams and widgets - Barn feed back - Ron's latest video
I have been busy posting out more export pouches and getting finds ready for my next museum meeting to hand in treasures. Meanwhile Sal's team have been finding the usual hammered silver and great widgets and I have posted a bunch to the latest finds page.
Solid silver - Royal Navy artillery badge The Royal Naval Artillery Reserve or Volunteers as they were initially known, were established in 1873 and were recruited from either keen amateur sailors or those who were in the merchant service.
16th C lead ampullae - no handles or decoration type
Expert's feedback on the Celtic gold find by Mike is it unknown so far. I have also checked all the Indian ‘fanams’ tiny gold coins from the 15thC to see if any match without success. The star symbol in the centre of the coin is a classic Celtic symbol and the 'fanams' are all all dots and they used a lot better quality gold. The first Barn feed back forms worked well with an excellent rating by the guys for Mindy's Barn hunt. Food, land, accommodation all scored 10/10. Comments made about the poor intermittent Wifi service and a larger fridge required have been taken on board by the owner.
Chicago Ron has just posted his latest video's on U- Tube Mark and I have been hunting this beach for 3 weeks, there were lots of other hunters there over that 3 week period. Some got goodies others went away disgusted. We had 22 foot waves a month ago and it removed lots of sand. There is very heavy iron all over this beach.
Roman decorated pot shard
|
||||||||||||
13th Nov 2011 Mike kicks off with a Celtic gold ?? and 11,000 BC spear head - More land Sal's hard core 'Barn' team arrived safely lunchtime and picked one of our old ancient sites. They were going to finish early at 8pm to do the food shopping and I get a phone call at 7.30 pm from Sal as Louisiana Mike has found a Celtic looking gold coin. I shot over to the site and was amazed at this tiny little coin as it the smallest gold coin I have ever seen dug. I initially thought is could be Saxon as the size matches a silver sceat. However having played with it and going through the Hobbs ref book there are Celtic gold 1/4 staters that match this weight and size. It is possible that this is an unrecorded type as I cannot match it so far. I have sent pictures and dimensions off to one of the leading Celtic coin experts for his views. Mike had a blinding afternoons hunt eyeballing an 11,000 BC Stone Age axe head and a real nice medieval hammered silver farthing. Great start to the last hunt before the 1/2 season break. One of our local farmers has also given me the names of 3 additional new farmers that might be very interested in us searching their land. I now have a list of 9 potential new plots to research before the opening of the 2nd half of the season.
The smallest ancient gold coin I have ever seen dug - Size of a Saxon sceat with Celtic gold type markings - checking the ref books as I have never seen a gold like this before. 0.42g, 7.85mm
11000 BC Stone Age axe
|
||||||||||||
10th Nov 2011 Kick off again in 2 days - Hoard video - 6 more new sites - 10% recession busting price drop for next season Sal's hard core 'Barn' boys arrive on Sat so just a couple more days to the kick off for the last hunt before the half season break. Posted more widgets and silver to the latest finds page. A club up in the north of England dug an amazing silver Roman hoard and they captured it on video. Unfortunately they got a bit carried away and excavated the find themselves. In the case of any find below the plough line the best practise is to call out the local museum and get them to excavate it carefully. One of our guys made the same mistake with an Axe hoard he found 8 years ago which was excavated before I came out to the field. All the members now know that if they discover any find below the plough line they stop immediately and we inform the museum to come out to the field. Here is a list of all the Find Liaison Officers who you should contact if you are lucky enough to find a hoard and their telephone numbers. http://finds.org.uk/contacts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQL3K...ure=digest_sun I have counted the last bucket of scrap buttons from Mindy's barn hunt and added them to the forum total which now stands at 5614. Remember this is only buttons guys are chucking away and does not include those they have in their pouch for exporting. Amazingly while I was counting the buttons there were 6 real nice buttons guys missed including:
C.McRald family button Royal Navy Lieutenant - 1748 Very interesting looking early button with bust - possible charity button Unrecorded 5th dragoon guards button MN - G & J Burns Ltd In use 1842 - 1922
I will give them away as a prize to the guy that digs the most interesting button during the season.
I have updated this years find of the year page with some of my favourite finds so far this season. 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 honour shield ! I have been given a list of half a dozen new farmers names by one of our existing land owners that might be interested in us searching their land in the 2nd half of the season. Currently we have 300 + fields and if we take on yet more land as a club we need more bodies out there to do it justice and pay the farmers. Currently the recession is biting hard out there so I have taken 10 % off all prices of next years tours to enable more guys to afford to come. We are already $600 cheaper per week than any other UK detecting tour with up to twice as many detecting hours so this price drop will make us the even more unbeatable value. The new land on offer is around one of our Barn self catering accommodations so just a walk up the road. It is a very well known Celtic, Roman and medieval area. Louisiana Sal's hard core Barn boys arrive on Sat and it is the last hunt of the 1/2 season, once they have gone I will start seeing the new farmers and will keep you posted on the progress. Idaho Orv has done an amazing final cleaning job on his debased green Roman silver he dug in March which was exported to him. I gave it the basic 'cooking' to remove the green crud so Mark could ID it but Orv gave it the final attention to fully reveal the bust so I have sent it back again to Mark for an update.
As dug and then 'cooked'
Final cleaning - Aurelian (270-275) Not too much for me to go on - What I can say with certainty is that i'ts an antoninianus, and silvered antoniniani date to the period between 265-290 AD.
I suspect, although/because the portrait doesn't look much like him, that this is an early issue by Aurelian (270-275) - He instituted a reform in the coinage which made the coins larger and generally of better workmanship with better silvering.
All I can make of the reverse type, by placing the long line at the bottom as a "ground-line" is that the "V" shaped object at the left on the ground looks like a bent-over captive on which Aurelian might be stepping. IF that's what it is, then this would be likely to be one of the myriad of varieties of the ORIENS AVG type showing Sol right or left, standing or walking, with 3, 2, 1 or no captives, etc.
Here's an ORIENS AVG with a somewhat similar reverse to what I think I'm seeing on this coin.
also:
Mark
|
||||||||||||
6th Nov 2011 Stonking 11,000 BC axe head find - Mark's export approved - last day of hunts Created a new 2011Nov finds page to speed up load times, halved the Oct finds page size . Uploaded a ton of great finds to it today. It's Mindy's Barn team's last day of hunting and they have decided to finish early to go back to the Barn to clean up and pack up. Some of the guys will continue to hit the land available around the accommodation but Mindy has to get the mini bus ready to hand back in. I have not counted their scrap button bucket this week yet and will add it to the forum comp total tonight, forum comp page I will have a few days break before Sal's hard core Barn boys arrive next Saturday. These are serious hard core hunters and will be out there from 7am to 10 pm every day with night lights.
Amazing huge 11,000 Stone Age flint axe head - this is beautifully crafted with a thumb slot for easy holding
Medieval barrel lock
The guys had another great day with more hams and widgets yesterday but the find of the trip has to be Mindy eyeballs a huge stonking 11,000 BC flint axe head. Great news for Ill Mark as his export license for his Roman gold find arrived approved yesterday. This find will be available to view shortly on the PAS database as the find spot and details were recorded with the museum. Remember NO find over 50 years old can leave England without an approved export license and you are risking a prison sentence and a large fine if caught smuggling. Exporting has now moved from the MLA to under the umbrella of the Arts Council so check out their new website http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/ Posted a load more silver and relics to the latest finds page
Claudius (41-54 AD) Roman gold coin 19.6mm, 7.81g |
||||||||||||
5th Nov 2011 Can Bill finds another monster Celtic gold & vid- Ron's new England detecting video
45 BC Addedomaros Celtic gold full stater 5.45g, 17.21mm Obv cross of 3 plain & 2 pellet lines with 2 opposed crescents b in centre Rev horse r ., above pellet in ring, pellet in wheel below Fl Rob was out there with his camera and vid'd Bill after he found the gold in the field http://www.colchestertreasurehunting...finds/bill.mp4
It is amazing that after the driest Sept and Oct on record and the ground like hard nuggets finally the last week we have had some decent rain. In fact the ground conditions are near perfect now as it has good moisture and compression. The fields are effectively like new now as we can get twice the depth on targets with no air pockets. Can Bill choose to go back to a site that was very tough digging at the beginning of the week but it borders a new Romano/Celtic village the guys discovered this year. Bill has been coming here twice a year for 6 years and never found a gold coin in 20 years of detecting. Bill is a serious hunter from dawn to dusk and has been here when loads of other guys have popped gold around him. Bill has already made some amazing finds over the years but a gold coin has always eluded him. The phone rang yesterday at 9.30am and Bill is on his cellphone in the middle of a field and he has finally popped the ultimate prize, a full Celtic gold stater. It is Addedomaros type, grandfather of the King of Colchester and has an Obv with the first double B type we have ever found. Great find !! Fl Ralph also found a very interesting relic that looks like a debased gold decorated bead. Updated this years gold finds page
Very interesting Iron age bead with crude decoration on the front - this also has a gold content - perhaps made from a low grade nugget - reported to museum as potential treasure
The scrolled G's indicate possible Saxon gold ring Chicago Ron has put together a huge video of his teams hunt in Oct 2011 and he has captured most of the teams finds as they were dug. Brilliant fun to watch Ron's video link
Posted a load more silver and relics to the latest finds page
|
||||||||||||
31st Oct 2011 Cal Gail finds a monster Celtic gold The new land the guys just starting hunting did not produce a huge amount of finds but they liked the land for the sheer number of targets. Only one hammered silver found, medieval long cross, some early milled, Willy IIII, George III and Victoria, a couple of grotty Romans, usual buttons and greenies but nothing to write home about. Bill did get a very crisp early 1340's Shield of France jetton. Then Cal Gail changes the scene completely with a stonking 1/4 Celtic gold find with a design I had never seen before. I just checked my Hobbs ref books and it is our first ever 'P' type early gold, very striking design. I am still working my way through posting out export pouches and will posting more silver and widgets to the latest find page tomorrow.
50 BC Canti - 1/4 Celtic gold coin -2.06g, 10.43mm - - Uninscribed 'P' gold -'Trophy' type VA147 Cantiaci / Cantii This Celtic tribe occupied the south-eastern corner of Britain, probably from the second century BC. Its territory traditionally comprised Kent, eastern Surrey, East Sussex and London south of the Thames. The Cantiaci, or Cantii, were bordered across the Thames by the Catuvellauni and the Trinovantes, although the former may only have expanded to the Thames between 54-30 BC. It is unclear who controlled the north bank of the Thames before that - perhaps a minor tribe that was later absorbed by the Catuvellauni. To the west were the various peoples that made up the Atrebates, including the Regninses. Like many of their neighbours in the south-east, the Cantii were Belgic people from the North Sea or Baltics, part of the third wave of Celtic settlers in Britain. They formed a recognisable territory which may not have been a single unified kingdom until the start of the first century AD, but which instead appears to have been several smaller kingdoms which operated as a confederation in times of trouble. The four individuals who flourished around 55 BC may have been rulers of each of the Cantii kingdoms, perhaps operating together under the authority of Cassivellaunus of the Catuvellauni. Certainly Julius Caesar recorded the Cantii as having four leaders who were kings in their own right. The Cantii at this time were strongly influenced by their Belgic neighbours, the Atrebates, who were more recent arrivals in the country. Their customs were also much the same as the Celts of Gaul, and they were wont to die their skins with blue woad which made them look more terrifying in battle. This custom died out south of the Antonine Wall following the Roman Conquest. That conquest may have caused some of the Cantii to flee northwards where a tribe called the Decantae was noted, just once, by the Romans in Pictland around AD 140.
|
||||||||||||
30th Oct 2011 Hunts kick off again - Hunt format reminder - more new land and gold found
9 carat gold - .25 carat diamond ring - 1.51g Continental and English hall marks - HG Ltd It was great to have a weeks break between the hunts to get export pouches posted out and some more weighed at the PO. Most guys now pick up their pouch on their next trip or get a member to take them home safely on the plane. Very little progress has been made on the Roman silvers currently 'cooking' as the crust is just so thick. The trick is to take them out, toothpick, change the mixture and cook them some more.
As Dug and partially cooked silver Roman silver - just sent off to Mark Lehman for a provisional ID I have also been liaising with one of our existing farmers who has secured us more land to hunt near his Self Catering Barn from a farmer friend. The land has never been hunted and Mindy's team that arrive yesterday will be trying it out this week. Florida Rob has already banged in the first piece of gold of the hunt a really neat diamond ring that is really curious as it has both Continental and English hallmarks on it for 9 carat gold, London mark. I cannot see a date letter so it appears to be a 20thC example Uploaded more silver and widgets from last week to the latest finds page.
I still get enquires from guys that have been on other UK tours and think this is your typical 'sheepherder' type tour where you are herded to a single 'magic' field for a day. They give you no choice so I have just posted a reminder on the members forum for any newbies on how our club runs its hunts. Senior members know they do their own thing and have favourite spots where they found good stuff from previous hunts. Just to clarify how we hunt here to anyone booked for their first trip. There is a detailed page of Hunt format you can read You pick a 'site' not a field to hunt- i.e. if the farmer has 13 fields you can run around all 13 in a morning session if you are fast enough - Ontario Denny always tries !!
Ontario Dave has posted some mazing cleaning work he has done on his finds exported from March Spring finds get final cleaning and conservation.
'The dragon chape surprised me after some time under the microscope. Seems the back fin has holes and fin rays that were hidden under the hard clay and crust. I've spent a lot of time looking for something similar on the net with now luck. I love this piece'.
2ndC Roman enamelled fibular broocn 'After some cleaning the brooch revealed some nice detail. I can now see where the pin attached and there are still some original surfaces on the back'.
|
||||||||||||
25th Oct 2011 Back at full speed - Treasure case updates - Cooked Romans
1.25g, 9.84mm dia Treasure Case No: 2010 T169. Saxon gold cloisonné fitting from Colchester area , Essex Ill Mark stunning Saxon gold find was officially declared treasure at the Coroners inquest held in Chelmsford last week and will now move onto the valuation committee stage of the treasure process. Amazingly rare find.
Excellent find - Cannon ball 15oz ( approx 1 pound, 1.9 inches dia) - Used from 1642 -45
Great to have my internet connection finally back at full speed. I have been busy catching up with paperwork until the new team arrives this Sat. The British Museum has issued treasure case numbers for most of the latest discoveries we reported and I have posted the details below. I have received e-mails disclaiming several of the 17thC Charles II silver 'hearts and flames' type buttons we reported, these will be returned to the guys. The new 'cooker' I invested in is working a treat and I have managed to finish Ont Jim's neat elephant Roman silver, very neat coin. I have been 'tooth picking' the rest of the Roman silvers that are in the cooker but it is slow going as the 'crust' on several of them is still an 1/8 inch thick. I am still catching up on photographing last week finds and Kansas found a stonking early English civil war 1 pounder cannon ball in great shape. These light weight guns were used to cover the gaps between infantry units and were very portable on the battlefield. It is small in size suggesting it could have been used in a Rabinet, the smallest of the English Standard Sizes of cannon.
This picture shows just how thick the 'crust' can be on a 2000 year old Roman silver
As dug and 'cooked' SILVER Denarius - 49 to 44 BC, that's a Julius Caesar elephant denarius. The elephant is walking right trampling either a serpent (not too likely, but possible) or a Celtic Carnyx - a war trumpet in the shape of a serpent or dragon - in the generous exergue below, you have CAESAR in large, clear letters no one could mistake. The reverse is an assortment of priestly implements - the exact order and assortment may vary from issue to issue, but will include various items from this list: simpuulum (ladle), aspergillum (sprinkler - looks like a hand-sized floor-mop) jug, knife, axe, apex (pontifex's special hat) and lituus (curved wand). Caesar held the post of Pontifex Maximus from an early age, which despite its odd set of restrictions, allowed him entry into the halls of power and was his launching-pad to greatness. The type dates to 49 BC, or about the time his political career in Rome really hit stride, 5 years or so before his demise. I believe this was well after his abortive attempts at conquering Britain, although I'm not all that certain about the time-line here. It was a prolific issue and is really relatively common, so it's not too exceptional for one to have made it to Britain in the course of trade, or even been carried by one of Claudius' soldiers as a talisman - although it wasn't impossible for denarii to stay in circulation for a century at that time, this seems to have enough detail to be fairly bold even under encrustation - ie: it doesn't exhibit anything like the wear one would expect for a coin which had circulated for 100 years. Here's an example showing all the details clearly http://www.stoa.org/gallery/album434/MK_15_04 Mark
Disclaimed treasure items Treasure Act 1996: 2011 T203 Post-Medieval silver cufflink element from Tendring area, Essex. Treasure Act 1996: 2011 T205 Post-Medieval silver cufflink element from Colchester area, Essex. Treasure Act 1996: 2011 T211 Post-Medieval silver cufflink element from Colchester area, Essex.
|
||||||||||||
22nd Oct 2011 Internet connection is really flakey - more uploads I have tons of finds from last week to upload yet but my internet connection is on the friz and will not be repaired until Tuesday. I have managed to uploaded a few more hammered silver and widgets but my line dies every couple of minutes. Ron's team left this morning and luckily I have a weeks break before the next team arrives so hopefully they can get it fixed. If I do not post for the next few days it is because my internet connection has died completely, good old BT. I have just updated the forum comp page and the scrap button count now is just short of 5200 and just killed off another 2 guys guesses.
15thC lead tokens used as small change Lead, as it is soft and prone to oxidisation, has rarely been used for coinage proper, and never in England. However, since it is cheap and easy to melt and cast, coin-like objects of lead, and sometimes also of pewter and tin, were widely produced in medieval times up to the nineteenth century. These lead pieces probably had a range of functions, perhaps a cheaper versions of reckoning counters and as token coinage in small scale dealings, and more certainly, as chits, tickets or passes. Ecclesiastical bodies used such tokens to register attendance at services. In most cases it is impossible to ascribe a particular function to these lead pieces.
Just managed to upload more silver and widgets to the latest finds page. The guys got lots of early lead token last week I have also just posted
|
||||||||||||
20th Oct 2011 Another neat gold find- Colchester medallions awarded - Roman cooker arrived
Chicago Ron received the club's silver award for the most hammered silver coin record in a morning session Ron reciprocates with presenting Missouri Jeff with a special club 'insanity' award for picking the most sucking site we have and finding the first ever Roman silver there
The top Gold award goes to Kansas Barry for taking the oldest coin club record with his 211BC Roman silver - It was double award as he also found 2 Roman silver coins in a morning off different fields.
Roman silver coins 'cooking' on the new hot plate It is the guys last day of their hunt before we take a weeks break to catch up on paperwork and finds. One more day for the guys to find another monster ! These new guys and gals have been such a fun upbeat bunch hunting to even 10pm one night and it has been an amazing hunt especially as the dry fields have not slowed them up. Miss Jeff found another real neat gold find, Georgian watch winder with a snake biting its tail design. The guys also got some nice silver and widgets and I have posted a whole bunch to the latest finds page. My new 'Roman' hotplate arrived and I put it straight into action. It has a very large variable heat hot plate so I can fit 4 coffee mugs on there to cook silver Romans at the same time. I have be messing around with different heat settings to see if it cooks the coins quicker at different temps.
Really neat gold Georgian watch winder - snake biting its own tail
Teresa's Roman silver starting to 'cook' up nicely - sent to Mark Lehman for ID This is a denarius of Hadrian (117-138 AD) who did some building in your part of the world as a part of his program to consolidate the governable parts of the expanded Empire left him by his predecessor Trajan. Trajan, if you will recall, was the emperor under whose reign the Roman Empire reached its largest size, so Hadrian, being a practical sort of fellow, trimmed-off the ungovernable places (Like the lands won from the Parthian Persian Empire) and did what he could to make other areas as practical to be goverened as possible. In Britain, as you know, this meant building and maintaining a string of fortresses and garrisons, all connected by a wall across the narrowest part of your island to keep the increasingly Romanized south from overmuch depredation from the "barbarian" north. This piece shows a personification of Africa - the Romans were big on putting human faces onto abstract concepts as a part of their well-developed system of personifications - as a woman reclining at ease against a rock, wearing an elephant-skin headdress and holding a scorpion and a cornucopia, a basket of corn-ears and fruit at her feet. Africa represented a nearly never-ending source of exploitable riches for the Romans, the fertile areas of the north provided a major portion of the grain without which the Empire would not have had the bread for its "Bread and Circuses". And indeed Africa produced an unending supply of exotic beasts and people to populate the circuses as well. The personification of Africa appeared on Roman coins of all denominations towards the end of Hadrian's relatively long reign - your piece dates to about 136 AD. RIC II 299, RSC 138. Mark
32 BC Mark Antony, Legionary silver Denarius. ANT.AVG.III.VIR.R.P.C Galley, Legionary Eagle between two standards
That's right, although I wouldn't call this a "tribute" type, this is a denarius struck by Marc Antony to pay the troops and for supplies during the campaign which ended in the defeat of his forces by those of Octavian (later Augustus) and Agrippa at the great sea-battle of Actium in 31 BC. These pieces, which enumerate his various legions on the reverse, are presumed to have been struck by a travelling mint accompanying his forces during the winter of 32/31 BC at his headquaters in Patrae. Some of the legions named on the coins are found only occasionally or rarely if at all. This one appears (as well as I can make out from the photo) to name legion II (2) - you can look at the area between the "aquila" - the legionary eagle and the standard to the right on the reverse to confirm which legion is named with a Roman numeral. If it is II, it's one of the more commonly found legions in this series. The legend on the obverse, along with the galley, is ANT AVG III VIR R P C, which names Antony as Augur and Triumvir. Due to being somewhat debased silver, these remained in circulation in some areas for 250-300 years and are often found in northern European hoards worn so smooth that all you can do is identify them as legionary denarii - this piece is in far nicer condition than these are generally found - it must have been lost relatively soon after it was minted. Mark
Amazing detail under the crud, I think I recognise this coin as a Mark Antony Galley coin - sent to Mark Lehman for ID - more cooking to do yet
'Cooking' Roman silver
|
||||||||||||
19th Oct 2011 Another stonking treasure and silver Romans - Colchester medallion awards
Jeff's crispy Roman silver - straight into the cooker
The Roman silver coins are coming up everywhere this week and Missouri Jeff's latest one wins him a special Colchester medallion for going insane. Remember the members here have their own mini bus and pick any of the sites to hunt each day, I would rather have taken up basket weaving than hunt this site. We have a 1000 acre farm that historically is the most important we have but never produces the goods. It should be covered with Saxon finds but no one has ever made any. Most members would not go there if their life depended on it. Yesterday the new guys on Jeff's team picked it for the morning and I said 'Yuck'. Jeff amazingly popped a beauty Roman silver that is showing great detail under the crust, he has to get a Colchester medallion for the guy that has found the first ever Roman silver there !! It was certainly his day as in the afternoon they choose another huge 12 field plot and he found a stonking 16htC Tudor treasure. Jeff rightly left it in the hard clod so I could soak it slowly and not damage the pin which amazingly was still attached. I have posted a load more great silver and relics to the latest finds page. I am picking up the first of our Club medallions this morning from the engravers to present to both Chicago Ron, Kansas Barry and Miss Jeff for their records they broke this week. Chicago Ron - 6 hammered silver coins in a morning session that spanned the periods from Edward 1st to Henry VIII Kansas Barry - For his 211 BC Roman silver coin that matched the oldest ever found and Britain and a new club record Miss Jeff - Special award for going insane and picking our worst sucking site and popping a Roman silver Updated the Hoard and Treasure page
Miss Jeff left it in the clod so I could soak it slowly to keep the pin intact - never found one with the pin still in place
Stunning 16thC Tudor gilded silver ornate pin - reported as treasure to the museum
Superb eye ball find -C16thC Henry VIII stone round shot cannon shell - out of use by the 17thC I have just updated the forum comp page and the scrap button count now is just short of 5000 and just killed off another 3 guys guesses. Great news yesterday is Ill Mark gets to take his rare Roman gold coin that won last seasons 'find of the year'. I have be liaising with Mark and the landowner to thrash out an amenable deal with the splitting of this find. Both parties were very happy with the final outcome and now Mark can play with his little baby again after export approval.
Claudius (41-54 AD) Roman gold coin 19.6mm, 7.81g Oh man, is that ever beautiful!
That is, of course, an Aureus of the emperor Claudius (41-54 AD) the presumed-to-be "simple-minded", somewhat disabled uncle of Caligula. He was seized upon by the Praetrorian guard as a tractible replacement after they had murdered Caligula, his wife and child. It turned out that Claudius was smarter than most of the Julio-Claudians and had merely allowed everyone to think he was simple-minded. This allowed him to hide in the background, out of the way of the endless palace intrigues. The successful ruse evidently kept him from suffering the sort of "mysterious" death which seemed to stalk all the other Julio-Claudians who might be in-line for or have some claim to being emperor. Once in power, he showed that far from being "simple", he was a shrewd and canny politician and proved to be a benificent ruler as well, righting a lot of the wrongs perpetrated by his evil nephew. Eventually, however, his love of women was his downfall. Marrying his neice, Agrippina Jr., the last of his succession of unfortunate marriages, he had inadvertantly adopted and brought into his home one of the true vipers in the Imperial nest, her son, the future emperor Nero. It is assumed that Agrippina, on her son's behalf, (or possibly even Nero himself) was responsible for feeding him a dish of deadly poisonous mushrooms. This removed the last impediment and cleared the way for Nero to become emperor.
This is one of the more common reverse types for Claudius' aureii, the PACI AVGVSTAE or "The Emperor's Peace". It has an interesting reverse type, too. Rather than Victory, whom you might assume was the winged character on the reverse, this is "Pax-Nemesis" performing a gesture associated with a uniquely Roman bit of superstition. She is drawing out a fold of her gown in what is called in some delicate circles an "Apotropaic gesture" - in other words, she's spitting on her own breast, which, like throwing a pinch of spilled salt over one's shoulder or touching wood, was a common superstitous custom among Romans and meant to deflect bad fortune.
This piece was struck in 41-42 AD at the imperial mint for precious metal coins, which happened at the time to be in the provincial capital at Lugdunum (modern Lyons) and coincidentally was also where the future emperor Claudius had been born.
This is actually one of the more common types of early Roman Imperial Aureii, but "common" here is all relative - particuarly in recent months, Roman Aureii have been bringing astonishing amounts of money - I wouldn't even venture a guess as to what the current market value of this piece might be - most likely at least in the 5-figures range of GBP's, Euros or Dollars.
Mark
|
||||||||||||
18th Oct 2011 Kansas Barry's find is official 211-206 BC - Gold wrist torc found - New Roman 'cooker' and Coffee fix Biggest haul of Roman gold in Britain could have been found - read this great story with link below I am amazed at the level of finds the guys are making as the ground is the driest I have even seen in Oct. We had a brief shower last night but we need it to bucket down for several days to get any moisture in the soil and compress the fresh ploughed and rolled. It did not stop the Missouri and Kansas team from making more monster finds including part of an Iron Age gold wrist Torc. Mark Lehman has confirmed that Barry's coin matches the oldest ever coin found in Britain and in far better condition. I have sent pictures and the find spot off to the experts at the local and British museum for recording and their views. Staggering find. This dates, as far as I can tell - since no trace of symbol has become visible beneath the horses or between the heads of the Dioscuri - to the earliest issue of actual Denarii, as distinct from the earlier Drachma-denominated silver coinage. It dates to the period 211-206 BC (according to the most recent scholarship on dating) and would be RSC # 2 (Roman Silver Coinage) - if that catalog number gives you some idea of how close to the beginning of the book it's found. This first coinage was anonymous, lacking even symbols to potentially indicate via association (or pun) the names of the families of moneyers. This is actually the 3rd type produced (so far as I can tell) "ROMA" in the exergue of this specimen appears to be in relief. On the very earliest ROMA was incuse, and a transitional type had ROMA partially incuse and partially in relief. The general types, however, the helmeted head of Roma, inspired by (and, frankly, copied from) the helmeted head of Athena on Corinthian didrachms) with "X" mark of denomination (10 Asses of bronze to the silver Denarius - later it would be re-tariffed at 16) and the Dioscuri, Castor & Pollux, galloping right with levelled lances would be among the very most common devices used on denarii over the next 150 years. When there was no specific bit of history or family fame being related on a moneyer's denarii, this was one of the 3 main "stock" types, along with Jupiter driving a quadriga and Victory driving a biga. I believe this is the earliest Roman coin you folks have turned up, to date. It is, at least, the earliest I recall being forwarded to me for identification. With the exception of the slightly earlier (and very much more rare) "Romano-Campanian" Quadrigati (Didrachmae), Drachmae and Semes, this is about as early as you can go in the "Roman" coin series. Mark
Iron Age pure gold wrist or ankle Torc fragment - 1.63g, 30.18mm L x 2,5 mm dia - reported as treasure to museum Kansas Teresa who found that crispy Roman silver emptied out her pouch while washing up her finds to discover what she thought was just a thick wire was in fact a gold wrist Torc. It is an interesting find as the field she found both the Roman silver and this Torc was the site of a Roman villa and both Celtic and Romans are known to have shared the same sites together. She needs to go back and find the rest of it !! Updated this years gold finds page Updated the Hoard and Treasure page
Monster sized 1696 William III milled silver half crown (30 pence) Miss Sandy found a monster sized milled silver coin and it's only the 3rd Willy half crown we have ever found, these are rare as hens teeth and this one has great detail. The 1st one we found was almost a smooth disc as these were in general circulation for over 100 years.
New Roman 'cooker' I currently have too many crispy Roman silvers in the 'cooking' stage as they can take up to a year when the crust is in some cases an 1/8th inch thick. My 2nd burner just failed so I have decided to test out a larger hot plate which I just ordered up. I can probably get 3 mugs of the cooking 'mixture' on there at any one time and the heat is more controllable. I will let you know how it works.
As dug and 'cooking'
Almost 'cooked - just re sent it back off to Mark for a further ID - his revised ID is below 1st C Roman silver coin - 'cooking' it to remove crust This is probably a Flavian (Vespasian, Titus or Domitian) but it is a similar reverse with sacrificial implementia. This one has "TRI POT" (Tribunicia Potestatum or the Tribunician Powers) across the bottom of the reverse, and that's a common reverse type for the Flavians. Other emperors used the sacrificial implements as a reverse type. So I can't be certain who it is until there's a bit more obverse detail to go on. I can tell you that they're often associated with issues for the Caesar - the "heir apparent" - (if there is one) so I'd make a guess there's a good chance this may be Titus, but I believe Vespasian used this same reverse. When you've revealed some obverse details I should be able to tell you better what you've got here. Mark I'm not certain which (if any) member of the family or reference number I might have quoted you before, but as far as I can tell this is Vespasian - the missing part of the obverse legend would be" [IMP CAES VESP AV]G P M COS IIII. Mark
As dug
'Cooked' up real easy Sent to Mark Lehman for his views when it was crusty and just resent it to him again now it is cleaned up The one with the concave break is a Trajan (96-117 AD) Fortuna Redux Denarius - Fortuna seated left holding a rudder (visible at her feet) and cornucopiae. The reverse legend refers to Trajan's victorious campaigns against the Parthians. The land acquired in these victories was the first that Hadrian "got rid of" - gave back to the Parthian Empire in the interests of peace - in his reign which succeeded Trajan's - but it was part of what brought the Roman Empire to its largest size in lands held. This occurred under Trajan, at just about the time this type was struck - the later part of Trajan's reign - around 116 AD, give or take a year. Mark
Guys are normally gagging for coffee and tea out in the field during a long session and take out all kinds of flasks so they can have a fix during the day. I have found these 5 Ltr professional push button type airport flasks on the net. I have ordered up 3 of the 5 litre jobbies, that hold around 18 cups and all the write ups say they keep piping hot for a very long time. I have also ordered up 3 of the 2.5 litre milk jugs so both the full board and Barn leaders can take out a set. They should be here in a couple of days and Min Mindy's Barn team is going to trial them out for the club. Now guys can have a caffeine fix any time during the day !!
|
||||||||||||
17th Oct 2011 Kansas Barry's find is possibly equal to the oldest coin ever found in Britain - 3 more silvers found This coin I posted yesterday is certainly the oldest ever coin found by our club with the previous record held by Mindy at 146BC, this coin smashes that record by 60 years at least.
As dug, nearly 'cooked' and final pictures - just sent to Mark for his final ID 17.81mm, 3.28g
What an amazing discovery, Mark Lehman our Roman coin expert has ID'd the Roman silver I just 'cooked' up as possibly equal to the oldest coin ever found in Britain. Barry's coin even has far better detail than the previous one below. The BBC has a page with info on the previous coin found as part of a hoard in 2000 and the story's link is below
Hoard coin http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/8487870.stm A silver coin dug up as part of a hoard is the oldest piece of Roman money found in Britain, experts believe. The coin, which has been dated to 211BC, was found near Hallaton in Leicestershire with 5,000 other coins, a helmet and decorated bowl. Uncovered by archaeologists in 2000, the coin's significance has just been recognised, the county council said. It said the coin, which has the Goddess Roma on one side, was "something very special". The other side depicts mythical twins Castor and Pollux sat on galloping horses. I had been exchanging e-mails with Mark Lehman all day as I 'cooked' up the coin found by Barry and more detail appeared. Mark's latest e-mail puts it definitely in the 211BC to 206BC range. I still have Barry's coin 'cooking' to bring out the final detail to confirm the ID. Bloody exciting stuff and a gob smacking discovery!! 'The issue is - will be - etc - whether or not we can detect any sort of a symbol (or completely rule out the existence of one) at exactly the vaguest point on the reverse - the rim from about 4:00-5:00. That's exactly where a symbol would be if there is one. This is Murphy's law of ancient coins in action - "the most important part of the design (or legend, etc) is the part least likely to be clearly visible on a marginal specimen", but I believe, on the basis of the first 2 photos, that there is no symbol. if that is the case, it puts this piece in the earliest group of anonymous denarii - 211-206 BC. It was already the earliest coin you've found of which I'm aware - but if the symbol is, in fact, completely absent (and not just worn off) it puts it in the earliest possible group after the introduction of the denarius / end of the drachma-based silver coinage'. Mark Amazingly the guys also dug another 3 crusty Roman silver coins yesterday and I have now run out of 'cooking' space on my coffee burner. I still have 4 long term 'cooking Romans' since March with 1/8th inch thick crusts constantly on the go. I have two hot plate units but one just burnt out with the continued use. Looks like I will have to go to the shops to pick up another one !!
Another crusty Roman straight into the 'cooker' found by Kansas Teresa
|
||||||||||||
16th Oct 2011 Staggering early gold Talisman ring found - Great Roman silver finds - Sleeping beauty Min Mindy is one of the clubs most senior hard core members but last week Ont Jim popped her taking a secret power nap and just sent me the pic LOL
Mindy takes an Ark Gary power nap LOL
BC Republican Roman silver straight into the 'cooker' to remove crust Last weeks team has a great final day with 6 hammered silver coins which I will be posting to the latest finds page. Min Mindy ended her hunt with another BC looking Roman republican silver coin above. A new team arrived from a club in Kansas and are staying in the local 'Barn conversion' with Chicago Ron and Can Ron. I thought now I put my feet up, catch up on paperwork and photographing,as full board hunts are now closed but that ended very quickly as they did a night hunt their first afternoon and at 9pm Kansas Gregg popped a monster gold ring find. This is a spectacular discovery so I have posted huge pictures so you can see the punched design and Mitch Chris has already done some amazing research on the members forum to ID it further. I thought the scrolly G's were just decoration but Chris has found they are in fact G's which makes the inscription "DEBAL GUD GUDANI +" which is Gothic, meaning "God of Gods".There is a lot of academic discussion about this type of ring on the net and I have posted some of it below the ring. These rings appear to be used as a Talisman. The use of a top barred A on the ring would date this around a Class 7 short cross coin circa 12th/13thC.
As dug
Partially 'cooked' - 2nd Roman has a crust 1/8 inch thick !! Kansas Barry's double crusty Roman silvers straight into the 'cooker' to remove horn crust I have sent the first one which is BC republican off to Mark Lehman for ID Then if this was not enough the new guys picked to hit one of our a huge sites with 15 fields for their first morning. Kansas Barry just wandered aimlessly and did not realise that he had already popped two well crusty Roman silvers coins from both ends of the site when he arrived back for lunch. 2000 years in the ground makes most most Roman silver almost unrecognisable unless you are skilled at fondling them. The whole team also kick butt and a load of hammered silver and widgets was found. I will be posting more this morning to the latest finds page. Chicago Ron had also found what looks like a Celtic bronze or even debased silver unit that I have soaking in distilled water to try and get some of the crud off. Then amazingly I rang the 'Barn leader' Chicago Ron to see where they had picked to go to at 10am this morning. They had chosen another one of our monster plots around 1000 acres for a morning and Barry had already made yet another Roman silver coin find making it 3 in 2 days !! This has to be a new club record so I feel one of our new Club medallion awards coming on. Updated this years gold finds page Updated the Hoard and Treasure page
Monster find - C12thC Early medieval gold ring - reported as treasure to museum "DEBAL GUD GUDANI +" which is Gothic, meaning "God of Gods" Interesting hand punched lettering which has a barred A with additional top bar like on short cross coins of Class7 and an unbarred A also on the ring. 4.22g, 4.49mm H x 22.59mm W
As dug
'cooking'
Almost 'cooked'
Mark sent me this pic MK 15 07 Vespasian, 69-79 AD.
|
||||||||||||
14th Oct 2011 Sweet Tudor treasure, Celtic face and more great finds
Guys are still finding some amazing relics and silver and I have posted a bunch more to the latest finds page 2011 finds page. Chicago Ron found this stunning Celtic spout with face decoration and then Can Ron popped the sweetest Tudor clothing fastener that I have reported as treasure to the museum. The huge bronze age item is perplexing as it has a late Iron Age patina but the dot type decoration and design look Roman. I dropped the museum a mail to see if they have seen anything similar. I have updated the 'win a free trip' page free forum comp that now stands at 4014 scrap buttons found so far. Updated the Hoard and treasure page
Huge bronze decorated handle 6 inches long - Late Iron Age patina - sent to museum to see if they have seen one before
Stunning 16thC Tudor clothing fastener - gold on silver reported to museum as treasure
C 1stC AD Celtic drinking vessel spout - face decoration 34.94mm W x 20.63mm L - 27.20g
1640's Civil war lead bullet melting bowl ?
|
||||||||||||
12th Oct 2011 Sweet gold coin and more great finds Guys are finding some great relics and silver and I have posted a whole bunch on the latest finds page 2011 finds page. Can Ron and the guys were hitting new land yesterday and he popped the first gold coin so far off this land with a really sweet early milled Portuguese 1/2 escudo. Can Drew then popped a great gold Georgian collar stud. Min Mindy found another Roman silver with a thick crust that I will have to 'cook' off. I have not taken photo's of it yet as I have tons more finds to upload yet.
Georgian gold collar study
1728 Portuguese Joao V milled gold - 1/2 Escudo (800 Reis) 0.9170 Gold John V of Portugal
1260 AD Non Heraldic personal seal. The design is typical of mid 13thC non heraldic seals
1485 Henry VII hammered silver farthing - double arched crown Obv CIVI/TAS/EBO /RACI -York mint
Updated this years gold finds page I have also updated the 'win a free trip' page free forum comp that now stands at 3003
The Thames Tunnel is an underwater tunnel, built beneath the River Thames in London and connecting Rotherhithe with Wapping. It measures 35 feet wide by 20 feet high and is 1,300 feet long, running at a depth of 75 feet below the river's surface at high tide. It was the first tunnel known successfully to have been constructed underneath a navigable river, and was built between 1825 and 1843 using Thomas Cochrane and Marc Isambard Brunel's newly invented tunnelling shield technology, by him and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
|
||||||||||||
10th Oct 2011 Great Roman finds, stonking gold ring and finally rain Final batch of approved exports licenses arrived yesterday and I have posted a list of names on the members forum. It finally rained yesterday so we got some moisture in the soil. Ont Bill banged in a stonking gold ring and it's construction looks early. I have reported it to Colchester museum and the BM experts will give their views. Ont Jim found his 2nd Roman silver of his trip and it is a very unusual example with an Elephant on the Obv. Mark Lehman has already ID'd it before I 'cook' it to remove the 'crust' and it is a rare type especially in this crisp condition. Chicago Ron found this really neat Saxon pendant below with heavy gilding remaining. It could at a pinch even be late Roman. I have already posted of load of great relics and silver to the latest finds page Oct 2011 finds page and have a dozen more hammered silver coins to post today including a full Elizabeth 1st shilling found by Cal Sarah. Can Dan got two great medieval rings yesterday, 'stirrup' type and a traders seal ring I have just posted to the latest finds page. Updated this years gold finds page I have also updated the 'win a free trip' forum comp page free forum comp that now stands at 2403
15th/16thC gold ring -reported to museum as treasure - no hallmarks 18.71mm, 1.05g
C8thC Saxon gilded pendant
SILVER Denarius - 49 to 44 BC, Cool - that's a Julius Caesar elephant denarius. The elephant is walking right trampling either a serpent (not too likely, but possible) or a Celtic Carnyx - a war trumpet in the shape of a serpent or dragon - in the generous exergue below, you have CAESAR in large, clear letters no one could mistake. The reverse is an assortment of priestly implements - the exact order and assortment may vary from issue to issue, but will include various items from this list: simpuulum (ladle), aspergillum (sprinkler - looks like a hand-sized floor-mop) jug, knife, axe, apex (pontifex's special hat) and lituus (curved wand). Caesar held the post of Pontifex Maximus from an early age, which despite its odd set of restrictions, allowed him entry into the halls of power and was his launching-pad to greatness. The type dates to 49 BC, or about the time his political career in Rome really hit stride, 5 years or so before his demise. I believe this was well after his abortive attempts at conquering Britain, although I'm not all that certain about the time-line here. It was a prolific issue and is really relatively common, so it's not too exceptional for one to have made it to Britain in the course of trade, or even been carried by one of Claudius' soldiers as a talisman - although it wasn't impossible for denarii to stay in circulation for a century at that time, this seems to have enough detail to be fairly bold even under encrustation - ie: it doesn't exhibit anything like the wear one would expect for a coin which had circulated for 100 years. Here's an example showing all the details clearly http://www.stoa.org/gallery/album434/MK_15_04 Mark
Medieval spur with rowell still attached
Medieval bronze 'stirrup' type finger ring
As dug , partially 'cooked' and cooked. 107 AD - 2ndC Roman coin - straight into 'cooker' to clean off crust
What you have here is a denarius of Trajan, 96-117 AD. It was during Trajan's time that the Roman Empire achieved it greatest overall size - it would never again be so large. Although Hadrian and others of Trajan's successors were quick to lop-off some of the further flung and less easily administered and defended areas, Trajan's rule ushered-in the era of "The Good Emperors" The 2nd century, therefore, was noted for a general condition of relative peace and prosperity the likes of which would not be seen again (arguably, even in our own time). This specific piece has "Genius" (Genio Populi Romani - the genius or motivating spirit of the Roman People) standing left holding a patera - a sacrificial vessel for pouring libations - and a cornucopiae. The legend on the reverse, as is often the case on Trajan's coins, cites only "The Senate and The People of Rome" and the statement that Trajan was "The Optimum Prince". The obverse legend (which is somewhat unclear on your specimen, so far) will be the typical 2nd century "laundry list" of titles: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P. The catalog references for this piece are: RIC II 181; RSC 395. 107 AD Mark
|
||||||||||||
7th Oct 2011 Triple gold finds - Raffle winner drawn - Ron's special award
This season 'win a free trip' raffle was drawn by Ont Jim and luck would have it that Mary is already here hunting so Ron could present him a ticket for his free trip next year. It is certainly Marty's week as he popped that beauty George IV gold earlier in the week.
Ron presents the free trip raffle ticket drawn by Ontario Jim to Can Marty
1700 William III milled silver four pence
1859 Victoria milled silver Florin (24 pence) mdccclix
Guys are finding some great artefacts and silver plus three more gold finds. Boston Mike popped a neat early Victorian 22 carat gold ring and then Cal Sarah popped a stonking gold Tudor pin head. Ont Jim made it three with a gold watch winder. Sarah also got our first ever William III milled silver 4 pence . I have posted a whole bunch of neat hammered silver and widgets to the latest finds page Oct 2011 finds page Updated this years gold finds page I have also updated the 'win a free trip' forum comp page free forum comp that now stands at 2065
Min Mindy presents Chicago Ron the special club medallion for the most hammered silver coins ever dug in a morning session
22 carat 1852 Victorian bust mark London hallmarked gold ring
Stunning gold 16thC Tudor pin head - reported to museum as treasure
Georgian gold watch winder
Newbie member Cal Patti had her birthday here yesterday and we had a Pizza and beer party at the big Barn . The girls got a her a cake and all the members signed her card.
|
||||||||||||
4th Oct 2011 Double gold, Roman silver and treasure
Stunning c13thC medieval silver annular brooch - reported to museum as treasure Weather is hot and sunny making the land very dry but it is not stopping the guys making some great finds with some real choice hammered and milled silver not to mention double gold Can Marty banged in a really fine George IV half sovereign and it's the first half of that King we have ever found. He was only on the throne for a few years so finding his coins is rare, Marty also got a crisp Henry III short cross hammered silver penny. Bill then got a 1915 gold ring on the same field. Meanwhile Ont Jim found his first ever Roman silver which looks very crisp under the crust, I am currently 'cooking' it before I send it off to Mark Lehman for an ID. Cal Jim senior also had a great day with a mint silver medieval annular buckle, I have reported as treasure to Colchester museum and a mint Henry VII half groat. Posted more great finds including the Roman silver and early hammered silver to Oct 2011 finds page Updated this years gold finds page
Very crisp 1827 George IV milled gold half sovereign
1915 - 9 Carat gold ring - Birmingham date letter q - Maker RP Robert Pringle & Sons
1526-32 Henry VIII hammered silver half groat - Cross patonce mintmark Archbishop Warham - WA by shield Rev CIVI/TAS/CAN/TOR - Canterbury mint
1216 Henry III hammered silver short cross penny Class 7a - top bar to A Obv HENRICVS REX Rev NORMAN ON S*** Moneyer Norman of Bury St Edmunds mint
|
||||||||||||
2nd Oct 2011 Brilliant start to the new hunts Chicago Ron Barn guys arrived safely and already on their first full day are setting club records. Ron found 6 hammered silver coins in the first morning session and finished with 9 silvers for the day including a full Henry VIII groat and Charles 1st hammered silver shilling. I can remember a couple of guys over the years finding 5 hammered in a morning but never 6 so it looks like Ron will win one of our new silver club medallions for his amazing effort. Boston Mike then banged in a mint 1st Roman silver that will 'cook' up brilliantly. At the finish the guys had dug twelve hammered silver coins from just about every period. I have started a new Oct 2011 finds page and uploaded most of the hammered silver finds to it. I will be updating the forum comp page as I count the latest button finds.free forum comp
1526-44 Henry VIII hammered silver groat - Arrow mintmark
1stC Roman silver coin - 'cooking' it to remove crust
Size comparison with penny 1431 32 Henry VI hammered silver farthing - Pine cone mascle issue Obv +HENRIC REX ANGL Rev CIVI/TAS/LON/DON - London mint 0.26g,9.74mm
1641-3 Charles 1st hammered silver shilling - Triangle in circle mintmark Tower mint under Charels 1st
|
||||||||||||
28th Sept 2011 - More cooked coins and fixed hams The guys found 3 continental silver billion coins last week and because of the poor grade of silver they nearly always have a thick black or green growth on them. I use the same 'cooking' method on them as I do with encrusted Roman silver coins. It can take a lot of cooking to remove this rock hard crust like the German Stated silver below. I have also posted the latest pictures of the 'cooking' silver Roman coins and more of our fixed silver hammered coin finds below.
1814 - German states - 2 Grote silver coin
BC Roman silver appearing after 6 months of 'cooking. Reverse is chariot type c 100 BC
Your coin is definitely Antoninus Pius, 138-161 AD. I believe the reverse is Victory standing left holding wreath in outstretched right hand and a long palm-branch in the left. I believe the reverse legend is IMPERATOR II. If it is Imperator II, a fairly common type, it dates to about 143 AD from the mint at Rome. Mark
Some detail showing through on this real crusty Roman silver
Fixed 1570 Elizabeth 1st hammered silver half groat
Fixed 1247 Henry III hammered silver voided long cross penny - Class IIIa Obv HENRICVS REX Rev hEN/RIO/NLV/NDE Moneyer Henri of London mint
Fixed 1341 Edward III hammered silver long cross florin penny Obv EDWAR ANGLE DNS HYB Rev CIVI/TAS/LON/DON - London mint
|
||||||||||||
26th Sept 2011 Ryan wins double award - Ronnie's boys arrive Friday
I have short break this week in the tours getting ready for the famous Chicago Ron's 'Barn' boys who arrive on Friday for 3 weeks. Ron is on a mission to take the 'gold coin' finder title off Ark Gary, Ron currently has 10 gold coins and Gary 13 so he is catching him fast. If you watch all of Ron's detecting video's, both here and in the States, then he is a gold hound at finding both coins and rings. National Geographic channel are currently doing a series on him and have already been here to film him out in the field digging stuff. I have also updated the forum comp page free forum comp that stands at 1695 scrap buttons dug so far. Remember this does not include those buttons guys are taking home in their export pouch. I have posted a load more great silver and finds to the latest finds page Sept 2011 finds page
As dug and fixed
As dug and fixed
Yet to be fixed NS Andy presented Can Ryan with his 'coin hunter' of the year award, having the clubs highest coin count last season including hammered medieval gold. Ryan was also presented with the first ever special Colchester club medallion for an outstanding achievement at finding 3 medieval gold coins in just 3 trips. Luckily all 3 of his coins were just taco'd or chunked but complete and our goldsmith fixed them like new. The last day of his trip Ryan was still on a mission to find a 4th but had to be content with just two hammered silver pennies !!
NS Andy presents Can Ryan with his awards
1000 BC to 400 AD Iron Age decorated bead
|
||||||||||||
22nd Sept 2011 More gold, great silver hams, milled and Saxon Org Ed made it 5 gold for the season so far with a crisp Victorian gold half season near the bushes on a new freshly ploughed and rolled field. The land is so dry and nuggety at the moment on fresh fields we are praying for rain to help compress them. However it is not stopping the guys making some amazing coin finds. Org Bob banged in our first Saxon silver sceat this season on a plot not known for it's Saxon finds. It needs a good 'cooking' to remove the crust before I send it off to Dr Martin Allen for ID and recording on the national database, it looks like a 'D' type with the cross and square design. Org Erik added another rare milled silver to his count with a very crisp Charles II milled silver shilling. These are very rare finds for us and if it had been a 1669 then it is listed as extremely rare in Spink. I had a meeting with the museum yesterday and picked up the disclaimed Roman bronze coin hoard from last season and a bunch of disclaimed treasures including Col Bruce's silver and ruby stone ring. The list of members names involved with the Roman hoard are posted on the members forum.
61.54mm L x 35.8mm W, 54.89g 13thC dagger quillion
I also got back recorded items like Pen Dennis's dagger quillion that has been confirmed as 13th/14thC I have posted a load more great silver and finds to the latest finds page Sept 2011 finds page including NS Andy's crisp Henry VIII groat. I have also updated the forum comp page free forum comp which now stands at 1403, remember these are the scrap buttons so far and does not include the good ones guys will be exporting. These will be added to the total as I prepare export license applications. Updated this years gold finds page
Saxon silver sceat - Circa 600-775 AD
Needs 'cooking' before sending for recording to Fitzwilliam museum
1855 Victoria milled gold half sovereign
Henry VI 1422-27 Hammered silver half groat - Calais mint - Annulet issue - annulets by neck and between two sets of opposing pellets Obv HENRIC DI GRA REX ANGL Z FRANC Outer legend POSVI DEVM ADIVTORE MEVM Inner legend - VILLA CALISIE - Calais Mint 26.21mm, 3.72g
1199 King John hammered silver short cross penny Class 5b Obv HENRICVS REX Rev TOMAS ON EV** Moneyer Thomas of York mint
1668 Charles 1st hammered silver shilling
|
||||||||||||
18th Sept 2011 First hammered gold and rare silvers It has been a real weird hunt so far with far more milled silver coins being found than hammered ones, usually it is 2 to 1 hammered to milled. They have included several firsts for the club, first Queen Anne silver penny find I have seen and what I thought initially was another slick silver 'Willy' coin turns out to be our first ever Charles II milled shilling. These are valuable coins in mint condition. Org Erik found another rare find for us a huge crisp George III silver half crown. Can Ryan then opened the score with our first hammered gold coin of the season and amazingly this is Ryan's 3rd medieval gold coin find. I just handed him back his fixed Edward III gold noble find from last season and he finds another one. The picture below the taco'd gold is his last fixed one and another nobel of Edward III. Luckily all the coin is there so our goldsmith can work his magic again and return it to it's former glory. I have posted more finds to the Sept 2011 finds page I have also updated the forum comp page free forum comp
C1351 Edward III hammered gold qtr noble - needs straightening to D exact type 1.79g
1660-85 Very rare find and our first ever Charles II milled silver shilling (12 pence)
1816 George III milled silver half crown (30 pence) size comparison with sixpence
1706 Anne milled silver penny
|
||||||||||||
14th Sept 2011 Shortage of silver and our first Bronze age sword fragment
The guys are suffering bad out there with a real shortage of silver since Org Gary banged in that mint Cunobelin silver. New land is giving the guys almost a total skunking so far but Can John managed to pull up a stunning find, our first ever 850 BC Bronze Age sword blade. Org Ed found one face of a Roman silver coin forgery that clearly shows how they were constructed over a copper core, posted it below. I have posted a load more widgets to the latest finds page including some real nice numbered regiment buttons. I have also updated the forum comp page free forum comp 'Cooking' of the Cunobelin silver coin is now complete and it has turned out to be one of the finest examples we have ever dug. Lous Mike has posted some great info on the coin with a report written by Dr Philip.
850 BC Bronze Age sword blade fragment
"fourree" silver-over-copper denarii
Fascinating find Roman silver forgery coin showing exposed copper core which swelled and forced off one face of the coin. Shows clearly how the forgery was constructed
As dug, almost 'cooked' and finally cooked Cunobelin 20 AD Celtic silver coin The Cunobelin silver is very nice, and a rare type at that. Seated figure facing left. The only standard reference for the type is no. 308 in Spink's Coins of England, it's not in Van Arsdell or the BM catalogue. You can see the amphora which the seated figure is holding quite clearly, but the CVNOBE doesn't show up too well on either. I don't have the exact figures here for rarity, but I don't think there are more than a dozen of these recorded at most. Date is perhaps somewhere in the middle of Cunobelin's reign, say perhaps c. 20-25 AD.
Click to enlarge
Latest pics of the 'cooking' Roman silver found by Geo Doug, lots more work on it to do yet
|
||||||||||||
11th Sept 2011 Very rare Celtic silver and first gold coin of the season - Roman ID back
1853 Victoria milled gold half sovereign
Ont Jeff ended the first week of the new season on a high with a stonking Victorian gold half sovereign and makes it three gold finds for the week. Org Gary just arrived and popped what he though was just a Roman bronze but it is a crusty rare Cunobelin tribe Celtic silver unit. The 'horn crust' should melt off really well so it is now in the 'cooker'. Chicago Ron found a similar type several years ago from a different site and I have included Dr Philip De Jersey's write up below of that coin.
Cunobelin 20 AD Celtic silver coin The Cunobelin silver is very nice, and a rare type at that. Seated figure facing left. The only standard reference for the type is no. 308 in Spink's Coins of England, it's not in Van Arsdell or the BM catalogue. You can see the amphora which the seated figure is holding quite clearly, but the CVNOBE doesn't show up too well on either. I don't have the exact figures here for rarity, but I don't think there are more than a dozen of these recorded at most. Date is perhaps somewhere in the middle of Cunobelin's reign, say perhaps c. 20-25 AD.
Very crisp 1595 Elizabeth 1st hammered silver sixpence
First decent Roman bronze with crisp detail sent to Mark for ID
I have posted more finds to the Sept 2011 finds page I have also updated the forum comp page free forum comp Mark Lehman has provisionally ID'd the Roman silver coin posted on the 9th Sept. Good to hear from you again - I guess it is that time of year, so I wish you good diggin' this season. Your coin is definitely Antoninus Pius, 138-161 AD. I believe the reverse is Victory standing left holding wreath in outstretched right hand and a long palm-branch in the left. I believe the reverse legend is IMPERATOR II. If it is Imperator II, a fairly common type, it dates to about 143 AD from the mint at Rome. Mark
|
||||||||||||
9th Sept 2011 First gold and Roman silver of the season
22 crt 1834 William IV gold ring - London mint with duty paid bust, Maker is probably James Young 1.43g, 19.55mm
Solid gold Georgian watch winder 3.59g, 28.28mm
It has been a brilliant week for silver coin finds and I have posted a load more hammered silver onto the latest hunt page. Geo Doug is having his best ever hunt with 6 really nice hammered, the first Roman silver coin find of the season and now a really neat William IV gold ring with a full set of hallmarks. Can Ed found our 2nd gold find of the season a beautiful heavy solid gold watch winder. There has been some very rare finds like the double headed Edward III penny below and a George 1st milled silver sixpence. Loads more widgets and finds posted to the Sept 2011 finds page A 3rd batch of approved export licenses arrived this morning and the list of names have been posted on members forum I have updated the forum comp page free forum comp
2ndC Roman silver as dug and starting to 'cook' it to remove horn crust - sent off to Mark Lehman for provisional ID
Amazing double bust Edward III hammered silver penny - CIVI/TAS type reverse
George 1st 1723 milled silver sixpence - issued by South Sea Company
|
||||||||||||
6th Sept 2011 Newbie Jeff kicks of the first afternoon of the season
13th C Medeival seal matrix - needs soaking to remove crust on seal face Ontario Jeff on his first hunt in England started the season well with two crisp hammered pennies in the first afternoon and he also got an early 13thC seal matrix. The other guys have been finding some really crisp early hammered silver also. I have created a new Sept 2011 finds page and updated more widgets and silver to it.
I have also started to update the forum comp page with the button total so far. This is only the scrap buttons and not the one the guys will take hom in their export pouches free forum comp
|
||||||||||||
2nd Sept 2011 Added new machines- kick off in the morning- Saxon treasure and updates Half the guys have arrived a day early ready for the kick off to the 2011/12 season in the morning. Atlanta Mike has brought the hot weather with him as it is 27C out there today with bright sunshine. Lots of new land has come on line and I spoke to Dave one of our new landowners and he literally has just prepared some new land for us we have not walked on yet. Amazing choice of fields available for for the guys with half a day to the kick off !! Just ordered up a couple of new top machines to add to our back up machines, the Fisher F75 which has an impressive track record here since it was launched especially good at finding 1/4 cut hammered silver coins and the trickiest of all finds Celtic 1/4 gold staters. The free forum comp to win a free trip is now officially closed. Check your guess is on the official entry sheet on the free forum comp page
I had a meeting with museum yesterday to drop off two more treasures I identified during the export process. They will now go begin the treasure process. I picked up a bunch of disclaimed treasures including Org Gary's medieval gold stirrup ring and Bil Mark's medieval French gold inscribed 'love' ring. These will be returned to the finders to take home. The unusual silver scripted medieval looking plate was ID's as 15thC so it is very early. Ark Gary's Roman style silver snake handle was returned as 'undated' as they could not determine it's age with any certainty. Updated the Treasure and Hoard finds page with the latest updates from the Treasure Registrar at the British Museum I went and saw one of our new farmers who had a Saxon treasure found on her land. She has just been sent the curators report from the British Museum and a provisional valuation based on similar examples sold at auction. The farmer let me take away the report to photocopy and reproduce the photo. Her example has a corner missing but a complete example sells for between 12 and £15000. Hopefully the matching ear rings and necklace are out there when we start hunting this Saturday !!! LA Mike has sent through some more fascinating info on what is a mega rare silver Celtic coin he found last Nov. He has posted the report and PAS write up from Dr Philip De Jersy below.
'Torn gold disc with amber setting 6th to 7th century British Museum
Finally made "The Big Dance" Celtic Gold & Silver find their way to the PAB..Yeahaw!
All the awards are just back from the engravers ready for presentation to the winners. The new test medallion we had made up turned out great and I have further ordered up a series of gold, silver and bronze examples. It will be engraved with Colchestertreasurehunting and the club logo also. These will presented to members for outstanding achievements or finds in addition to the major club awards and free trips.
|
||||||||||||
