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Metal detecting holidays in England with the Worlds most successful metal detecting club Twinned with Midwest Historical Research Society USA |
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Metal detecting holidays in England with the Worlds most successful metal detecting club Twinned with Midwest Historical Research Society USA |
| Latest news Feb 2013 to Oct 2013 Archive |
21st Oct 2013 - Rare James II silver and great relics Posted more great hammered silver and relics to the latest finds page 2013 Oct 2 finds page. The rain has hampered recovery time on targets but the guys are still finding some stonkers. Min Mindy found one of our rarest ever milled silver coins a beauty 1685 shilling, the first one the club has ever dug. If you look at our James II page we have only ever found 7 James II silver coins in 10 years and they have all been 1,2 & 3 pence examples. We have never found a sixpence let alone a shilling (12 pence) as James II was only on the throne for 3 years so any find of his is very rare. The James II page has both his and Charles II milled silver coins which are again rare detecting finds. http://www.colchestertreasurehunting.co.uk/jamesII.html John Sills at the Celtic Coin Index has recorded the Celtic gold posted on the 18th Oct I've recorded the Gallo-Belgic E as 13.0623. It's a class 4 coin and can be dated quite precisely, probably to around 55/54 BC; it's from a known reverse die, there are several others with this characteristic die flaw below the horse's body. Many thanks, John
Very rare 1685 James II milled silver shilling - our first ever James 1st shilling find
Bronze Roman Key 2nd/3rd Century
A cast copper alloy Late Roman amphora-shaped strap end Circa 300 - 410 AD
BC Roman republican silver coin - cooking to remove crust and sent for ID I found a second to go looking for an ID for this one. I was quite a bit off on my first estimated date - dating to 42 BC, it's right on the cusp of the Republican & Imperial periods. The family is Claudia (Babelon/RSC Claudia 15). The obverse is Apollo, head right (should be a lyre behind the head, but that would have been on the missing bit.) The reverse is Diana Lucifera standing holding two torches, with P•CLODIVS downwardly on the right, and M•F• (illegible) to the left. Mark http://www.stoa.org/gallery/album98/ML_31_Clodia_den
Late Early Medieval (Anglo-Scandinavian) cast copper alloy incomplete cheek piece from a harness fitting
1915 WWI Anti German Union Britain for the British Lapel Badge. Brass and enamel. Good condition. Used to stir up anti German feeling and expel all Germans
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18th Oct 2013 - New Oct finds page 2 added - More Celtic gold found and superb relics Just split and added a new Oct 2 finds page to speed up load times. I have uploaded a load more great hammered silver and relics to the new page today. Cal Sarah has popped her first ever Celtic gold and it is our first 50 BC Gallo Belgic full stater type found this season, just sent it off to the CCI for recording. Updated this years Gold page which has now hit 28 pieces. The guys have been finding some fascinating hammered coins, both copper and silver. Several are unrecorded types. I particularly like the Edward 1st penny below where the engraver got the layout and spelling wrong and tried to amend his errors.
50BC Gallo Belgic Celtic gold full stater - sent to CCI for recording 17.28mm - 6.00g
Medieval griffin headed mount - possible knife pommel
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17th Oct 2013 Our rarest ever gold milled coin - more stunning hammered silver finds - Museum finds back in Nov
Our rarest ever milled gold coin find - 1689 William and Mary milled gold full guinea - Lion in shield type, elephant under bust 11g, 25.2mm It has been our best ever start of a season on record and loads of our best producers are still in stubble and due to come on line shortly. The guys have around 300 of our 500 + fields to pick from each morning and both old land and new land are producing stunning finds. Chicago Ron found our rarest ever milled gold find around an early house site and what a monster, rare as hens teeth. Ron now ties with Ark Gary as the clubs top gold coin finder on 14 gold coins. The guys have been finding some stunning hammered silver coins from the tiniest Elizabeth 1st half pennies to the monster shilling. I took some size comparison shots below that really show the range of silver sizes. I spoke to the museum and there are currently 70 of our finds with them being recorded on PAS and they are due to be returned in Nov. My new Anglo Gallic reference book has arrived and what a great read. It covers all the coins issued by English Kings that ruled parts of Europe and that Edward III from Aquitaine (Elias 56) one of the guys found is detailed in there. More great news from the museum that the recent 3 gold rings found by the guys are dated as 19thC and therefore not treasure as they are not 300 years old. After their export licenses have been issued they get to take them home. The medieval ruby collet ring found on the 15th Oct is however confirmed as medieval Circa 13thC so will now go through the treasure process.
More finds uploaded to Oct finds page. Updated this years Gold page which has now hit 27 pieces
16thC Tudor clothing fastener
A complete cast copper alloy pouring spout in the form of a dog’s head. Medieval to Post-Medieval (c. AD 1400 – c. AD 1550). Similar decorative spouts are illustrated in Bailey (1997, 57-59) but none of them show how they would have been attached to vessels. The spouts mainly date to the 15th century although their use may have continued into the 16th century. A number of these types of spouts have been recorded on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database. For example, see finds: SF-CC25D3 and IOW-0E8386
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15th Oct 2013 Great coin ID's and medieval gold found - Barn raffle draw
Medieval gold ruby ring - reported as treasure to museum 4 of the tiny rubies remain still captured in their settings The guys are still finding very unusual coins that I have just got the ID's for. I am amazed that what looked initially like a thick silver coin weight is in fact a very early Continental Bruges, after 1259 AD , petit denier, mint little coin. Min Mindy got the 2nd gold find of her trip with a stonking ruby and gold medieval ring fragment. Under the microscope you can see 4 of the Rubies are still in place but slightly pushed back into their sockets. It will be fascinating once this find is with the curators at the British Museum as to what date this find is, could be very early by the construction. Updated this years Gold page which has now hit 25 pieces
Org Gary and his son Erik enjoying the sunny weather
Miss Jeff enjoying the mud The weather has changed from brilliant sun shine to a few hard days of rain which is very good for the ground to compress the fields but not good for Missouri Jeff's last day as he risked a field that was a mud pig. Org Ed captured the changes on his camera and just sent me the pictures which are brilliant showing Jeff wallowing in the mud. That is hard core hunting !! Jeff even managed to pull up a medieval hammered silver penny in this bog !! More finds uploaded to Oct finds page. Barn raffle # 10 drawing held on Oct 8 2013. And the winner is...The video is up on the members forum and what great fun, the winner was actually there for the drawing.
Spain 1/2 Real, 1610-C. Segovia Mint. PCGS AU-50 Secure Holder. Philipp III
Bruges, after 1259, petit denier with lozenge cross; J. Ghyssens, Les petits deniers de Flandre des XIIe at XIIIe siècles, no. 437 (p. 159 and pl. 13) or 435 if the knight has spurs.
Martin Allen
Rare find 1701 William III milled silver three pence
15thC Continental jetton - Working on ID - not in Mitchiner Ref book Obv PBS DG HIB REX CO ZEA Rev PACE
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11th Oct 2013 4 more gold found and some fascinating widgets and hammered silver
Pretty 18 carat emerald gold ring - no hall marks and each stone is a different shaped cut It could be a lot older than it looks so reported to museum as potential treasure 2.46g, 19.71mm
Another 18 carat gold ring with rubies - no hall marks It could be a lot older than it looks so reported to museum as potential treasure 3.76g, 4.16mm
1346-1361 Edward III gold half noble 2.52g (full weight 4.12g), 25.10mm
20thC Continental 9carat gold and platinum diamond ring - Marked PLAT 9 CT 18.82mm dia, 1.73g
The guys are still banging in gold all over the joint. When guys have over 500 fields to pick from in the morning their choices of a site can be very weird. Where Ed and Barry both got their gold rings you could not have paid me to hunt there !! That is why I never pick fields to hunt because I suck at it. The museum experts have just replied by e-mail that Ed's emerald ring has been ID's as 19thC and therefore not treasure. I have just sent off more pictures to the museum on the Ruby gold ring for their experts to evaluate further. Meanwhile Cal George popped a modern continental 9 carat gold and platinum diamond ring and then Miss Jeff found his first gold coin in 40 years of metal detecting with a chewed up a 1300's Edward III gold half noble. Jeff also found a really strange hammered silver penny I had never seen before which had me completely stumped. Big thanks to Dr Martin at the Fitzwilliam museum for helping me ID it as a Edward III as duke of Aquitaine penny. I have just ordered up a great reference book that covers these coins, The Anglo-Gallic Coins by E.R.D. Elias (May 1984). The guys have been finding some brilliant relics like the 'Hoyle' token below, the first Doyle Brunson !! I have posted a ton more great silver and do dads to the latest finds page 2013 Oct finds page. Updated this years Gold page which has now hit 24 pieces
2ndC Roman silver coin sent for ID - cooking to remove crust We will need to see what appears on the obverse - particularly in the legend - before I can be completely certain who this is beyond "an Antonine woman". It's highly unlikely to be Faustina Sr. since the main body of her coinage is posthumous and the reverse type - PVDICITIA - would be a quality or virtue only of a living woman. I suspect Faustina Jr. for the following reasons: The shape of the head and the hair style seem to strongly suggest the Antonine era, and although it could be either Faustina Jr. (issued under Antoninus Pius or Marcus Aurelius), Lucilla or Crispina, the length of the obverse legend suggested under the encrustation is likely only on a coin of Faustina Jr. But we'll have to wait and see what the cooker reveals on the obverse. Mark
Totally stumped on this coin - It has four crowns in the quadrants and the only King with crowns is James II of Scotland and this is not one of those. Also the bust is facing left not face on ?? Must be continental ? Turns out to be Edward III as duke of Aquitaine 0.65g, 14.52mm
Edward III from Aquitaine (Elias 56). The date of these coins, which are often found in small quantities in English and Scottish hoards, is uncertain, but probably in the 1330s H.R. Duncan Elias, Anglo-Gallic Coins, no. 56 Dr Martin Allen
English card game authority, "the Father of whist" 18thC Hoyle token - man playing cards Edmond Hoyle (1672 – August 29, 1769was a writer best known for his works on the rules and play of card games. The phrase "according to Hoyle" came into the language as a reflection of his generally-perceived authority on the subject;since that time, use of the phrase has expanded into general use in situations in which a speaker wishes to indicate an appeal to a putative authority.
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9th Oct 2013 More Celtic gold and stunning 11,000 BC flint tool finds - free space on Sal's hunts
Addedomaros 45BC Celtic gold stater - sent to CCI for recording 18.32mm, 5.48g Chicago Ron popped his 13th gold coin with a stunning 45 BC Adde full gold stater bringing him within reach of Ark Gary's club record of 14 gold coins. Min Mindy is in 3rd place with 8 gold coins. I have just sent it off to the museum and John Sills at the CCI for recording, the guys are keeping them really busy this season as record number of coins are being found. Updated this years Gold page which has now hit 20 pieces. Kansas Barry also added a very old find to his collection with a huge 11,000 BC flint hand axe he eyeballed on the field opposite to that monster battle flint axe found last season. The guys have also been finding some very crisp hammered silver coins and several types like the Henry VIII halfpenny - 'brush' hair - long cross fourchee - 2nd coinage - Type 1 B(f), never seen that type before. I have posted a load more great finds to the new finds page 2013 Oct finds page. I will have start a new Oct 2 finds page shortly as this one is already getting two huge. I have a ton more great finds to try and upload today so check the Oct finds page regularly. Louisiana Sal still has a couple of odd dates free on his coming hunts, if you want to join a great bunch of old seasoned senior members then drop Sal an e-mail
6 man teams each week.
Huge 11,000 BC flint hand axe - 100 mm L x 70.49 mm W Middle Stone Age(Mesolithic)
1526-44 Henry VIII hammered silver halfpenny - 'brush' hair - long cross fourchee - 2nd coinage - Type 1 B(f) Obv + hxDxGxROSAxSIExSPIA' Rev CIVI/TAS/** 0.33g,11.07mm
11,000 BC flint scraper 47.47mm L, 47.63g
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7th Oct 2013 More stunning relics and silver - new Oct finds page added So many great finds are turning up it is difficult to pick which to put on the latest news page. I have created a new 2013 Oct finds page and uploaded a load more to this page and now the Sept 2 page will also load quicker. Tons more great finds to upload yet to the new finds page.
Simply stunning condition Roman coin - one of the best I have ever seen dug - sent for ID This is a billon centenionalis of Constantine II as Caesar (he was only briefly Augustus from 337-340 - the shortest-lived of Constantine's 3 successor-sons). From the mint at Aquilea, it dates to 320-321. The reverse type is CAESARVM NOSTRORVM - "Our Caesars" - who, in addition to Constantine II, were Crispus and Licinius II - these last two would not finish out the decade. In fact, neither had more than 5 years left on Earth before meeting his separate and unfortunate end. Both, coincidentally, killed on orders of Constantine I. Read about them sometime - particularly Crispus - no current "Adult Soap Opera" has anything to compare with the rise and demise of Crispus as well as his scheming step-mother Fausta. Licinius Jr, on the other hand, was a politically incovenient loose-end to be "tied-up" in the normal Roman Imperial manner. The reference for this is RIC vol VII, (pg. 402), 74. RIC considers all the Votas of this series from Aquilea "rare", and this one is rated R5 - or very rare. Of course this frequency rating was based on a survey of pieces in public and important private collections in the mid 1960's. Very many fewer of them had been dug up at that time, and there was not much interest in the Æ of this era among the entrenched heads of numismatic society - elderly Victorian gentlemen who considered these pieces beneath their notice and not worthy of their time. This tended to make the collections of the time a bit light on this sort of material - a few representative pieces was all that was deemed necessary. However, an R5 rating from a Western mint like Aquilea probably translates into a legitimate scarcity today. It's not one of the specific items of the type you are most likely to encounter. They were produced in great quantity and variety from 15 or 20 mints during this era so the general type is not rare at all, but this specific combination of obverse, reverse, mint, etc, is scarce, comparatively speaking. Nice coin. Mark
17thC silver seal matrix - reported to museum as treasure Crown over Tudor rose
Rare as hens teeth find - 1663 Charles II milled silver shilling
1627 Charles 1st hammered silver sixpence - Negro's head mint mark Group B 2nd bust - Tower mint under Charles 1st
Interesting 1stC Celtic bronze unit - appears to be a double sided horse which is not one I recognise - sent to CCI for ID and recording
Roman military mount
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3rd Oct 2013 More amazing relics - CCI numbers issued and neat Roman silver forgery
The guys have been finding some amazing relics and silver that I have posted to the latest finds page 2013 Sept finds page 2. There is a beauty pipe tamper and more Roman bronze hoard coins, Mark Lehman the clubs Roman expert, has ID's some of the Sestersius with detail. John Sills has recorded the latest Celtic gold 45 BC Adde qtr stater. Cal Ben is having great hunt and found the mint fibular below and the Roman forgery, his wife Patti popped the stoning medieval lead seal matrix, first lead one I have seen that is not a vessica type. It's always good to see another one of these, the obverses of this particular type of Addedo quarter are a nightmare to die link because they're so similar so the more examples there are the better; I've recorded it as 13.0558. Best Wishes John
Remarkable Roman fibular brooch that looks like it has never been in the ground ? Grave goods ? 2ndC Knee brooch - Semicircular headed types Ref Hattatt 469
Stunning lead early medieval heraldic seal matrix - never seen a lead example - impression is still very crisp so if it is on the existing 'Dering Rolls' we should be able to ID the owner. Our club researcher Michigan Chris is on the case.
Closest I can find is a shield used on tokens. Haven't seen any examples on seals.
17thC Dutch type thimble with crest and name
Stunning strike of a 1430 -1431 Henry VI hammered silver half goat with a very crisp legend- Perfect Rosette Mascle issue as seen clearly in the legends IM Cross IIIb, mascule and rosettes stops - 9 arches to tressure, fleurs on cusps, none over crown Obv + hENRIC' DI*GRA REX ANGL *Z F Rev VIL/LA/CALI/SIE - Calais mint - mascule before LA - rosette after SIC POSVI*/DEVMx/DIVTOR/ExMEVM
2ndC Contemporary Roman silver coin forgery - copper inner with thin sheets of silver covering - sent for ID Since there's no legend at all and only part of the bust remains, we must go by "pattern recognition" here, but to my eye it appears to have been a Felicitas (I say this based on interpreting the object the personification on the reverse is holding as a caduceus) denarius of Hadrian (117-138) that was being copied here. The workmanship is really quite good on the obverse so you can see how a whole example of this could be passed easily in any situation where coins were not being weighed or minutely examined on an individual basis. A couple of these could be slipped into a bag of coins in some situation where coin was regularly handled in bulk and over time it could be a highly profitable, relatively low-risk operation. Mark
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30th Sept 2013 Oregon boys do the double gold - Saxon gold donation letter arrived - CCI numbers issued
1363 -69 Edward III hammered gold 1/4 noble - Treaty series Curule shaped X - Lis in centre of reverse Obv EDWARDxDEIxGRAxREXxANGL 18.58mm,1.84g
Addedomaros 45BC Celtic gold qtr stater - sent to CCI for recording 13.22mm, 1.33g
This is the best start to a season I have ever seen and gold is coming up all over the shop, old land, new land and pasture land. Org Gary popped the first of the week with a sweet 45BC Addedomaros Celtic gold qtr stater and then his mate Org Ed found a mind Edward III hammered gold. The Org boys have been coming here for over 6 years and have a serious track record of great finds including that 1300 BC gold ring Ed and the landowner donated to the Colchester museum. On the the donation front I also received the paperwork from the Fitzwilliam museum this morning detailing the donation Cal George made with that mega rare Saxon gold forgery found last season. Both the landowner and finder generously donated this amazing coin to that museum. John Still's has recorded and issued CCI numbers for the last 2 full Celtic gold stater finds. Thanks for the latest pair of Addedomaros staters, the one you sent a few days ago (the very round coin) I've recorded as 13.0532, and yesterdays coin (the oval one) is 13.0533. John
Stunning complete huge Georgian horse harness bell with 'I' foundry mark Only ever seen fragments of this type before
There has been some exceptional finds being made like the mint Roman silver Cal Ben found below and Cal Bruce found an amazing horse harness bell complete with a foundry mark. I have never seen a complete one dug in over 10 years. I have posted a load more great relics and hammered silver to the latest finds page 2013 Sept finds page 2.
2ndC Roman silver coin sent for ID 3.36g, 17.46 mm
Righto - you hardly need my help on one like this, but here goes: This is Faustina the Elder - wife of Antoninus Pius and mother of Faustina the Younger, Marcus Aurelius' wife. The Elder Faustina died in 141, only a couple of years after Antoninus ascended to the purple, so the great bulk of her coinage is posthumous. This denarius, from the mint at Rome, c. 147 or later, has the common AETERNITAS reverse legend which can be found coupled with a dozen or so different reverse types. This one is Juno raising her right hand and holding a scepter. It's considered quite common, overall - but this is a very nice find for your guys! Mark
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28th Sept 2013 Mindy digs her 8th gold coin, James pops a 2nd Adde - Police are on the case using ' Smart water'
Minnesota Mindy - clubs top female hunter with her 8th gold coin find
Addedomarus 45BC Celtic gold full stater - sent to CCI for recording 18.42mm, 5.53g
Addedomarus 45BC Celtic gold full stater - sent to CCI for recording 17.13mm, 5.54g Thanks for the new stater, I'm out of town at the moment and won't be back until the weekend (photographing a collection of Celtic tomorrow), will send CCI no. early next week. All the best John
1604 James 1st Rose ryal gold coin weight, 2nd coinage revalued Rev Crown XXXIII (33 shillings )
Min Mindy did it again and found her 8th gold coin, 50 BC Adde Celtic, making her and 3rd top hunter in the club and hot on the heels of Chicago Ron and Ark Gary who holds the club record with 14 gold coins. Gary's total is the most impressive with the only guy to have both Roman, Celtic, Saxon and milled gold. Of his 14 gold 12 are ancient ones. Can James then popped a 2nd Added gold which takes the gold total to 17 pieces already so we have a good shot at the club record of 56 pieces found last season. Gold page I have posted a load more spectacular relics and hammered silver to the latest finds page 2013 Sept finds page 2. I was visited by the police in the field this week and they cleverly use unmarked cars and no uniforms to catch night hawkers. They are currently investigating several reports the club members have made of night hawking on club land. The police are using very clever technology to catch these thieves including hidden night vision movement activated CCTV cameras that have already captured license plate numbers they are investigating and 'Smart Water' . I had never heard of smart water http://www.smartwater.com/ but is amazing stuff as the thieves get coated in the field with this invisible water. They walk on the field and they get covered in it, their cars then get coated as do their detectors and their houses. Each smart water is as individual as a DNA test and 1000 of thieves have been caught using it. Watch the video's on the Smart water site and it is fantastic stuff.
Cal Jamie present Cal Jim with the Wayne Otto memorial award
Medieval silver ring - reported as treasure to museum
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24th Sept 2013 New Sept finds page 2 added The Sept finds page is so massive that I have created a 2nd Sept finds page to speed up load times. I have just uploaded a load more great Roman, hammered and milled silver and stunning relics to the new page. |
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23rd Sept 2013 - More Double gold finds - Alaskan George's gold presentation watch arrives - more stunning relics
Alaskan George was the very first guy together with Texas Mike to come here to hunt over 10 years ago now. George is still coming back each year and to celebrate his support to the club as our most Senior Member I am commissioning a beauty 18 carat solid gold pocket watch engraved for presentation later in the season. It arrived yesterday and she is a real beauty with a triple draw presentation box and full certificates of authenticity. It is a shame I had a already told George about his new watch as I would love to keep this sucker for myself !!
4th/5thC Roman gold coin - this is the 3rd 'sandblasted' looking example we have found 3.8g, 19.89mm
1775 George III milled gold full guinea (21 shillings, 156 pence) 24.64mm,8.41g
Org Stuart - 27 years to get that gold monkey off his back Min Mindy added another Roman gold in very beat up shape, bringing her gold coin total in the club to 7 easily our top female hunter. Meanwhile Oregon Stuart found his first gold coin find in 27 years of detecting, a mint George III full guinea. I have updated the gold page that now stands at 15 pieces for the season so far. John Still's has confirmed my ID on the latest Celtic gold find below and it is a rare early type at 40 BC. I've recorded the ABC 2246 Floret quarter as 13.0501, there are 14 others known at present, this is the second coin from this particular reverse die; it's a rare early type from the 40s BC, nearly all examples are from Essex. I'm struggling with the OS reference, could you tell me which parish it's in or the nearest village so I can make sure I've got it right? All the best John
Spectacular condition 1stC Celtic cosmetic woad grinder Cast copper alloy cosmetic grinder (also known as woad grinder) of late Iron Age to early Roman date - 1stC BC - mid 1stC AD Best one I have ever seen dug especially with complete hanging loop
The guys have been finding some amazing relics and my favourite is a mint complete Celtic woad grinder which Wash Jimsnr popped together with a mint 13thC seal matrix. The guys added another 4 Roman bronzes coins to a disclaimed hoard from a couple of years ago and some are mint and of the same type. I am well behind with photographing finds but have still managed to post a load more great widgets and silver to the latest finds page. Sept finds page 1
13thC seal matrix
Celtic bronze unit - currently soaking to try and clean up for ID
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20th Sept 2013 - Double gold finds - biggest find ever and a brilliant Roman silver ID
This could be a 50BC Cantii Celtic gold qtr stater - sent to CCI for recording and confirmed ID 11.19mm, 1.40g
1844 Victoria milled gold half sovereign The boys have found yet more gold with a neat Victoria half sovereign from Christy and a rare Celtic qtr stater from NH Dave. It appears to be a very are 50BC Cantii which is only the 2nd one we have found. I have sent it off to be recorded at the CCI and get a confirmed ID. NH Dave a;so found the biggest relic I have seen dug and it weighs 19lb. I suspect it is a medieval steelyard weight for a specific purpose so it is one for the museum to take a look at. I have updated the gold page that now stands at 13 pieces for the season so far.
A total monster relic !! Biggest relic we have ever dug - This weight weighs 18.8 Lbs and is 139mm dia x 102 mm H It is a steelyard weight - probably medieval - need to do some research on PAS Can Ryan dug another very rare find for Essex with the earliest 2000 BC British flat axe you can find. I have uploaded a load of great hammered silver coins and relics to the latest finds page Sept finds page 1 including a rare find for us a Celtic bronze unit, I have soaking to try and clean up some more. .
2000 BC bronze flat axe - very rare find for Essex 47.46mm L x 35.71mm W
Unknown NEW type - mullet by crown 1509 - 26 Henry VIII hammered silver farthing - Mullet by crown - Long Cross Fourchee, brush hair - Portcullis initial mark - single arched crown Obv HENRIC DI GRA AGL' Rev CIVI/TAS/ ****
4th/5thC Roman silver coin - sent for ID 12.52mm,0.67g Although I can tell you a lot about this piece, it is a legitimate mystery! - it started life as a Roman Siliqua in either the 4th or 5th century. It was clipped - probably officially - to conform with the size and wieght of Saxon Sceattas sometime during the 5th or 6th century. The portrait is male, to the best of my ability to tell. Unfortunately, all but the last few letters of the obverse legend are also off-flan. What is quite clear is "....P F AVG" - Now, "Murphy's Law of coin legends" states, "If a coin's legend is necessary for making a positive ID and part of the name is missing, the part which will be illegible or off-flan is most likely to be the part which would be most useful for identification." OK, so far, so good, but here it begins to break down. There are some few fragments of letters other than the ...P F AVG visible on the obverse - this gives me some hope for assigning it to a specific ruler. The most clear of these sets of letter seriphs is the base of what is almost certainly an "A" as the last letter in the ruler's name (actually, the name appears to end "...SA") Do you see where the problem is beginning to emerge here? We have an obvious bust of a man or male figure and a name which can only belong to a female in this time-period as part of a legend which can only be for a man. My only hope is to see if there is any case in which a female ruler placed a portrait of - probably her son - an underage male heir-apparent on a coin which bore her name as ruler/regent. I don't know of any such situation, off hand, so I'll need to do a bit of research here. What I can say now is it almost certainly dates to the period 364 (when this reverse type was introduced) through 455, the date of the death of Valentinian III, the last known emperor to use this reverse type on siliquae. it's now couple hours after I wrote the first part, above - I've had a chance to do some digging. Okay, you can ignore a good bit of the last paragraph of the preceding - a little closer inspection of the list of names from our 364-455 time frame brings up (very few, but) one exception to the "...VS P F AVG" formula which is very interesting. This would be Flavius Victor, the young child/son of Magnus Maximus (who figures in a Kipling short story, "Puck of Pook's Hill") Mag Max himself was one of the fairly short-lived emperors as those acclaimed and elevated by their troops in the field tended to be, ruling only from 383-388. He didn't proclaim his son co-emperor until 387, so it was only about a year's time in which siliquae were issued with a portrait ostensibly of his very young son and the legend "D N FL VICTOR P F AVG". If we assume that terminal letter is an R rather than an A (and aside from K, I don't know what other letter could masquerade as an A) and that what appears to be the bottom of an S preceding it is actually an O, we now have a working teory for the obverse legend. Only Trier, Aquilea and Milan minted siliquae for Flavius Victor, but I see nothing that will allow us to assign this coin to one of them rather than another - the mint mark is still missing. It appears that the siliquae from Milan are somewhat less rare than those from Trier and Aquilea, however, so I guess we could say there's a better chance that it's from Milan than from either of the other two mints. While this is not an enormous rarity, the book values for Flavius Victor's siliquae run 4-5 times as high as common siliquae from other, more-or-less contemporary issuing rulers. You coul call it "legitimately scarce" and not be exaggerating the situation at all. Nice find! - an attractive coin, even given its clipping, etc. I wouldn't do any serious cleaning - leave it with the patina as is, maybe just give it a light scrub with dish detergent. Mark
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17th Sept 2013 - More Celtic gold and great silvers posted to latest finds page
4th/5thC Roman silver coin - sent for ID 12.52mm,0.67g NH Dave has popped another very crisp 45 BC Addedomarus gold stater which John Still's has recorded for us below. I have updated the gold page that now stands at 11 pieces. He also found a very crisp4th/5thC Roman silver coin that I have sent off to Mark Lehman for ID.
Addedomarus 45BC Celtic gold full stater - sent to CCI for recording 17.70mm, 5.56g I've recorded the latest Addedo stater as 13.0498, another fine looking coin. If it's OK with you I'll wait till later in the season to send information about the die links, as I mentioned the Index is in storage till mid October and it's almost as quick to die link several coins as it is to do one or two. John
What a great find our first ever tiny 1703 Anne milled silver penny and size comparison to half crown Can Ryan found two stonking early milled silvers and the littlest and largest I pictured for size comparison. I have uploaded a load of great hammered silver coins and relics to the latest finds page Sept finds page 1 Atl Mike found this small group of 8 big Romans in the corner of a field that I sent to Mark Lehman for his views.
Interesting group of rough 1stC Roman big Sestertius bronzes found in the corner of a new field by At Mike - could be a potential hoaird there ?? A couple have some detail so I will send them off to mark Lehman for an ID. What you have likely found is a "lost purse", or a very small buried hoard. Sestertii were one of the real "workhorse" denominations in circulation during the years the Romans were most active in Britain. You find a lot of denarii (relatively speaking) because that is the sort of denomination which would be likely to be squirrelled-away as savings - a "store of value" for the average man who probably never saw a piece of gold change hands in his life. It was the sestertii, dupondii & asses which really got the day-to-day work done. I'm not all that sure what exactly is in ciculation in GB these days, 1967 having been the last time I visited, but in the US, I'd compare the larger Æ coins to the $20, $10 & $5 bills - it's nearly impossible to draw comparisons between actual buying-power value, of course, since so many items in the "market basket" were vastly more or less expensive than today, but the 5, 10 & 20 make for the same levels of multiples - an as being half a dupondius and a quarter of a sestertius, and the sestertius, in turn, being a quarter of the denarius (so it doesn't quite hold up all the way through) but the denarius would be more on the order of a $100 bill - a day's pay for a soldier or tradesman. Maybe you'd take one with you if you were buying something major, but for day to day transactions, it was the large Æ's changing hands - buying a meal, modest lodging for the night, a mug of wine, etc, those sorts of things would be likely to be paid-for and priced in the Æ range. So this find of 8 sestertii together represented a little bit of wealth - a couple hundred dollars,say - but not a massive sum. The group could have been lost as a purse by a normally solvent person and would have been missed, but would not, most likely, have been a total disaster. Or perhaps a clumsy "cutpurse" might have stashed his most recent acquisition and never returned to find it, having been caught on a subsequent foray into the marketplace... We can make up scenarios for this sort of sum of money fairly easily, since it is a comprehensible sum in comprehensible units the cognate of which we probably have in our own wallets (or would have if not quite so much of our commerce were conducted with plastic). In my opinion, the 1st example looks as though it might be a youthful portrait of Commodus, son of Marcus Aurelius and his successor - While it might also be a younger portrait of Hadrian - before he cultivated his beard - the hair on your piece appears to be treated in the very curly style seen in M. Aurelius' and Commodus' portraits - see below for a Caesar-era M. Aurelius sestertius - Your 2nd piece is, well, a good bit less easy to try to match - there is a portrait there - there seems not to be any beard (which pretty much rules out Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and M. Aurelius as Augusti) the head doesn't have the "bowling-ball" aspect of Trajan's portraits. I don't think it's one of the pre-adoptives (Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba or Vitellius - definitely not a Flavian) So I guess we have pretty much the same pool of possibilities to draw from. A very early Hadrian or M. Aurelius - although both were almost never shown completely beardless - or a young Commodus. That's about the best I can do, given the small amount of info available - these pieces were likely minted sometime in the 2nd century. The relatively stable fiscal and political situation in the 2nd century also fits for a "working" purseful of sestertii. They circulated long enough to often be worn almost smooth in this era, meaning there was never a good reason for them to be hoarded on any widespread basis. Mark
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14th Sept 2013 - Another double gold find - Special police night hawking dedicated contact number We have just seen signs of illegal metal detecting on a new field we just started detecting and I have informed the landowner and the museum who have given me a a new dedicated police officer contact Andy Long, Tel 07890 513899. His sole job is to catch these thieving herberts and they use every electronic trick in the book now to catch them, it is amazing the technology they use. They have the power to stop and search and confiscate any find and all equipment. Then with a warrant they then search the thieves houses and take away everything, all finds machine etc before taking them to court. They take any and every report made to them deadly serious and will fully investigate and prosecute in every case. It is great news that they are out there now stopping these thieves that give the metal detecting hobby a bad name. If you see, hear of or suspect anyone of carrying out these illegal activities then ring Andy or drop him an e-mail in total confidentiality. I have supplied all our landowners with the details so when they take a trip out on their land they can instantly get action if they see night lights or dodgy looking parked cars. Just take a snap of any cars registration that looks wrong and Andy will snap into action.
1788 George III gold half guinea Meanwhile the guys finished the 2nd week of the season on a real high and popped another two bits of gold taking the total so far to 10 pieces. Kansas Bob has been detecting for 37 years and on his first trip here has finally got that monkey off his back with a crisp George III gold half guinea. GA Andy added his 2nd gold of the trip with a triple sided gold fob chain pendant that would have had 3 precious stones that unfortunately are now missing. I have not taken a snap of it yet. The guys have found some stonking relics and hammered silver and I have posted a load more to the Sept finds page 1.
First shield shaped 12thC seal matrix I have seen found here - got to clean it up and do a wax impression yet A copper alloy matrix with shield-shaped face and six-sided handle terminating in a rhomboid suspension loop with circular perforation. Device of a heraldic lion rampant This shield-shaped matrix bears a heraldic lion rampant; does not imply that the owner used such a lion as his arms or, indeed, that he bore arms at all; many such matrices carry heraldic creatures. Date from: AD 1200
Huge c10thC Anglo Scandinavian trade weight with runic inscription - one for the museum
Mitch Chris on the members forum has ID'd that unknown continental hammered silver coin from the 11th Sept post. PORTUGAL. João IV, the Restorer, 1640-1656 AD. AR Half Tostão of 50 Reis of Lisbon, 1641. Five shields with fleurs in quadrants / Voided cross with numerals of date in quadrants
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11th Sept 2013 - Double gold finds and a very unusual hammy - first seal matrix of the season
Addedomarus 45BC Celtic gold full stater - sent to CCI for recording & reported as potential addition hoard to museum 18.68mm, 5.61g The boys are still on fire and GA Doug popped another stunning 45 BC Adde Celtic gold stater which has been reported as a potential hoard to an exiting one we reported last March. This is Doug's first ever gold coin find and it has taken him 5 years of hunting here so he is well pumped to get that monkey off his back. He also popped a very unusual continental hammered silver penny I had not seen before. I did a quick bit of research but was unable to ID it yet. John Still's has sent back the CCI numbers for last 3 Celtic gold we recorded, I have asked him to check the records to see if these coin match any of the die types we have reported before so we see the movement of these coins. Glad to see the new season has got off to a good start! The Cuno quarter is 13.0486, the first Addedo stater (5.57g) is 13.0487 and the one you sent today (5.61g) is 13.0488. Unfortunately nearly all the CCI cards are in storage until mid-October while part of the Institute of Archaeology is re-wired so I can't do detailed checks until then for most series. The obverse die for 13.0487, 5.57g, is a known one, however, and the reverse looks familiar as well; it's a very nice strike all in all. I'm fairly sure the 13.0488 obverse is recorded as well, it's quite rare nowadays for a new obverse die to turn up from this series but new reverses pop up from time to time. All the best John
Early hammered silver coin - possibly IOAN Polish ? researching it 2.86g, 20.72mm Atl Mike added another gold to his count which stands at 4, it is a dangley decoration thingy off a Georgian fob watch chain. I have posted it to the latest finds page 2013 Sept finds page 1
13thC vessica seal matrix Interesting impression of an open hand with two stars above reaching for a closed fist Legend - EDEVM * TIMET ( Fear God) Meanwhile Bob dug our first medieval vessica seal of the season and it is very crisp. I did a wax impression and Mitch Chris translated it on the members forum. Awesome! I think "timete deum" means "fear God". Mitch Chris
1640's English Civil War lead gun powder measure and cap Mitch Dave has also found a 2nd Civil War powder measure off another field, Colchester saw a lot of action during this troubled period which included a huge siege http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Colchester I have posted more great finds to the latest finds page 2013 Sept finds page 1
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8th Sept 2013 - 1400BC axe head and triple gold finds -first Celtic of the season
154mm x 54mm Bronze Age Axe (c.1500-1400BC) cast copper alloy primary shield pattern palstave, dating to the Acton Park Phase.
10-40 AD Cunobelin gold qtr stater - sent to CCI for recording 1.33g, 12.82mm We have the first full team of the season in and they have already done the triple gold and senior member Mitch Dave found his first ever gold coin and our first Celtic coin find of the season. It is the classic 'King of Colchester' Cunobelin gold qtr stater and a very crisp strike. I have sent it off to John Still's at the CCI for recording and asked if it matches any of the other die types we have found to see how far it has travelled. Atl Mike then found the 2nd Celtic gold from the Grandfather of Cunobelin, Addedomarus. This has been reported to the museum as a potential hoard as it was found in a previous hoard spot we reported last March. This is another particularly crisp die strike and I have also asked John to compare it to to the other die types of the one we have recorded. Geo Doug them found the 'monster' oldest find of a complete 1400 BC palstave axe, first one from this new area we have just started hunting. If that was not enough Geo Andy, his hunting buddy walks back to the bus and he has popped a mint George III gold third guinea on a field no one else was hunting. Absolutely amazing hunting by the guys. I have also posted a load more silver and relics to the latest finds page.
Addedomarus 45BC Celtic gold full stater - sent to CCI for recording & reported as potential addition hoard to museum 17.98mm, 5.57g Updated this years gold page
1803 George III milled gold third guinea 2.83g, 17.27mm
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6th Sept 2013 - Amazing start to the season - first full team in Sat - Mindy wins Sal's raffle for free trip Florida family finds sunken treasureFlorida family finds sunken treasure.
Amazing double head strike 1430-34 Henry VI hammered silver groat - Pine cone Mascle issue - Initial mark cross potonce Pinecone and mascle in reverse legend - satire stops - Ref North 1461 Obv HENRIC DI GRA REX ANGL Z FRANCE DNS HYB Rev VIL/LA/ CALI/SIE - Calais Mint 3.63g, 28.7mm
Groat(4 pence)3.63g, 28.7mm and a farthing (1/4 penny) 0.21g,10.81mm size comparison
Stunning dated 1772 George III gold half guinea coin weight - should be 10s and 6 D for normal half guinea Obv 10S 5D - Ten shillings and 5 pence - Ewer counter mark both sides Ref Withers p 229 1998, O 3.87g, 19.25gr, should weigh 18gr
The guys have made an amazing start to the season and have been banging away with great finds off both the old and new land. I have posted a whole page of great silver coins and relics to the latest finds page from every date period. Probably a club hammered silver coin count record for just 3 guys.
1526 - 1544 Henry VIII hammered silver sovereign CD besides shield - Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall Atl Mike has been a senior member here for 10 years and has had his best ever hunt with his new CTX machine which is an amazing piece of kit. He found the littlest and largest medieval hammered silver so I pictured them together above for a size comparison. My favourite hammered silver coin find is the mint Henry VIII sovereign penny above found by Texas Rob.
circa 15thC animal headed ewer spout Louisiana Sal has drawn his History hunts raffle and Min Mindy won the 1st prize prize of a week free detecting Barn trip with Sal, big congrats to Mindy. In Third Place, winning the brand spanking new Minelab X-Terra 305 ..
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2nd Sept 2013 - What great start to the season - triple gold and exceptional Roman silver - more awards Bavaria Terry's pouch was voted the 'Pouch of the Year' by the members with Cal George's pouch coming in a close 2nd. Both pouches were monster gold and silver affairs so it was a close call. That is the double for Terry this season as he was also the winner of the clubs ' Coin hunter of the year' award. All cups and shields are now with the engravers and a new set ordered up for the coming season.
17th/18thC possible 1.25 carat 'Mine cut' diamond gold ring - reported as potential treasure 4.17g, 17.64 mm dia
Just of couple of guys arrived early to kick off the season and the first full team arrives this Saturday. It has not stopped the guys making some exceptional finds including 3 golds and an amazing Roman silver off new land. Atl Mike kicked off with a rarer milled full gold sovereign of George IV which was mint when it was dropped, slight scuffing to one edge by the plough. Then he popped his 2nd gold, a neat Mexican marked 14k Madonna pendant. Then to do the triple Texas Rob found a staggering beautiful gold ring with what looks like a 1.25 carat diamond, man does it sparkle. I have reported it to the land owner and museum as potential treasure as the ring could be as early as late Tudor, at a guess I would say early 1700's. The guys have been finding some really neat relics including a Roman trumpet brooch without a direct match in the Hattat ref books. I have created a new hunt page and started to upload the latest finds to it. 2013 Sept finds. Updated this years gold page Atl Mike not content with 2 gold then pops an exceptional Roman silver off new land which Mark Lehman is excited about. His write up and ID below shows it to be a 69 AD scarce-to-rare denarius and in demand as a "dynastic piece", portraying all three of the Flavians.
1821 George IV milled gold full sovereign
1stC Roman silver sent for ID 2.94g, 16.76mm If you believe in "good omens", this might well be a hint that this will be an exceptional season. This denarius is scarce-to-rare and in demand as a "dynastic piece", portraying all three of the Flavians. Vespasian issued it and the two figures seated on curule chairs on the reverse are Titus and Domitian. This piece, from the mint at Rome (* see below), dates to relatively early in Vespasian's rule, c. 69-70. The legends are "almost" clear to read now, if you know what you're looking for. I trust that if you cook this one, the legends will become much more readable in general. The obverse - portrait of Vespasian - is: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG / the reverse, with the seated Caesars is: TITVS ET DOMITIAN CAESARES PRIN IVEN* - PrincipiI Iuventutis: "The Princes of Youth" (which was an official and titled position, it can also be read as "The young princes" which is just a description - Latin syntax does not depend on the order of words in a sentence so occasionally interpretation of quotes and inscriptions can be a bit ambiguous and when defining the original intent may be open to opinion. References: * Something else which might be a bit ambiguous is the attribution to Rome. The piece quoted by RIC has a reverse legend which ends in "..IV" rather than "...IVEN". In fact, RIC II, i, does not quote the IVEN ending at all except in the footnotes. The IVEN ending, evidently, is associated with the mint at Lyon (Lugdunum) but is quoted only from a plated piece. I need to check with the "Not In RIC" folks and see if this is a typo, or whether this is a significant, unpublished rarity. Mark PS - I had never looked at the "Not in RIC" site before and it turns out to be only for vols VII & VIII - I might run this one past Curtis Clay, although looking at the listings in the "old" RIC II I see the IVEN variety listed, so it may only be a typo or simple omission in the new RIC.
20thC 14k gold Mexican Madonna pendant
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10th Aug 2013- Pouch of the year voting- Sal and Don win more awards - New map packs and medallions
All the export applications have now been made from the 2nd half of the season. The 68 finds the museum requested for recording are now with the FLO being investigated in some cases and added to the PAS database. I have added a couple more very tricky interesting items like the huge carved rock for their experts to take a look at. I picked up several disclaimed treasure items that can now be returned to the finders. I am now busy producing huge new map packs for all the Barn leaders for the start of the season. We have added so many new farms over the last couple of years that is is very difficult keeping up with which fields are ours now. We have over 550 + fields spread out over 20 + locations and one landowner has 80 fields alone to try and negotiate. All the farms are on the Sat Nav's guys get to loan but I needed to produce real detailed laminated maps of both the old and new land. I am making up proper ring binder folders with a proper legend that each Barn leader gets a loan of. Now all the export pouches are completed I can now reveal that Florida Don finally wins this years forum comp to win a free trip next season. His guess of 1499 musket balls was the closest to the actual total of 1494 we dug, this is Don's 2nd free trip as he also won a previous comp !! The new comp this season is to to guess all the coins dug pre 1066 AD. Make sure your guess is entered on the official entry sheet below to win another free trip. http://www.colchestertreasurehunting.co.uk/F/forumcompetition.htm
Sal with his engraved 'find of the year' silver urn and shield for his amazing English Saxon coin discovery Louisiana Sal wins this seasons 'Wayne Otto memorial trophy' for the detectorist with the best attributes this season. This is an easy win for Sal this season as over the last 8 years as a senior member he has shown a real dedication to the hobby and the club including his own Civil War relic hunts that all the members really enjoyed going to . Sal is famous for the guy that started all the 'Vid Cam' from the field type movies for all of us to enjoy. With all the now to common dodgy planting going on in the hobby with bogus 'punter hunts' both here and in the USA is so nice that a guy with real scruples is running some genuine hunts over there in the USA. Also Sal had to put up with that festering windging and whining X 'sheepherder tour' bunch that came here on his Barn tour and did not even club them to death as the rest of us would have !!
Now all the export pouches are done it is time for you to vote for the 'Pouch of the year' award. This is the pouch that really grabbed your attention posted on the members forum. All this seasons pouches with full pictures and detailed find lists are posted from Sept 2012 to April 2013. I have added a dozen of my favouites in the 'Monster pouch section' on the forum but you can vote for any pouch that grabs your attention. Those that canbarsed to vote get a 2nd bonus guess at the forum comp to win a free trip next season. Closing day for voting is 21st August, send it to me by e-mail.
I have a list from the Barn leader of the guys who were nominated for the 'Hard Core' Colchester medallion in the festering sleet and snow in Feb/March with temps at 32F and side ways winds. Not once did any of these guys stay indoors but were out there hunting for up to 10 hours a day. The rewards really paid off as Ron's boys dug 4 separate ancient hoards, 1 Roman silver and 3 Celtic gold hoards totalling over a dozen gold coins which are now going through the treasure process.
Special mention to Missouri Brandon and Mike that were newbies to the club and stuck it out there in all weathers with the senior members. Miss Mike was also rewarded for his dedication as he got a very rare Celtic gold coin as part of one hoard. Mindy's boys are Ont Jim, Can Ron and Wis Steve Chicago Ron's guys including his girlfriend Iowa Dale |
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31st July 2013 - Finds list for recording - More exports- Month to the kick off I have just posted a load more export find lists and pictures to the members forum and posted more missed finds to the the 2013 April finds page1. I have less than half a dozen now to finish and off and then I am done and then it all starts over again on Sept 1st. I have updated the free comp page with scrap musket balls, 1467 dug so far. Forum competition. It looks like Ohio Tom is in with the best chance to win the free trip next season. I have yet to process Idaho Orv's huge double bag export pouch and he keeps everything so Fl Don could just steal it. NOTE: You have just one more day to get your entry in for next years free comp to win another trip, this season we are counting the pre medieval coins found throughout the season.
Meanwhile I have been compiling a huge bag of all the finds requested by the FLO for recording from the 2nd half of the season, I have a meeting with the FLO this week to hand them all over. It is a very interesting mix of relics, tokens and even gold hammered coins and totals 68 finds. Several of them are very unique like Brad's Viking looking head mount and it will be very interesting to see what the British museum curators finally ID them as. Each find will appear on the PAS database for all to view http://finds.org.uk/ Each area of England has a local Finds liaison officer http://finds.org.uk/contacts who's job is to ID and record any important finds you make. Here is the link to our local Essex representative Katie. Katie MarsdenFinds Liaison Officer - Essex Museum Resource Centre 14 Ryegate Road Colchester Essex CO1 1YG
Work T: 01206 506961
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26th July 2013 - Yet, yet more export pouches and great finds - Pouch of the year voting soon Still entombed in my office just banging away preparing export applications with only a handful now to finish off. I have posted a bunch more to the members forum with full photo's and detailed finds lists. The current free forum comp to win a free trip is going to be right down to the wire as the total is now 1447. Just a few guys are in with a real shout at winning. Remember you will only have until the 1st August to enter next years free trip competition. Full details on competition page Forum competition.
George's treasures and hoards - currently with the British museum Once I have finished all the pouches shortly from the 2nd half of the season it will be time to vote for your favourite 'pouch of the year' which is going to be mega hard. There are just so many great pouches to pick form and I have just completed Cal George's pouch with above and below pics. It is a real monster bag with a bit of everything. Not only did he make 12 pages of 'other' great finds he also found 2 Celtic gold hoard coins , a man's gold signet ring, stonking medieval silver ring treasure and a mega rare Saxon gold forgery that he has now donated to the Fitzswilliam museum. Note : Treasures and hoards do not appear on your export license initial application as they have to go through the treasure process determine if they are acquired by the museum or disclaimed back to you.
Cal George's 12 pages of 'other' finds I have received the first batch of approved export licenses back, let me know if you want them to be shipped or picking them up on your next trip Miss Jeff
17th (Leicestershire) Regiment of Foot button I have posted more missed finds out of the export bags to the last finds page of the season.2013 April finds page1 including our first 17th regiment of foot button found by Wis Steve. I have posted the new entry on the numbered regiment button page. http://www.colchestertreasurehunting.co.uk/numberedregiments.htm
There was also one of those very neat illegal 16thC pub tokens I cleaned up and the first lead pilgrim's Knights Templer badges I have seen. Back to the grindstone and process another export pouch !!!
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15th July 2013 - Yet more exports and great finds - Saxon gold
Unusual Anglo-Saxon coin found in Mildenhall
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23285843 The Anglo-Saxon shilling is pierced and may have been used as a pendant by high status members of the community in East Anglia
Cut halve of an Anglo-Saxon gold shilling 0.87g, 12.39mm As usual this coin (EMC 2011.0059) is Merovingian and not Anglo-Saxon, but an important find nonetheless. We have recorded two cut halves of Anglo-Saxon gold shillings in recent years, and a cut half of a Series B sceat, but this coin is noticeably more than a half (between two-thirds and three-quarters), so it may have been cut up as bullion.This is developing into a really interesting hoard.
Martin Mitch Chris posted this Mildenhall gold Saxon coin find that has just been declared treasure as it is not classed as a single coin find but 'treasure' as it was used as a pendant. It is a coincidence that Tenn Brad and the landowner just got their reward from the British museum on his Saxon gold cut shilling hoard find back in Feb 2011.
Yet more export pouch pictures and find lists posted to the members forum. I am still finding some great missed finds in the pouches that I have posted to the bottom on the 2013 April finds page1. I have added several more finds to the Museum recording bag as they are very interesting including an amazing carved rock that I don't have a clue about. Updated the free comp page with scrap musket balls, 1380 dug so far. Forum competition
Interesting large carved stone - one for the museum to look at 63.26mm W x 63.93mm H
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8th July 2013 - More exports and Nav Bill wins the clubs 'find of the year'
Late Saxon c10thC stirrup strap mount Class A Type 11a Sub triangular mount depicts a Lion looking upwards with its front paw raised and tail curled between its legs and over the back
Still busy just banging out more export applications for finds from the 2nd half of the season. A few real surprises in the pouches that guys did not know they had like Cal Dan's beauty Lion type Saxon stirrup mount above. I have posted more missed finds to the 2013 April finds page1. I have also posted more complete finds lists and pictures to the members forum. Don't forget to send me you guess for this years free forum comp to win another free trip next season. The current competition is getting very close as I process each export pouch and add to the total. Updated the free comp page with scrap musket balls, 1348 dug so far. Forum competition
The clubs members have completed their voting for their favourite find of the year and the winner by a large margin was Nevada Bill with his amazing Saxon necklace end. Bill wins the free trip next season, the silver urn trophy and his name on the clubs shield of honour. 2nd place was Tenn Brad's Viking looking head mount. Pen Dennis King Eadred Saxon silver penny took 3rd place so it was clean sweep for Saxon finds this season. All these finds are currently with the British museum being evaluated and recorded.
Cleaned up Saxon rope necklace end - single rivet fixing Beast with large bottom jaw, large nose, recessed eyes with his head resting on his paw left - rear shows curled up spiralled tail. Rope necklace is still embedded in end
Monster find - circa 8thC Anglo Saxon mount - possibly Viking - one for the museum - cleaned up pictures added Black enamel with silver inlay 40.28mm high
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27th June 2013 - Girdled book clasps - Fixed hammered gold and more updates
We have found several of these over the years and I have not been able to get an exact ID until now. Some one found a real nice gilded example in March this year which I put down loosely as a medieval strap end. I have a new Medieval finds book and just found them in there, rare find.
The distinguishing feature of this book format is its long extension of the leather cover
I just picked up our fixed hammered coins from the goldsmith and he has done another spectacular job especially on Aussie Peter badly bent and Taco's half Noble. I will post more the fixed hammered silver shortly. Updated the free comp page with scrap musket balls, 1306 dug so far. Forum competition
Fixed hammered gold 1361 Edward III hammered gold 1/4 noble Obv + EDWR + R ++ ANGLIE DVNS HY Edward III (1361), Quarter-Noble, Transitional Treaty Period, quartered shield of arms, two pellets in upper left quarter, within beaded and linear tressures of eight arcs, pellets on cusps, fleur trefoils in spandrels, all within beaded circle, comma and saltire stops in legend, +edwr;r; anglie: dnvs; hv rev ornamental cross potent with annulets in angles and at centre, lis terminals, lions in angles, lis above lion in fourth quarter, within beaded and linear tressures of eight arcs, trefoils in spandrels, beaded circle surrounding, saltire stops in legend, +exaltabitvr: in: gloria 18.99mm, 1.93g
Fixed hammered gold 1351-1361 Edward III gold half noble - Closed E at centre of cross - satire stops - Pre Treaty Period The obverse shows a forward facing king in ship with sword in right hand and quartered shield of England and France in left. Obv EDWAR DEI REX ANGL Z FRA D 4.12g, 25.12mm
I have updated more individual find pages below with finds from the 2nd half of the season.
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22nd June 2013 - Latest cooking Saxon pictures and more exports - Coin repairs ready
Irish 1478 - 1483 Edward IV hammered silver penny - Seventh (Sun & Roses) Coinage Rose each side of neck - Long cross with rose at centre, a rose and two suns or a sun and two roses alternating in the angles Obv EDWARD REX ANGL Z FRANC Rev CIVI/TAS/DUB/LIM - Dublin mint
1641-3 Charles 1st hammered silver penny - mintmark 2 dots Two of the 3 current 'cooking' Saxon sceats below are showing great improvement but the 3rd one found by Can John is going to be a long process as the crust is mega thick. It is just patience cleaning ancient silvers, 'cook it' then pick it and then 'cook it' some more , given enough time the crust will slowly melt away. I am still working my way through the export license applications and Can Ryan had a couple of real nice hammered silver coins above in his pouch I had not seen. The Irish penny is the first of that type I have seen with a rose and two suns in the quadrants on the reverse.
Col John had several really nice really military buttons in his pouch that I cleaned up and the one above has a perfect legend, Whitworth Cavalry & Infantry. I can find no records on this button so it must be a local militia. If you have any info on this button please drop me a mail. The 'find of the year' voting is going well with 80% of the members votes cast so far, two finds are still in a clear lead . I have updated the forum comp page to win a free trip next season with the current total of musket balls found at 1260, as I process each export pouch I add them to the total. I have also been updating the 2013/14 free comp list with current guesses as to pre medieval coins. If your guess has not appeared on this list drop me another mail please. The goldsmith rang me and our first batch of coins in for repair from the 2nd half of the season are now ready for pick up. There were some mega tricky repairs to test his skills that I posted on the 9th June.
As dug and now 'cooking' to remove crust Primary Saxon silver sceat 600- 700 AD - sent to Fitzwilliam museum for recording and ID Left facing bust 1.23g, 11.41mm This new find (EMC 2013.0069) might be Series R9, but enhanced images would certainly be appreciated. Best wishes, Martin Saxon silver sceat - Series E Vernus type, group 3, and so a coin of the Primary phase. c.695-720 EMC 2013.0069
As dug and now 'cooking' to remove crust Primary Saxon silver sceat 600- 700 AD - sent to Fitzwilliam museum for recording and ID Left facing bust 1.23g, 11.41mm Many thanks. This is EMC 2013.0066. Series D (Type 2c). Best wishes, Martin
Primary Saxon silver sceat 600- 700 AD - As dug and now 'cooking' to remove crust Very thick crust so it is slow going 'cooking' this coin
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18th June 2013 - New Celtic gold page - Exports and ID's - Great newbie hoard story
I found Roman coins worth £100,000... 20 minutes after buying first metal detector: Novice unearths 'nationally significant' find during first treasure hunt
Still working my way through export license applications and photographing missed finds. I have posted a load more full finds lists and photo's to members forum. Can Ed had a couple of really neat medallions in his pouch mixed in with his normal coppers. I managed to ID the first one easily but I was stumped on the 2nd as it has little detail remaining. Mitch Chris has just ID'd it on the net and it was another George III at the end of his reign, interesting that Ed found one from the beginning and one at the end of his reign.
Ed also had a Sterling imitation of an Edward type hammered silver penny above which I used my new book to ID. You can easily tell if you have found one of these as the legend is totally different to any known 'normal' Edward type one. If you finding lots of these type coins it is well worth investing in the book on the left Obv +GALCh’SCOMESPORC Rev MON/ETN/OVA/y’VE STERLING IMITATIONS OF EDWARDIAN TYPE BY N J MAYHEW In the Middle Ages England's sterling coinage was founded on a healthy balance of payments.The weavers of Flanders bought thousand of pounds worth of English wool each year, exchanging their own Flemish coin for English in the process. The high quality of English coin and the constant demand for it caused by the wool-cloth trade gave the English sterling a favourable exchange rate, which together with the English mint charges made sterling an expensive but in dispensable commodity. The merchants and princes of the Low Countries soon discovered that savings could be made by striking their own sterlings instead of buying them from the English mints. The resulting continental sterlings range from derivative yet more or less independent currencies to the most accurate copies, some of which are only now recognized for what they are .This imitative process reached its peck during the reigns of Edward I,II,and III,and it is with period, 1272 - 1377, that this book is concerned. Four hundred and six continental imitations are recorded with many sub- types and their attribution, metal content, and chronology are discussed. Three hundred and eighty-five finds are catalogued. Published 1983 Hardback 45 plates 271 pages of text maps and tables
I have created a new Celtic gold coin page with every one members have found since we began as a club. I have grouped them together by type and tribe and added some history and where they came from. I still have more tweaking to do and add the missed Celtic Coin Index numbers (CCI's). The current total is 137 with several hoards now on display in Colchester museum. The 'find of the year' voting is going well with 75% of the members votes cast so far, two finds are still in a clear lead . I have updated the forum comp page to win a free trip next season with the current total of musket balls found at 1254, as I process each export pouch I add them to the total. I have also been updating the 2013/14 free comp list with current guesses as to pre medeival coins.
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10th June 2013 - Site updates and new forum competition Just launched next season free forum comp to win another free trip. Check out the details on the forum competition page to enter. Forum competition. Closing date for entries is 1st August. I have updated a load more individual find pages pages below with finds form the 2nd half of the season.
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9th June 2013 - Coin fixing - Another Saxon recorded - Slots with Louisiana Sal in the new Barn
Just been busy banging away preparing more export license applications and posting the lists and pictures to the members forum. I have taken in the first batch of members coins above in for fixing to our goldsmith including the two medieval hammered golds, the rare King Stephen and the broken Saxon Athelstan I of East Anglia silver penny. These will certainly test his skills. The 'find of the year' voting is going well with 60% of the members votes cast so far, two finds are in a clear lead but it is early days yet. I have updated the forum comp page to win a free trip next season with the current total of musket balls found at 1234, as I process each export pouch I add them to the total. Lots of guys still in with a good shout at winning.
1150 AD Stephen hammered silver farthing
Can Boris made a great call on his cut qtr penny find from Feb above which I originally thought was continental. I sent it off to Dr Martin at the Fitzwilliam museum who confirmed the ID as another early King Stephen and recorded it on the Early medieval Corpus database. This is our first ever Stephen cut qtr find. A couple of real neat bonus finds from the pouches below , neat Washington Condor token and the largest medieval purse bar I have seen. Purse Bars
1795 Washington Grate Halfpenny Obverse: G. WASHINGTON. THE FIRM FRIEND TO PEACE & HUMANITY [cinquefoil]
Huge medieval purse bar with W inscription - this would have been 7 inches long when complete ?
Towards the end of the 1400s it became fashionable for rich men to wear large purses hanging from their belts. They were made of velvet or other expensive fabric fitted to fancy metal frames. They were generally sewn below the bar.
Louisiana Sal, since retiring from work, is now anticipating running 6 weeks worth of Barn hunts each season for the club starting in Oct. Senior member Sal has been coming here for over 6 years and is a very experienced well known hunter back in the USA. He will be trialling a very swish new Barn conversion, pictures below. It is just 5 minutes from some of our best sites and it sleeps 11 people. The max detectorists we have per Barn hunt is 7 so this new property has huge amounts of extra space. On this type of trip you have your own mini bus and you can hunt as early or late as the team decides on. Sal will happily drop guys off for a night hunt to get maximum detecting time from your trip. Remember all the new land from last season will have been reploughed and rolled by Sept giving you 500 + fields to choose from each morning. Week 1: Oct 19 - 26 (1 spot) Contact Sal direct for more info and prices
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29th May 2013 - Celtic silver finished - more updates and cooked coins
1826 Swedish looking billion silver coin ( cooking)
1762 German states 2 Grochen billion silver coin Rev Marien Grochen 1762 Ruler George III (King of Gt Britain)
I have posted loads more export finds lists and pictures to the members forum. It is going to be very difficult for you to vote for your favourite pouch of the season with some of the monsters I have just posted. I have been cleaning up more of our cooking ancient silvers and the results have been very good below. I also have to 'cook' continental billion silver coins as they are usually very crusty when dug as they are such a low grade silver. The 'Cooking' technique works very well also on these type of coins as pictured by the results above. I have also been updating a load more individual finds pages with finds from the 2nd half of the season belwo. A load of these pages will need splitting shortly as they are just too large. I have made a start on the Edward III page moving the pennies into individual mints and will have to split this page into large and small denomination coins to speed up load times.
As dug and almost 'cooked' 10- 40 AD Cunobelinus 'Sitting Griffin' type silver unit - Classed as extremely rare VA 2051, BMC 1868-9 Chris Rudd 30.73 Cooking to clean up and sent to CCI for recording and confirmed ID Rev CVNO in tablet, wrealth border Obv Griffin r - on tablet containing CAMV I've done a card for the Sitting Griffin unit and it's now CCI 12.0835; I've used the photo you sent but will replace it with a better one when the coin's 'cooked'!
All the best John
As dug and 'cooking' pics - still more work to do yet Primary Saxon silver sceat 600- 700 AD - Series BIA, EMC 2012.02659.
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24th May 2013 - New BC Roman and Celtic silver pages - Viking brooch ID - More updates and exports I have updated the Romano/British silver page with more finds from the 2nd half of the season. I have now split the original page in to 3 new ones as it was too huge. I have transferred the BC Republican silver finds to their own page and also the Celtic silver coins to speed up load times. It is very interesting to note how rare Celtic silver coin find are in the Colchester area as we have only found just over a dozen examples yet 150 + Celtic gold coins. I have also updated the foreign milled gold and silver page. Links below. Remember all the separate pages on this site can be accessed via the finds menu index page I am still busy preparing export applications and making up a huge museum bag for recording on PAS. The museum have requested 69 finds for recording so it is a huge exercise. I have also been picking at the ancient silvers that are 'cooking' to remove the crust. Can Bill's 30 BC silver below had weird nodules on it when dug but they have now cooked off OK below . I am also working on a very are find made by Louisiana Mike he managed to ID as a Borre Style Viking Disk Brooch
Viking Disc brooch
A cast copper-alloy disc brooch of Early Medieval date. The brooch is circular with a relief pattern in Borre style. It has a raised central lozenge and sunken circle in the middle. The central lozenge has an interlace pattern flowing out from it which form loose knots. The design is almost identical to others already recorded including SF-7A4511 and SF-D855A4. The type is illustrated and described in Kershaw, 'Culture and Gender in the Danelaw: Scandinavian and Anglo-Scandinavian Brooches', p. 24, fig. 12.
BC Roman silver sent for ID- interesting dug condition, cooking to remove crust This one took a little digging - since there's no legible inscription at all. Turns out that first off, you had the reverse photographed upside-down as you sent it to me. If you look carefully (it's weakly struck) you can make out a peaked roof with statues at the peak and eves. This is an elevation of the Curia Julia - which still exists in the Forum in Rome - the edifice is represented by 3 stout uprights supporting the architrave and surrounded with a balustrade on 4 short columns at "waist level". It's illegible, but on a better-preserved example you would see IMP CAESAR across the architrave - the only writing on this piece by Octavian (before he became Augustus). The portrait is of Octavian, of course. This piece dates to about 30-29 BC, or shortly before Octavian became Augsutus, dissolving the Republic and creating the Principiate - the official beginning of the Empire. This piece carries a fairly high estimated price in Sear where it is # 1557; RSC 122, RIC 266; & BMCRR 4358 / BMCRE 631. Mark Very unusual to have a piece with such clear types and still have it require almost an hour to find in the literature. Not at all the sort of thing we normally see in British digs - particularly around Colchester which, although it was a really major Romanized center, dates at its earliest to mid-1st century AD - by which time this coin would have been very unlikely to still be in circulation, at least in the condition we find this one. We have no proof, of course, but this would seem to indicate either an earlier Roman presence - perhaps of some private, non-governmental, perhaps mercantile establishment or center of operation - or of significant trading activity to bring this, among other pre-Claudian, Continental types of coins, to this general location. The tin mines were nowhere near the Eastern part of the Island, right? I'm afraid that my knowledge of the geology/geography of the British Isles is poor to non-existant, but I think of the mining districts being more a feature of lands to the west, Cornwall & Wales, etc. But tin was certainly the most important (in the point of view of importers on the continent) "export product" of the Island(s) before the establishment of an ongoing, official Roman presence. I know there were flint mines not too far north of London, a good friend is originally from Feltwell, but that activity rather significantly predated the Hellenistic age and I don't think there's any geological connection between flint and tin. Mark
More page updates below
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19th May 2013 - More exports - site updates and Sal's new video Busy banging out export license applications and updating more of the site with finds from the 2nd half of the season below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jcXT9SHCIdw
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15th May 2013 - More great finds uploaded - Site updates - Find of the year voting
Size comparison from milled silver 3 pence, sixpence, shilling (12 pence) to half crown (30 pence) I am still catching up on last weeks finds and have posted more great silver and relics to the 2013 April finds page1. Cal George had a set of milled silver in his pouch I had not photo'd so I took the time to take a shot of the size comparison above. I have also starting updating the individual find pages below with the 2nd half of the seasons discoveries. The seal matrix page is mega impressive and needs sorting into various date sections as it is huge. The early hammered silver page is also too large and needs splitting into individual Kings on a separate pages to make loading faster.
I have now launched the voting for the 'Find of the Year' award where all the members vote for their favourite find from the Sept2012 to April 2013 season. The winner gets a free trip prize plus the silver urn trophy and their name on the shield of honour. Send your votes by e-mail directly to me and the closing date for voting is 1st July.
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13th May 2013 - Rare hammered silver and loads more finds posted
Best condition William and Mary copper I have ever seen dug 1694 William and Mary milled copper half penny
1280 - 1286 Scottish Alexander III hammered silver half penny - 2nd coinage Obv + ALEXANDER DEI GRA Rev REX SCOTORUM Long cross, a star in two quarters, each star has 6 points - type SA3HD -010 14.05mm0.58g
I am catching up on posting more of last weeks finds to the latest 2013 April finds page1. Bav Terry had a very rare silver coin lurking in his pouch that I just had confirmed from Dr Martin Allen as King Stephen. It needs to be fixed before I can confirm the moneyer as a new type. It appears to be Gilbert but Martin does not have that one listed as a known type. Terry also had a very crisp early Scottish hammered silver coin and it is the first half penny of an Alexander I have seen dug. There were loads of other great widgets found and a whole group of large Roman pottery items found on one of our Roman hoard area. When I take in the finds for recording to the museum I will take alone the bag full of pottery shards as Miss Chip also found a complete bowl base. I have posted a load more great hammered silver and widgets to the 2013 April finds page1.
1150 Stephen hammered silver penny - this appears to be a mule from North 879 and 878 Obv + STIEFNE Rev Cross fleurty with a pile surrounded by a trefoil of annulets in each angle Possible Bury St Edmunds mint - GILBERT Ref North 879 18.58mm, 1.38g Sent for recording and confirmed ID I have recorded this as EMC 2013.0162. It is a normal coin of Stephen type 6 but the reverse reading is a problem. What letters can you actually read? There is no moneyer named Gilbert in type 6 at present, unless this coin has provided one. The bending of the coin may be deliberate, possibly with a votive purpose at this period. Best wishes, Martin
Nice chunks of Roman pottery
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10th May 2013 - Boys last day and more gold and silver - Monster 100 + hoard coins found
1762 George III 1/4 gold guinea - 15.63mm,2.08g Love token It has been a fantastic late hunt by Sal and the boys and it is their last day before they fly back across the pond. Louisiana Sal has increased the clubs gold count with a beautiful 1762 George III gold qtr guinea love token, only the 2nd gold love token we have ever found. Bav Terry found a huge grouping of 1800's and 1900 copper coins in the corner of new land, the count is over a hundred coins so far and our first modern 'hoard'. There was not one piece of silver amongst them yet!! Still the guys had great fun digging them and I have reported them to Colchester museum as a potential hoard. I have updated this years gold finds page with the latest finds Gold Page, current record stands at 56 pieces for the season.
Very crisp 4thC Roman silver sent for ID Wow, very nice. This is, of course, a Siliqua of Valentinian, I 364-375. From the mint at Arles, it dates to the earlier part of his reign, 364-7. The reverse type is RESTITVTOR REIP - (Restorer of the Republic - pure propaganda) and shows the emperor standing facing, head right, holding a labarum with Chi-Rho symbol and Victory on globe. The OF - II in the field indicates the 2nd offiicina or workshop of the mint, the star above the II is a sequence mark. Mark Col Chris on the same field popped a very crisp Roman silver which Mark Lehman has just ID'd above. Then Cal George finds a really neat silver ring that looks very early with each section hand etched.
Stunning large gilded silver medieval decorated silver finger ring - reported as treasure to museum 7.26g, 23.59mm
There has been some excellent silver found and I have posted a load more to the latest finds page 2013 April finds page1
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8th May 2013 - Double gold finds for the count - Celtic bronzes recorded - Ron's amazing hoard video uploaded Chicago Ron's record club hunt where they found 12 gold coins and 4 hoards has been uploaded to the members forum and it is a must watch. Amazing to watch them out finding this stuff in the snow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu8XJ9WUC3g
10-40 AD Cunobelius bronze coin - sent to CCI for recording Jupiter Lion type VA 2107 1.07g, 12.56mm ABC 2984 as CCI 13.0096 John Stills has recorded our last two Celtic bronze coin finds and confirmed my ID's. Thanks for the two bronzes, I've recorded the ABC 2921 type as 13.0095 and the Jupiter Lion, ABC 2984 (1.07g) as 13.0096. All the best John
1909 Edward VII milled silver half sovereign Ark Gary has increased his gold coin club record to 14 golds now by finding our most modern gold coin ever, a really crisp 1909 Edward VII gold half guinea. Gary is the only member in the club to have almost the complete set with Celtic gold, Roman gold, Saxon and milled gold. Of his 14 gold coins only 3 are milled gold and the rest ancient examples. Italy John then popped a Victorian gold child ring with 3 glass stones to take this years gold record count to 55 pieces smashing last years club record of 51.
Victorian childs 9 carat gold ring with glass stones 14.18mm,0.45g Partial internal inscription legible - SHEER **
I have updated this years gold finds page with the latest finds Gold Page The guys have been finding some great Roman relics and coins and Sal found a really neat Roman weaving shuttle. I have posted more fibular brooches, Roman bronzes and silver to the 2013 April finds page1
Roman bronze weaving shuttle
1501-1521). Rev: LAVS TIBI SOLI (Thee Alone be Praised). Haloed figure of Christ holding a cross. Obv: LE LAV DVX S M V (Leonardo Lauredan, Doge. St Mark of Venice.) Doge kneeling before Saint Mark.
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6th May 2013 - Guys made a brilliant start- more exports
Louisiana Sal's team arrived Saturday for the last hunt of the season and the weather is a real nice 18C so no freezing their butts off this time!! They have made a killer start with Celtic, Roman, Saxon and medieval relics and coins and I have posted a load on the latest finds page 2013 April finds page1. Bav Terry found our first 10-40 AD Cunobelinus bronze Jupiter Lion type VA 2107 off a new site and I have sent it off to the CCI for recording. He and Mississippi Chip also found found two beauty Saxon strap ends and Sal got a mint 13thC seal matrix. There has also been some very crisp Roman bronzes dug I have sent off to Mark Lehman for ID. I have posted more onto the latest finds page.
1351- 1361 Edward III hammered silver groat - Cross 1- Pre Treaty period Obv EDWARD D G REX ANGL FRANC D HYB Rev CIVI/TAS/LOND/DON - London mint Col Chris popped a beauty full med groat and the guys have found 20 other medieval hammered silver coin so far and I have also posted a few to the latest finds page.
Meanwhile I have been busy banging out more export license applications and posted any missed finds to the latest I have been counting the muskets balls in the guys export pouches and added them to the free forum competition page. Prize for guessing the correct number dug is a free trip next season so it is going to be fun watching the total grow. Updated the free comp page with scrap musket balls, 1122 dug so far. Forum competition
Stunning zoomorphic decorated circa 8thC Saxon strap end
Stunning decorated circa 8thC Saxon strap end
13thC medieval seal matrix - letter W indicates traders initial
Cleaned up Saxon rope necklace end - single rivet fixing Beast with large bottom jaw, large nose, recessed eyes with his head resting on his paw left - rear shows curled up spiralled tail. Rope necklace is still embedded in end
This is copper alloy plated imitation of a Frisian imitation (c.830-850) of the gold solidus of Louis the Pious (814-840). There have been many single finds of these Frisian imitations, including cut fractions of them, but this is the first plated copy I have seen. I have recorded this as EMC 2013.0106. If it should ever be available to acquire please let us know. Best wishes, Martin
I have safely deposited all the hoards and treasures dug so far this season with Colchester museum to get the treasure process rolling. I also dropped off two top finds for ID and recording, Saxon necklace end and the Saxon gold forgery. After recording with PAS the Saxon coin is being donated by Cal George to the Fitzwilliam museum as it is such an important discovery. The FLO at Colchester museum have requested another 69 finds from the 2nd half of the season to be recorded so I am currently making up bag ready to take in for the next meeting.
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27th April 2013 - More exports and cooked ancient coins - Museum meeting - 1 week to the next hunt Just one week to go until our first ever May hunt begins for a week so I have been busy beavering away completing more export license applications and posting pictures and find lists to members forum. I have added four more treasures to the Hoard and Treasure page that have previously been reported to Colchester museum.
Unknown type with *I* I on Obv instead of pellets 1321 Edward II English jetton - Bust type Class XI Obv Edward bust with succession of * and I Rev Three armed cross, in each angle a 'facing bare human head ' border,, succession of letters B and S Similar Ref Mitchiner 131 but with different legend
I have posted a load of missed finds out of the pouches to the 2013 April finds page1 including some really nice hammered silver coins and an unknown type of Edward II jetton above. I have completed the spreadsheet ready for the museum meeting next week for all the Treasures and Hoards found during the 2nd half of the season and it is an impressive total, 11 treasures and 32 hoard coins. These will now go through the treasure process. The museum have supplied me with a list of 69 items they wish to record from our 2nd half of the season but I am only taking in the first two very rare finds next week. I will have to go through all the export pouches and dig out the rest of the list for our next meeting.
I have also been having a good pick at all the 'cooking' ancient silver coins and some have made good improvements but several still have a crust like rock and will take a lot more time yet. A fascinating coin found by Seattle Brian, that I have had cooking for a month, was I originally thought a Continental hammered silver penny but under the microscope I am not so sure. It is the size of a hammered silver penny but with thick detail like a Saxon sceat ? Unfortunate it has a crack running the full length of the coin and it will break if I pick it. Brian has agreed to let it break and try and get our goldsmith to fix it after it is cleaned.
Very interesting ancient coin - what is under the crust ?
As dug and almost 'cooked' 10- 40 AD Cunobelinus 'Sitting Griffin' type silver unit - Classed as extremely rare VA 2051, BMC 1868-9 Chris Rudd 30.73 Cooking to clean up and sent to CCI for recording and confirmed ID Rev CVNO in tablet, wrealth border Obv Griffin r - on tablet containing CAMV I've done a card for the Sitting Griffin unit and it's now CCI 12.0835; I've used the photo you sent but will replace it with a better one when the coin's 'cooked'!
All the best John
As dug and now 'cooking' to remove crust Primary Saxon silver sceat 600- 700 AD - sent to Fitzwilliam museum for recording and ID Left facing bust 1.23g, 11.41mm This new find (EMC 2013.0069) might be Series R9, but enhanced images would certainly be appreciated. Best wishes, Martin
As dug and now 'cooking' to remove crust Primary Saxon silver sceat 600- 700 AD - sent to Fitzwilliam museum for recording and ID Left facing bust 1.23g, 11.41mm Many thanks. This is EMC 2013.0066. Series D (Type 2c). Best wishes, Martin
2ndC Roman silver coin - 'cooking' to remove crust
BC Roman silver sent for ID- interesting dug condition, cooking to remove crust This one took a little digging - since there's no legible inscription at all. Turns out that first off, you had the reverse photographed upside-down as you sent it to me. If you look carefully (it's weakly struck) you can make out a peaked roof with statues at the peak and eves. This is an elevation of the Curia Julia - which still exists in the Forum in Rome - the edifice is represented by 3 stout uprights supporting the architrave and surrounded with a balustrade on 4 short columns at "waist level". It's illegible, but on a better-preserved example you would see IMP CAESAR across the architrave - the only writing on this piece by Octavian (before he became Augustus). The portrait is of Octavian, of course. This piece dates to about 30-29 BC, or shortly before Octavian became Augsutus, dissolving the Republic and creating the Principiate - the official beginning of the Empire. This piece carries a fairly high estimated price in Sear where it is # 1557; RSC 122, RIC 266; & BMCRR 4358 / BMCRE 631. Mark Very unusual to have a piece with such clear types and still have it require almost an hour to find in the literature. Not at all the sort of thing we normally see in British digs - particularly around Colchester which, although it was a really major Romanized center, dates at its earliest to mid-1st century AD - by which time this coin would have been very unlikely to still be in circulation, at least in the condition we find this one. We have no proof, of course, but this would seem to indicate either an earlier Roman presence - perhaps of some private, non-governmental, perhaps mercantile establishment or center of operation - or of significant trading activity to bring this, among other pre-Claudian, Continental types of coins, to this general location. The tin mines were nowhere near the Eastern part of the Island, right? I'm afraid that my knowledge of the geology/geography of the British Isles is poor to non-existant, but I think of the mining districts being more a feature of lands to the west, Cornwall & Wales, etc. But tin was certainly the most important (in the point of view of importers on the continent) "export product" of the Island(s) before the establishment of an ongoing, official Roman presence. I know there were flint mines not too far north of London, a good friend is originally from Feltwell, but that activity rather significantly predated the Hellenistic age and I don't think there's any geological connection between flint and tin. Mark
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17th April 2013 - Export preparation started and next hunt 4th May - Celtic ID back - New CTX 3030
10-40AD Cunobelin Celtic bronze unit Obv Janus head below CVNO, inside quad.o,pellet border Rev boar std,below CAMV,inside quad.o,pellet border 1.52g,13.88mm
John Stills has confirmed my ID of the last Celtic coin found and recorded it on the Celtic Coin Index. I've recorded the Janus bronze unit as 13.0090, ABC 2981, Van Arsdell 2105. An interesting Classical type in good condition, as you say probably looks better with the dirt on than it would cleaned! All the best John
Can Boris's first page 1. 1344 Edward III hammered silver penny - Florin type Obv EDWAR ANGL DNS HYB
Boston Gary's first page
1.1696 William III milled silver shilling
I have made a start on preparing export applications for the 2nd half of the season and posted full photo's and find lists to the members forum. No find over 50 years old can be taken out of the UK without an approved export licence which means I have to photo every piece of man made object left in a guys pouch after they leave and add a numbered description. It is a lengthy process but of great value add as I get to take look at every individual very object closely again and photo any missed finds while the hunts were in full swing. I just completed Can Boris's pouch and he had 6 hammered silver coins and several great artifacts he never showed me while the guys were digging a lot of gold and treasures that I had to report to the museum and landowners. It also gives me the chance to bag up all the bent hammered silver and gold coin finds to take to our goldsmith for fixing. I normally take in two or three large batches per half season. As I complete each pouch I will add the muskets balls the guys are taking home to the Forum Competition page where guys can win a free trip next year. Forum competition page, current count is 1012. I have posted the missed finds to the latest finds page 2013 April finds page1 We are having one last special late hunt this season with Louisiana Sal bringing in a team of Senior members on the 4th May for a week. The late ploughing and rolling due to bad weather means there is a ton of new land and old productive plots just sitting there without a foot print on this season. Before their arrival I will be having a museum meeting to hand over all the treasures and hoards to get the treasure process rolling, the FLO has a list of all the top finds we have made that require recording on PAS. There are also several disclaimed treasure that are being returned to the guys. I have now bought a new Minelab 3030 machine to enable the uploading and downloading of GPS find spots of all our gold and silver hoards found this season to the Exchange software package. I have normally been supplying the museum with OS map references when reporting hoards and treasures but now with this new machine I will be able to give them mega accurate GPS plots.
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12th April 2013 - Roman gold and double axe head finds - 11,000 BC monster and 850 BC fragment - May 4th hunt Min Mindy eyeballed the biggest flint axe head I have ever seen and this is a monster at 220 mm L. Then Org Clarence on the opposite filed found his 2nd axe head in two days with a later 850 BC socketed example. Not to be out done his wife Mary popped an ancient piece of gold jewelry that I have just reported to the museum as treasure. As guess I would think it is probably a Roman gold ear ring. It is Mindy's Barn team last day before heading back to the good old USA and what a brilliant hunt they have had. They smashed the clubs best ever gold record which now stands at 53 pieces for the season. Normally at this time of the season we would end detecting as the crops are getting too high. The bad weather earlier in the season means the farmers have only just ploughed and rolled dozens of new fields and a lot of them are our top producers. There are also over a dozen brand new landowner's fields we have never walked on yet waiting to b. Louisiana Sal has put a small team of Senior members together for a May 4th hunt. All the guys have literally just been here and want another fix already !! That is either total dedication or serious addition LOL. If you want to join this tour drop me a mail , dates are 4th to 11th May. I have also been doing more work on the ancient silvers currently 'cooking' to remove the crust. I have posted a couple more examples below with Penn Dennis's finished coin and the rare Celtic silvers latest pics. During the break I will be starting the export procedures and getting all the treasures and hoards deposited with the museum. I have created a new finds page to speed up load times 2013 April finds page1 . I have uploaded more silver and relics to this new page. I have updated this years gold finds page with the latest finds Gold Page
Biggest 11,000 BC flint axe head I have ever seen - it is a monster and weighs 580g, 220mm L x 54.6 mm W
Middle Bronze age 850 BC socketed bronze axe head 49.8mm w x 38.9mm L
This is a very early piece of gold jewelry as what looked initially gold plated is actually solid gold and the black crust matches the growth recently found on low grade Celtic gold coins. I exposed small parts of the black to reveal the gold but cannot clean it up any further as treasure has to sent to the museum in as dug condition. Putting it under a scope you can clearly see where a central intaglio or similar was probably fitted. One for the museum experts but what a great find - At a guess I would vote Roman and possibly an ear ring. 1.28g, 20.69mm L
Penn Dennis' crispy Roman silver is start to 'cook' up after being in the pot since March 2012 !! Finally finished the obverse legend is DIVA FAVSTINA ("the deified" Faustina) and portrays her in the usual way with a fairly elaborate hairstyle, somewhat swept up in the back with a small bun at the top of the head. Faustina Sr.for him - a posthumous piece (as is the majority of her coinage) for the wifeof Antoninus Pius. She died in 141, only 3 years into Antoninus' longreign, and had significant posthumous coinages struck in her honor, first byAntoninus Pius, then later by Marcus Aurelius - her son-in-law. Mark
10- 40 AD Cunobelinus 'Sitting Griffin' type silver unit - Classed as extremely rare VA 2051, BMC 1868-9 Chris Rudd 30.73 Cooking to clean up and sent to CCI for recording and confirmed ID Rev CVNO in tablet, wrealth border Obv Griffin r - on tablet containing CAMV I've done a card for the Sitting Griffin unit and it's now CCI 12.0835; I've used the photo you sent but will replace it with a better one when the coin's 'cooked'!
All the best John
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9th April 2013 - 1500 BC Palstave axe and a stonking Celtic bronze - Roman ID's back Org Clarence is having one hell of a hunt and has now popped a beauty complete 1500 BC Bronze age axe and a possible new type of Edward III hammered silver penny and his Mrs, Org Mary found a very unusual Roman brooch that is not in the Hattatt ref books. It looks like a Cruciform brooch without the top knob. Meanwhile Min Mindy has found one of our best condition Celtic bronze units and a real interesting type that I have just sent off to the Celtic Coin Index to confirm my ID and record.She also popped a really neat miniature bronze Roman votive offering post posted below. Mark Lehman has completed his ID's of all the Roman bronzes and I have posted them to the 2013March2 page. John Stills has sent back the latest Celtic gold coin finds recordings I've recorded the latest Clacton quarter (1.33g) as 13.0083, so the broken stater can be 13.0083. By coincidence I was looking at these yesterday, it's a Dubnovellaunos in Essex stater, ABC 2392, BMC 2425-2440, Van Arsdell 1650; there should be just enough of the legend showing to be able to die link the reverse. It's not a particularly rare type, over 100 in the Index at present. Hope the rest turns up, it's not unknown for different fragments of the same coin to turn up years apart! All the best John I am miles behind with finds posting and still have loads of bags from the last couple of weeks to go through and photo yet. I have uploaded more silver and relics to the 2013March2 page. I will try get a load more uploaded to that page today.
Bronze Age (c.1500-1400BC) cast copper alloy primary shield pattern palstave, dating to the Acton Park Phase 68.25mm L x 29.97 734g
10-40AD Cunobelin Celtic bronze unit Obv Janus head below CVNO, inside quad.o,pellet border Rev boar std,below CAMV,inside quad.o,pellet border 1.52g,13.88mm
Fascinating unknown 1335 Edward III hammered silver penny- this does not match either transitional period or class 15d so it could be one of the unknown 2nd coinage 1335 -1343 issues New legend for a Durham mint as it should be either DOR/ELME or DVN/ELMI but this is clearly DVN/ELME Obv EDWAR ANGLE DNS *** Rev CIVI/TAS/DVN/ELME -Durham mint
Roman fibular brooch - similar to a 3rdC cross bow brooch without the cross - no obvious matches in Hattatt so one for the museum
Roman bronze miniature votive offering pot 21.83mm h x 21.84mm w, 7.04g
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7th April 2013 - Triple gold finds smash the club record - best ever Roman coin day and first Celtic enamelled brooch
1346-1361 Edward III gold half noble - Closed E at centre of cross - satire stops Needs straightening for a confirmed ID 4.12g
Broken Celtic gold full stater - Dubnovellaunos 5 BC to 10 AD Sent to CCI for recording 1.68g, 13.74mm The broken stater can be 13.0083. By coincidence I was looking at these yesterday, it's a Dubnovellaunos in Essex stater, ABC 2392, BMC 2425-2440, Van Arsdell 1650; there should be just enough of the legend showing to be able to die link the reverse. It's not a particularly rare type, over 100 in the Index at present. Hope the rest turns up, it's not unknown for different fragments of the same coin to turn up years apart! John
Saxon gold ingot 3.21g, 8.43mm dia Org Clarence found two small pieces of gold to tie the club record, another Celtic gold stater and another one of those Saxon gold ingots like those we donated as a club to the Fitzwilliam museum. The four previous ingots were tested by that museum and we had a very interesting full report from their expert on content of the gold. Then Aussie Peter on only his first ever full days detecting popped a monster find with a medieval hammered gold coin. Peter and his wife wanted to try out metal detecting so they borrowed all the kit from the club, had an hours tuition and off they went and the rest is history !! Meanwhile Org Mary made another stonking find with our first ever Celtic enamelled disc brooch, other brooches we have found have always been Roman. As the guys were popping all these amazing golds and relics they managed to pull out 30 + Roman bronze coins from our disclaimed hoard site in just a few hours as the weather was festering and cold. Most of the Romans were just 'grots' but a dozen had enough detail for Mark Lehman to ID and I have posted them to the latest finds page. Mark commented that 3 of the Romans were British Empire pieces which are a rarer find. 2013March2 I have updated this years gold finds page with the latest finds Gold Page
1stC Celtic enamelled triskele disc brooch - Ref Hattatt 525 Page 143, Crummy, N1983, PL.14.82
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5th April 2013 - Mega rare Saxon coin donated - more great Saxon relics
Weird ancient coin - looks like a Roman but with more medieval style lettering - sent off to both medieval and Roman experts for their views Monster rare coin ID'd Frisian imitation (c.830-850) Cal George is having one hell of a hunt having found 2 Celtic gold hoard coins and now one of our rarest ever Saxon coin finds. He was hunting new land and popped what looked like a good condition Roman bronze. When he handed it to me I thought it was just a sliver washed Roman but on a close up photo the lettering looked more early medieval in style than Roman so I sent to off to Dr Martin Allen at the Fitzwilliam museum. He manages the Early medieval Corpus National database and is the expert on all things Saxon and issues our coins their unique EMC database numbers. I was amazed at the reply that Martin sent back as this is one hell of a find. The gilding on this coin is because it was a gold solidus imitation and the first one Martin has ever seen and the museum indicated that they wanted to acquire this coin. Because of its historical importance and rarity George has generously agreed to donate it to the museum today. What an amazing coin find !!
This is copper alloy plated imitation of a Frisian imitation (c.830-850) of the gold solidus of Louis the Pious (814-840). There have been many single finds of these Frisian imitations, including cut fractions of them, but this is the first plated copy I have seen. I have recorded this as EMC 2013.0106. If it should ever be available to acquire please let us know. Best wishes, Martin
Large C8thC Saxon mount Interestingly on the same huge new field Malta Jo found another stonking Saxon relic with a large Lion mount in great shape so this field requires a lot more hot spotting by the members. I had an e-mail in from the British museum yesterday and Ont Bill's neat medieval silver brooch has been disclaimed and will be returned to the finder. I have uploaded more great coins and relics to the latest finds page 2013March2 finds page.
Date: Medieval, 1200-1400 AD. Description: A complete silver annular brooch dating to the Medieval period. The frame is circular in section and in plan. The pin, also silver, is rectangular in section and bent around the frame to form an attachment loop of almost a complete circle. The shaft of the pin extends away from the loop, becoming circular in section and tapering to a blunt point. The pin has suffered some damage and bent in the centre of the shaft whilst the attachment loop has been bent to one side. This could have occurred during use. The object is classified as a buckle rather than a brooch as there is no constriction for the pin. Several similar examples have been recorded through the Treasure process on the PAS database (e.g. IOW-D6F125 / 2009 T106 and SWYOR-9EF3B5 / 2010 T820). The frame measures 18.5mm in diameter and 1.9mm in thickness. The pin measures 20.7mm in length and 1.6mm in width at the centre of the shaft. The brooch weighs 1.74g
Medieval nut cracker arm with face decoration
Cleaned up Saxon rope necklace end - single rivet fixing Beast with large bottom jaw, large nose, recessed eyes with his head resting on his paw left - rear shows curled up spiralled tail. Rope necklace is still embedded in end
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2nd April 2013 - More new Celtic gold and treasure finds - updated forum comp page to win a free trip
50 BC Clacton type Celtic gold qtr stater - sent to CCI for recording and reported as potential hoard to museum This example clearly shows the gold, copper, silver mix of these coins 13.62,1.33g I've recorded the latest Clacton quarter (1.33g) as 13.0083 John
17thC Portuguese silver coin - working on ID Only one I can find similar is a 1660's example but it is not an exact match ?
It took the new team just a day to find another Celtic gold to add to this season massive gold total of 49 pieces. Malta Jo who only bought a metal detector 6 days ago found another beauty Celtic qtr and a really neat 17thC treasure. In Malta detecting is illegal so Jo thought he would come to England to give it a try ! Meanwhile Clarence found another very interesting silver coin that is obviously Portuguese but is not in my world coins books. There is a similar coin in the 1660's but not an exact match yet.
Fascinating hammered copper coin -with Scottish Thistle on rev. Charles I (1625-1649) copper turner or half groat (two pence). Obverse: Crowned "CR". Legend: "CAR D G SCOT ANG FRA ET HIB R" (Charles by the grace of God King of Scotland England France and Ireland). Reverse: Thistle: "NEMO ME INPVNE LACESSET" (No one shall hurt me with impunity).
Idaho Orv has managed to ID a tricky hammered copper coin he found last week, above picture. I did not even know they made these coins during Charles 1st's reign.
17thC gilded silver clothing fastener - reported as treasure to museum
Huge 17thC working toy petronel (pistol) I have made a start photographing the finds from last weeks hunt and Ill John had this stunning large toy petronel in his pouch. I have uploaded a few more relics to the latest finds page 2013March2 finds page. I have also updated the Forum competition page with the latest scrap musket ball count which now stands at 976. This does not include the musket balls the guy have in their export pouches they want to take home. I have updated this years gold finds page with the latest finds Gold Page and the Hoard and Treasure page.
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31st March 2013 - Hoards and treasures of 2013 recap special post The guys have found so many separate hoards so far in 2013 so I have grouped them together and updated the hoard and treasure page. I have numbered the separate hoards from 1 to 6 to make it easier to discuss them with the museum. The only hoard so far with a treasure number issued is the Roman silver/bronze hoard as that is an addendum to the hoard found in 2012, treasure number of 2012 T729. This hoard is now 9 silver Romans and 11 bronzes. The other 5 hoards are Celtic gold coins from 70BC to 45 BC. The treasure registrar at the British museum will issue separate treasure case number for the rest shortly and I will add them to the hoard page. We have one last team of the season who arrived yesterday and they could well add more coins to the existing hoards. I have just uploaded more treasures to the hoard and treasure page including a new 17thC Charles II silver button, Saxon gold flat pin head back and a Tudor inlaid gold pin head.
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30th March 2013 - Tim makes it a dozen gold coins for their trip - Best hunt ever on record
Addedomarus 45BC Celtic gold full stater - sent to CCI for recording & reported as potential hoard to museum 17.54mm,5.50g
Ill Tim found yet another Celtic gold 45 BC Adde stater on new land and it now becomes another new hoard as Ill John had already found a single coin a week ago and only 100 feet apart. This is the Chicago Ron's Barn teams 12th gold coin of their trip, 11 Celtic gold and one George III gold guinea. That was the most amazing single hunt I have ever witnessed in all the 10 years of running this club. I thought the 8 or so we found in 2004 in a week was impressive but these all came from the same site. Ron's team found 2 additions to existing reported hoards and 2 brand new hoards on two new sites. That means in 2013 we have found 6 hoards of ancient coins as a club. All existing club records have been smashed and this takes the gold total of the season to just 3 away from our all time record last season of 51. I never thought we would even get close to that total but the new sites alone added 14 gold coins. What makes Ron's team special is it a old team of really serious senior members that have been hunting as a pack here for 7 years together. They have between them a serious portfolio of finds, 3 Saxon gold hoard coins, Roman gold, Celtic gold, milled gold, silver and bronze Roman hoards, huge numbers of treasures and their gold total as a team numbers over 78 pieces. Their style of detecting is very unique as a 7 man team, they actually hunt very closely together like a pack of wolves, one guy makes a find, radio's the rest and then then descend on their prey circling it. They will then go on to pound that area is several days until it is picked clean and they never give up no mater the weather. They always do a 'Barn' type hunt so they have their own mini bus and come and go for as many hours as they like. They have the maps of all the 500 + fields they have to pick from but never try to run around them all like headless chickens but pick the fields they feel will give them the best odds like new land near a Celtic village. The 2nd most important aspect is their kit, that they are always upgrading, always using top of the range machines like the E-Trac or now the CTX 3030 and everyone in the club discusses the best settings to get maximum depth and advantage to finding small hammered gold and silver. There is a huge different in depth if you set your machine on manual than automatic, wide open or discim. Another very over looked aspect to hunting is the sheer speed of target recovery and these guys are masters at it. Finally the whole team go out every day with 100% positive attitude, never any bitching about the weather or if they get skunked on new land. They have the vast experience of 7 years + of hunting over here and know it is out there waiting, all they just have to get their coil over it. My hat goes off to the whole team that gave us all a lesson in metal detecting last week. Ron took vids of all the gold finds out in the field so this will a great video when he uploads it to his U - Tube channel. http://www.youtube.com/user/chicagoron61/featured I have updated this years gold finds page with the latest finds Gold Page. All the boys are now on the plane back home leaving Min Mindy's new Barn team flying in today to finish off the season in style. I have so many finds to post yet from the last weeks hunt so I will be trying to catch up later and post them onto 2013March2 finds page.
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29th March 2013 - 11th Gold coin of the current hunt - club record set - another 8 Roman bronze hoard coins reported
This is a fascinating example of a worn die 70BC Morini Celtic gold qtr stater or is it another very rare North Thames type based on Gallo-Belgic D Boat Tree quarters ? Reported as potential hoard to museum and sent to CCI for recording Bav Terry popped yet another potential hoard coin, his 2nd Celtic of his trip with another 70 BC Morini/Thames type qtr stater ? I have sent it off to John for his views as I was fooled by what looked like a classic Morini qtr before that turned out to be a rare Thames type copy. Not since the days of our first Celtic gold hoard back in 2004, when Mass Bruce's team scored 8 or 9 in a week , have I seen so many gold coins found during a single teams hunt. The coins have been from both old and new land and the team has discovered another 2 Celtic gold sites for the club. I have been working closely with John Stills at the CCI and the museum to record the exact finds spots using the new GPS ability on the CTX 3030 machines the guys have started using. This new technology will enable the club to serious increase its find rates because now after a fresh plough and roll the guys can go back to the exact spots the following season to see if more have been ploughed up.
Another 4thC hoard coin sent for ID and reported to museum "CONSTANTINOPOLIS" - One the so-called "City Commemorative" Centenionales issued in the names of Rome and Constantinople dating to the time of Constantine I moving to the newly-fortified Constantinople as his capital - c. 330-337- these are contemporary with the very common "GLORIA EXERCITVS types with two soldiers standing flanking either two or one legionary standard. The obverse is an allegorical personification of Constantinople as a helmeted and mantled female with a spear held over her shoulder. The reverse is anepigraphic (except for exergual mint marks) and shows Victory standing left in the prow of a galley holding a spear and resting on a shield. The mint mark is off-flan on this specimen, although the style is European - as opposed to the style at the Asian mints. http://www.stoa.org/gallery/album165/58_Cpls_TRE_b Mark
Four more 5thC Roman bronze coins reported to museum as hoard - when you find a 'hoard' the coins must be handed in 'as dug' condition In the photo of the group of 4 pieces, the one on the upper left is the only one I'm reasonably certain about. It's Constantius II (most likely, although without any visible legend there is a very small chance it might be Constans) and it's one of the ubiquitous FEL TEMP REPARATIO pieces depicting a soldier advancing to the left and spearing an unfortunately unhorsed foe Mark Meanwhile Ron's guys have added another 8 Roman bronze coins to the existing Roman silver hoard taking the total now to 18 coins reported to the museum in the hoard. Most are in really rough shape and you cannot clean any hoard coins as they must be handed to the museum in 'as dug' condition. Mark Lehman has commented on the first 5 and I have yet to photo the other 3. Ill John popped another really neat relic with a Victorian silver pill box that rattled inside and when he opened it up he found two 1870's Continental copper coins inside. I have also been working on our 'cooking' crusty ancient silver coins and posted a load more before and after pictures on the 2013March2 finds page. The Saxon sceat below is really starting to clean up really well but lots more work to do on it yet.
What great find 1873 Birmingham solid silver pill box with 2 - 1870 continental coins inside
As dug and 'cooking' pics - still more work to do yet Primary Saxon silver sceat 600- 700 AD - sent to Fitzwilliam museum for recording and ID
I have also posted a load more great silver and widgets to the 2013March2 finds page. Chicago Ron's team finally leave in the morning and the last hunt of the season starts with Min Mindy's two week Barn team. Unless Louisiana Sal can get a team together for May, Mindy's team have 4 more gold to find to equal last season record 51 gold finds. If you fancy a last season hunt with Sal drop me a mail. This will only be small hunt of 6 guys so you will have 500 + fields to try and run around !! I have updated this years gold finds page with the latest finds Gold Page. It currently sits at 47 gold now
1413- 22 Henry V hammered silver farthing - Type 7 - early hair type Broken annulet right and pellet left either side of crown Obv + HENRICxREXxANGL Rev CIV/TAS/LON/DON- London mint
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27th March 2013 - Gold coin No11 for the team
This is a facinating example of a worn die 70BC Morini Celtic gold qtr stater or is it another very rare North Thames type based on Gallo-Belgic D Boat Tree quarters Reported as potential hoard to museum and sent to CCI for recording
1.45g 10.83mm
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27th March 2013 - Another Celtic gold hoard coin and 7 more Roman hoard coins found - Romano/British figurine ?
This looks like a 70BC Morini boat tree Celtic gold qtr stater but it could be another very rare North Thames type based on Gallo-Belgic D Boat Tree quarters Reported as potential hoard to museum 1.51g,10.18mm
Bav Terry has kept the gold flowing with another potential hoard coin and his 2nd for the trip so far. That takes the current team's count to 10 gold coins which is a club record for any team. The team also found another 7 Roman bronze hoard coins from our Roman silver hoard site that I have not photo'd or looked at yet. They still have another 3 days left of their two week trip so they are not done yet !! I have just the Celtic off to John Stills at the CCI for recording and it could be another one of those rare North Thames copies of a Morini boat tree type. I have asked John to explain how he tells the difference as they are very similar. I have updated this years gold finds page with the latest finds Gold Page. It currently sits at 46 gold now, just 5 away to equal the club record for a season. Hammered silver coins are very thin on the ground at the moment and I have been researching the effect of cold temps on the circuity of a detector. I came across a brilliant Minelab document that explains the real tech behind how a detector works and it is has excellent info. I also read a shock test on mine detectors with extremes of cold and heat and it does not appear to have any effect. http://www.minelab.com/__files/f/11043 I have posted a whole bunch of 'normal' finds to the latest finds page including some great buttons and badges.2013March2
2013 Romano/British figurine ?? 9.77g 43.29mm L
2003 Figurine
Idaho Orv has found another interesting figurine from one of our Celtic gold hoard areas and it matches exactly another identical figure found on our first ever Celtic gold and silver hoard back in 2003. That first statue is pictured above and was ID'd by Colchester museum as middle Eastern 17thC. I always felt it was earlier than that but took the experts opinion which is why I remember it so clearly . However another exact copy of the same statue was just found on the same spot as the latest Celtic gold hoard and that is too much of a coincidence. I will resend it off to the museum to see if there views have now altered. As it feels more Romano/British than middle eastern. Ill Wendell found a stonking relic, in the past we have found a couple of the cockerel taps but this our first ever medieval cockerel type barrel spigot complete.
1762 George III milled silver three pence
Medieval barrel spigot with cockerel type tap - similar recorded on PAS below (c. AD 1400-1600). The key (or handle) is a two-dimensional representation of a cockerel, with a large ring and dot eye, open beak, small crest and curved tail being the only detail applied Record ID: BERK-A3B3B5 Record ID: SOM-901263
1stC Roman bronze coin - early bronze for us ID'd by Mark Lehman This is actually a dupondius, but being from Claudius, 41-54 AD, it lacks the familiar radiate crown (introduced by Nero) which served to distinguish dupondii from asses and sestertii, and is of a larger diameter than the more commonly encountered 2nd or 3rd century dupondii would typically be. This is the CERES AVGVSTA type - like this -
Ceres (the allegorical personification of grain, ergo the Roman civilization) is seated left holding a bunch of grain-ears in her right hand and a long torch transversely in the crook of her left arm. Mark
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25th March 2013 - Our 7th hoard of 2013 reported to museum - Yet more Celtic gold coin finds - May hunt cut off date set
Despite the cold wintery weather the guys have done it again and found another Celtic gold coin potential hoard. Ill John, who got a single gold Adde stater on new land the other day, popped the first 50 BC Clacton type qtr stater. The guys then pounded the area to death and Bavaria Terry the following morning popped the 2nd one about 100 yards away. Ron's Barn boys hunt like a team of locusts when they smell gold and have now picked it clean and moved on to another brand new site in search of another hoard. This is the 9th gold Celtic stater his team have found so far this trip. I think it matches the club record of Mass Bruce's team that found a hoard in 2004. I have been recording all the gold with their findspot to John Stills at the Celtic coin index and he has confirmed my ID's and issued the last batch with CCI numbers below. I have reported the potential hoard to Colchester museum with findspots. Tim's and Casy's Adde's Sal is trying to get a 6 man team together for a 'special' late season May Barn hunt, details on the 22nd March post. We have a set a cut off date for signing up by the 14th April so if you are considering it get your confirmation in within the next couple of weeks. First come first served. This will only be a max 6 man hunt on all the old and new land that is just sitting there rough ploughed at the moment just waiting for a roll when the weather clears.
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23rd March 2013 - Our 6th hoard of 2013 found and 4 more gold - Another new farm today? I have created a new 2013March2 finds page as the first March page was getting massive, this will speed up load times. I have also halved the extended news page and archived Sept 2011 to March 2012 to speed up loading times.
Addedomarus 45BC Celtic gold full stater - sent to CCI for recording 18.27mm, 5.47g The guys are having a monster start to 2013 and found yet another new hoard of Celtic gold coins on new land. That is our 6th reported hoard of 2013 so far and the guys have not finished yet. Casey found the first gold Celtic and the guys were on it like locusts pounding the whole area and then Ill Tim found a 2nd one 50 feet away , both are 50 BC Adde full staters. The guys tried for hours to find another one with no luck then Old 'Saxon gold' Wendell, who was hunting on another field on the new land, wanders into the area and pops a sweet George III gold third guinea and to add insult to injury he then pops a full medieval hammered silver groat right in the hoard area. This is his first 'modern' gold coin that he will actually get to take home as he was the guy that found 2 Saxon gold coins from our hoard a couple of years ago. These have now been acquired by Colchester museum so at least he can go and visit them from time to time.
1809 George III third gold guinea - 7th laur.head. 2.83g, 17.05mm
Meanwhile while all this excitement was going on Ill John, his 'Saxon brother', another Saxon hoard gold finder, was hunting another one of the new fields and also popped another Adde gold stater. This is a single find so not reported as hoard yet but it is only a matter of time before we find another one close by and that will make it the 7th hoard of the season. So the Chicago Ron/Ill Tim team ended the day with an amazing 4 gold total. The landowner was out there with us looking at all the golds found on his land and chatting to the guys with another new landowner. The other landowner is also interested in us searching his 200 acre plot which is in noted Saxon village. He will be ringing me shortly to arrange a visit to his site and sign the contracts. I have updated this years gold finds page with the latest finds Gold Page. I still have a gold watch back to post taking our total this year so far to 43, within spitting distance of our clubs mega record set last season at 51 pieces of gold. The weather has turned real nasty ,cold and sleet but that has not stopped the bulk of the guys getting out there to try and find some more. That is either real dedication or is it addiction but they have the smell of gold in their nostrils now LOL. I have posted more nice silver and relics to the new 2012March2 including another crusty 2ndC Roman silver that I will not 'cook' to later on. I have far too many ancient silvers in the 3 'cookers' I have constantly running. I have 4 Saxon silver sceats, 2 Celtic silver units and a dozen Roman silver coins in various states of cleaning. I am also cooking several Continental billion silver coin finds that always have a thick black crust on them even though most of them are modern 1700's dated coin. Continental billion silver coins are a very low grade silver and we were lucky in Britain that our old silver coins were mostly 92 % silver and far easier to clean. I have posted more of Mark Lehman's Roman ID's onto this page.
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22nd March 2013 Special Post extended season May hunt - special self catering Barn hunt with Sal Dates now APRIL 28 - MAY 12
Idaho Gerry presents Sal with his engraved 'find of the year' 2007 silver urn and shield for his amazing English Saxon coin discovery APRIL 28 - MAY 12 special Barn hunt The wet weather has really hampered the farmers this season rolling the fields and a large number of our top fields are still deep rough ploughed and not been hunted at all this season. We have also just added 3 new farms and one of them is completely rough ploughed and no one has ever detected them before. I have spoken to the farmers who are just waiting for a dry patch and then they will be rolled. Even if they put seeds in tomorrow there will only be tiny shoots on there in May so they suggested we extend the our normal season to make use of them, member we do not hunt sucking stubble fields here but cropped fields like billiard tables. I have spoken to the members and Louisiana Sal, who was just here and found part of a Celtic gold coin hoard, would like to run a self catering Barn hunt in May for two weeks. This is where the members have their own bus and come and go for as many hours as they like and hunt as many of our 550 fields + they can charge around. I will be busy processing the export applications but will be on hand to do the normal find ID'ing and recording of any widgets. Full details of the accommodation are on the link below and e-mail Sal for a run down. Sal is a top senior member of the 'English Saxon gold coin' finder fame and knows all the sites really well. Remember this club does run these hunts like your typical 'sheepherder type' England tours where you are herded to just the one magic field every day that always has buckets of e- bay Hungarian Roman coin on. This is picking your own fields from the 500 + available and just going for it for as many hours as you arm hold out. Some of Sals' boys stay out with headlights to 10pm detecting and others finish at 6 pm, it is always up to the individual hunter. Drop Sal a mail direct for a real cheap deal sal@historyhunts.com http://www.essexfarmholidays.co.uk/newbarn.html With all the Celtic gold popping out everywhere and so many fields late to come online this could be a "golden opportunity"! I like the odds lately. If this is gonna happen we've got to get the ball rolling soon. Right now we are about 6 weeks out with the hunt taking place from April 28 through May 12. Note: At this price I can only run this as a two week hunt. Y'all let me know if you wanna do this: sal@historyhunts.com Sal
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21st March 2013 - More Roman silver hoard coins cleaned up - Another Celtic gold and a monster 11,000 BC axe I am totally swamped with amazing finds from the guys which means I have loads more work in recording all these great items. I am not making any head way on the normal 'relics' dug so I have a huge amount of catching up to do. Cal George found the third gold item of his trip with his first ever Celtic gold which is totally mint. It has been reported to the museum as part of our 4th ancient hoard of 2013. Idaho Orv eyeballed the biggest ever 11,000 BC stone axe battle axe I have ever seen, I pictured it below with a milled silver sixpence coin to try and show the scale of this find. Then I picked up the finds from the guys that found the 5th Roman silver and what looked like a crusty thick Celtic coin is actually another hoard silver and one of the bronzes is of the same period. I have reported them to the museum as an addendum to the hoard. Mark Lehman has been commenting on the silver hoard below and also ID'd that weird ancient bronze from a couple of days ago. I have posted more of his Roman ID's to the 2013 March finds page. Updated this years gold finds page with the latest find Gold Page Whether or not it is to be attributed to the Saxons, this appears to be one of the class of coins generally referred to as "Barbarous Radiates". The square pattern on the reverse is an interpretation (I think) of the altar reverse on posthumous coins of Claudius Gothicus. Like a game of "telephone" or "whisper down the lane", common or popular coin designs were passed along through the years, were changed and became increasingly stylized - like the Celtic staters in imitation of tetradrachmae of Philip II of Macedon, over 250 years earlier and a thousand miles away - but by the time we see them in Gaul and Britain, all that remains of the portrait of Zeus is the stylized representation of the hairband and the horse has become an "exploded diagram".
50 BC Gallo Belgic full Celtic gold stater - sent to CCI for recording and potential hoard coin 6.24g, 18.72mm A nice uniface stater, this is Scheers class 2, probably struck around 57-56 BC and one of the few Celtic coins that can be dated with some accuracy. I've recorded it as 13.0004.
All the best
113.57mm Long x 105.72 mm W The biggest 11,000 BC Stone Age battle axe I have ever seen, that is a George III sixpence below to show you some idea of the scale of this find. Monster find
1.44g, 13.25mm - Covered with thick horn silver crust Chicago Ron found a 3rd that is really thick with horn silver crust.
Another Roman bronze coin found in the hoard area by Chicago Ron - reported to museum As I wrote a few minutes ago in an earlier email, Æ coins were not subject to random clipping - or it it ever occurred, the practice was unusual and not widespread. I am not, however, completely certain that it is a Fel Temp - it's tough to tell in this state of cleanliness. Mark Honorius - 393-423 AD addendum to previous hoard find with treasure number below Treasure number of 2012 T729 Late fourth century siliquae found in Britain, sometimes in large hoards, are often clipped quite severely. This phenomenon is not known from elsewhere within the empire, but it does occur in areas outside it. It would therefore seem that these clipped silver coins belong, in Britain, to the period after the Roman withdrawal. The clipping of these earlier coins perhaps brought them into line with the weight of fifth century Gallic coins. Some citizens no doubt still owned quantities of solidi for wealth storage, but widespread coin use in Britain probably ceased by c. AD430. A sixth century site, Castle Dore, is completely coinless, and the next coinage to appear in Britain was that of the Germanic settlers in the seventh century. But that is another story. The last known appeal by Britons to Rome was in AD443, according to the Anglo Saxon Chronicle. It was unsuccessful, but the Britons who fought the battle of Mons Badonicus, c. AD500, probably still thought they were defending a basically Romano-British, Christian, way of life against the pagan Saxon interlopers. In this, of course, they eventually failed, but that too is another story.
1696 William III gold 1 guinea coin weight Obv William bust Rev CROWN 1 GUINEA
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19th March 2013 - Another Roman silver hoard - Mega important Celtic gold and weird ancient coin ? - More gold found The guys are digging some really important finds and another addendum to the Roman silver hoard. I have posted loads more great relics, neat buttons and silver to the 2013 March finds page. I have ton of great finds like another Saxon check piece and a mint fibular brooch to take snaps off yet. Updated this years gold finds page with the latest find Gold Page. Cal George got a neat 18 carat gold ring and a gold locket back I have not taken pics of yet to add to the score. The last Celtic gold find looked like another 70 BC Morini qtr but John Stills has ID'd it below as a very important find and our first British copy, amazing discovery.
Not a 70 BC Celtic Morini boat tree qtr gold stater as I first thought - rare North Thames type 1.48g, 10.58mm This coin is an important find because although it's a type based on Gallo-Belgic D Boat Tree quarters it's an early British copy, ABC 2454, from the same dies as the one illustrated in the book. Although ABC says it's excessively rare there are actually around 20 known, but there are very few reliable findspots and this one helps to confirm it's a North Thames type. I've recorded it as 13.0002 (got some new numbers through at last). All the best John Il Tim popped both these Honorius silver Romans adding to the previously reported hoard but this time he found the before and after coin of clipping to look like a Saxon coin. However on weighing them they are the same as the larger one is a lot thinner. Did they not clip it as it was about the weight and not size that they were clipped ? I have reported them to the museum as an addendum to Treasure case 2012 T729. I have also sent them off to Mark Lehman as he now has a full legend to comment on and all of the previous hoard coins were clipped examples.
1.01g,16.44mm & 1.0g,13.59mm Amazing find - the before and after clipped Roman silver hoard coins that now weigh the same as the larger one is really thin. Ill Tim found both together Honorius - 393-423 AD addendum to previous hoard find with treasure number below Treasure number of 2012 T729 Late fourth century siliquae found in Britain, sometimes in large hoards, are often clipped quite severely. This phenomenon is not known from elsewhere within the empire, but it does occur in areas outside it. It would therefore seem that these clipped silver coins belong, in Britain, to the period after the Roman withdrawal. The clipping of these earlier coins perhaps brought them into line with the weight of fifth century Gallic coins. Some citizens no doubt still owned quantities of solidi for wealth storage, but widespread coin use in Britain probably ceased by c. AD430. A sixth century site, Castle Dore, is completely coinless, and the next coinage to appear in Britain was that of the Germanic settlers in the seventh century. But that is another story. The last known appeal by Britons to Rome was in AD443, according to the Anglo Saxon Chronicle. It was unsuccessful, but the Britons who fought the battle of Mons Badonicus, c. AD500, probably still thought they were defending a basically Romano-British, Christian, way of life against the pagan Saxon interlopers. In this, of course, they eventually failed, but that too is another story.
This is one weird ancient coin - Looks kind of Saxon rev, is it Roman but could be a Celtic ? It has a right facing bust with pointy nosed Saxon features and beard. Crown like a Roman. Rev looks kind of Saxon too with double squares. Could be a weird Potin ? It is probably a Roman bronze so I sent it off to all the Celtic, Roman and Saxon experts to be sure. 1.96g, 14.35mm
1911 Mans gold signet 'love' ring - Inscribed inside D.K.G - external JCIE 18 carat Chester hall mark Maker JH 21.3mm dia,4.86g
Brilliant relic - Our first ever non gold 17thC copper posy ring with full inscription 'In god a love wee one' which means 'In god a love we won'
Very unusal coin weight not in my ref books - looks continental - needs more research
Very neat relic - 16thC Elizabethan illegal public house lead token
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17th March 2013 - 2nd oldest ever coin found - More Celtic gold and our 3rd gold hoard of 2013 ?- More Roman silver and forgery John Stills has recorded the 70 BC Celtic gold coin found by Chicago Ron and commented on the hoard found so far and how useful it is at dating early British coinage. There is bound to be lot more out there once it is ploughed and rolled again. The latest Gallo-Belgic D quarter from the hoard is 12.0857; it looks like there should be quite a few more given that half a dozen have come up in fairly rapid succession. This type of hoard is extremely useful because the Gallo-Belgic gold can be dated quite closely so it helps to date the start of British coinage. John
151BC Roman republican silver coin sent for ID - 2nd oldest coin ever found by the our club This is a denarius of P. Cornelius Sulla (same family as the famous dictator of the next century, but a different Publius Cornelius Sulla) dating to 151 BC -
The guys are not letting the wet weather slow them down and found more staggering finds including another gold Celtic qtr stater and potentially our 3rd Celtic gold hoard of 2013. Fl Chuck on his last day popped a monster , the 2nd oldest coin ever found by our club and it is in excellent shape coming from a very sandy field and our disclaimed hoard site. Mark Lehman has ID'd it as 151BC together with a really neat contemporary Roman silver forgery found by Can Ron which really shows the construction clearly of 2 thin silver sheets over a copper core. I have posted three more Roman silver coins on the 2013 March finds page that have that green debased appearance that I have not cooked yet. I asked Mark Lehman on his views as to should they be 'cooked' in case they are only silver washed and here is his reply. Can you see exposed copper on this one? I believe it is a standard (official issue) silver (at least 50-60% or so) denarius of Marcus Auelius (161-180) so you might want to check to be sure that it's not just profoundly tarnished and possibly cleanable silver. There is an entire class of cast (generally, rather than struck) denarii and a few earlier antoniniani which were made by impressing genuine coins in clay to make molds. They can be surprisingly close to the originals, particuarly as castings go, and when found in perfect condition may retain a very thin silvery outer layer, but generally appear to be strictly Æ. These are mostly found in the Balkans and the era in which they were commonly produced was from about 200-250 AD - at least the protoype coins from which the molds were made tend to be from that era - coins predominantly of the Severan dynasty. These are incorrectly referred to as "Limes Denarii" - and although this is a terrible name for them (it conflates them with the class of "Limes Falsa" undersized, struck contemporary copies of Julio-Claudian Æ from Britain and Northern Gaul - with which they share virtually no qualities other than both being contemporary copies) they have now been referred to by this term long enough that it has achieved a certain legitimacy and it would probably be impossible to convince the market in general to stop using this misnomer-name for them. These Balkan Æ denarii used to be quite scarce until the 1990's when huge quantities of coin began to reach western markets from the former "Iron Curtain" countries like Bulgaria, Romania, the countries of the former Yugoslavia, and the most south-western of the nations formely part of the Soviet Union like Ukraine. Now they are not exactly "common", but just about everyone has seen them in person now and most folks I know have at least a few of them sourced from lots of uncleaned coins alongside Roman Provincial and Constantinian-era material. I'm not saying this marcus Aurelius cannot be a contemporary copy, but unless you're certain it isn't silver, I'd assume it's a regular Mint of Rome product.
Roman silver forgery - sent for ID Great relic as it shows clearly the two sheet of silver over a bronze core Now that is some real "core exposure". This is actually quite the "exploded diagram" of a textbook 1st century fourree. The copper core was wrapped in a significantly thick silver foil with a layer of flux applied under the silver which was then "soldered" to the core by annealing. Usually, you only see holes in the foil -"core exposures", although I have occasionally seen an empty silver shell (or approximately 90% or one, at least) from which the copper core has been completely corroded away and lost. This appears to copy a denarius of Vespasian, although it could as easily be meant to be Titus - the beginning and end of the legend having been lost makes it impossible to be sure, but the portrait favors Vespasian. The reverse seems to be COS ITER TR POT with Aequitas standing left, the scales she holds are lost just below the break in the silver. This reverse is an exclusively Vespasian type, but it's not at all unusual for fourrees to mule obverses with "inappropriate" reverses. In fact, I used to own a fourree of an Otho denarius (see photo below) with this same Aequitas COS ITER TR POT reverse, so this doesn't prove it's not Titus either. Vespasian's 2nd consulship began in 70 AD, so this piece can't date to much later than 80 AD without the reverse being so anachronistic as to have caused suspicion. Mark
70 BC Celtic Morini boat tree qtr gold stater - sent to CCI for recording and possible new hoard coin 1.48g, 10.58mm Newbie hunter Miss Mike has found yet another gold stater from one of our oldest Celtic village sites. It is a very unusual 70 BC Morini qtr and I have sent it off to John Stills today for recording and ID. It could possibly constitute a 3rd Celtic gold hoard we have found this year in 2013. I have had a discussion with the FLO at the museum to pose some interesting questions as to when does a find become a hoard based on the current laws which do not really cover clearly what we have achieved as a club. I have recorded 130 + gold Celtic coins with the Celtic Coin Index over the last 10 years the club has been running. We now have over 500 + fields that we have permission to hunt all around the oldest recorded town in Britain. Colchester is the richest area in Britain for Celtic gold so every field around Colchester could produced these type of finds. This old site where the latest Celtic gold was found is huge site and I have recorded 7 tribes found so far, Adde, Clacton, Gallo, Morini , Ingoldisthorpe, Remi and Kite. It is another Bronze age village where the Celtic gold always circles the village where offerings were made. The site is massive with ¼ mile long fields. What we achieve as a club is totally unique and my knowledge of Celtic gold coins, their normal disposition and hoards is based on these 130 + Celtic gold coins we have found and recorded with every find spot on PAS and CCI. In the ten years I have run this club I know every find spot of every gold coin in my head. When the two last 50 BC Adde Celtic gold staters were found last week I knew it was a hoard based on the 2004 finds I recorded and now on display in Colchester museum. The treasure law states two gold or silver coins of the same type found in the same location irrespective of time buried with the intention of being recovered. It also includes offering sites. A scenario. Say years ago we decided not to hunt that land anymore and a brand new guy from a local club found a single gold coin in the hoard area, he would never know it is a hoard but a single find as hoard locations are never disclosed on PAS or the CCI databases. Say we found a single Celtic gold coin on a farm next to a hedge. Not a hoard. The farmer bought 5 new fields and then ploughed the hedge away and now the two fields are one. If we now found a coin on the new part of the field that is now one field would it now be hoard ? If you have a small field and you found two Celtic golds, one in each corner then it could possibly be a hoard but if the field is 1/4 mile long then clearly a corner in each corner could not be a hoard. It is possible that a Celtic gold gets stuck on a tractor tyre and moved several hundred feet by pure fluke but there must be a maximum distance that two golds are found that is either a hoard or not a hoard. Is it 100 yds, 500 yrds, 1000 yrds ?? Also if a guy tells me he found his gold over there in the middle of a huge field the accuracy that he or I can remember it is probably no nearer than 100 yrds away. Also I report a gold spot to an 8 figure grid ref which is highly inaccurate. I have already explained at my last meeting at the museum the amazing leap forward in technology the new CTX detector has added to the club and all the latest gold finds are now mapped exactly on this new machine with GPS. The FLO knows that I will supplying her with the CTX .map file by e-mail at the end of the season with all the find spots we have recorded now within inches. It will fascinating to look at all the 7 gold coins in the first hoard to see the real spread of the coins on a close up on Goggle maps. The bottom line is every field around Colchester probably has a Celtic gold somewhere on it if you search long enough and hard enough and when we find one we always know that there eventually will be another one found which could be 7 years from now. Because I remember the first one it can make it a hoard even though it could be a casual loss and not be a hoard. As I say I presented a huge bunch of what if's to the FLO this afternoon based on my knowledge of hoards after the latest Morini find on what we call the Morini village. I explained how Celtic golds coins are generally found in a very large circle around a village like another Bronze Age village I paid Sussex Archeology to do that full field survey on. http://www.colchestertreasurehunting.co.uk/D/desktopsurvey.htm http://www.colchestertreasurehunting.co.uk/D/desktopsurvey2.htm
When does our Celtic village site become a hoard with 7 different tribes coming up all over the place on adjacent monster fields ? The Morini's are following this huge circle. The Clacton/Gallo Belgic hoard we reported recently is an obvious one, the 5thC Roman silver hoard was obvious. Groups of related coins very close together. The FLO taken on board all the scenarios I discussed with her and will be taking advise from the BM. The Treasure Act basically does not cover the complexity and scale of what we have achieved as a club which no one individual or club is even got close to achieving. The latest Morini Celtic qtr could in the end constitute our 3rd Celtic gold hoard we have reported in 3 weeks !! Amazing achievement by all the club members. I am at least a weeks worth of finds behind with photographing and will try and get a load more done today. I have uploaded more of Mark Lehmans bronze and silver ID's to the latest finds page2013 March finds page and more widgets and do dads. Updated this years gold finds page with the latest find Gold Page
11.95g, 26.59mm I can perhaps give you a little more detail on this one later this evening, but I can tell you quickly that it's a follis of Galerius as Caesar - Diocletian's 2nd in command in the Eastern half of the Empire in the first Tetrarchy. Galerius was Caesar from 293-305. This appears to be one of the earlier, larger folles (they're considered billon, BTW, not "copper", per-se. ) it's a GENIO POPVLI ROMANI, the most common reverse type. I can't make out the mint mark at first glance, but perhaps I can tease it out with a little image manipulation. Mark I finally figured it out - RIC does list an officina designation of delta-epsilon for these folles, (a different way of indicating officina 9. Theta, the Greek number 9, was considered unlucky by the superstitious Romans and so 9 was often written as delta-epsilon when Romans used Greek numerals) but the text doesn't note that the two letters are split between the two fields. However, there is a photo in the plates section showing a different type of follis, but with an "officina 9" designation represented by delta and epsilon divided between the left and right fields. So, this is definitely from the Mint at Antioch - if you can determine with the coin in-hand whether the obverse legend is: GAL VAL MAXIMIANVS NOB CAES then we would be able to be certain whether this is Galerius as Caesar or Maximinus II as Caesar. I think it's Maximian (the 1st one) but "Murphy's Law of Coin Legends" states: In the case of similar legends, the letters most likely to be vague or ambiguous are the ones most necessary to determine which of the possibilities it is." Galerius' dates as Caesar are 293-305. Maximinus II's dates as Caesar are 305-308. Mark
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13th March 2013 - More gold and treasures - excellent unique find donation by Mass Bruce
Mass Bruce found this amazing Roman brooch below last season that I had recorded with PAS. When I picked it up at the museum the Head Curator and FLO let me know how incredibly rare the find was. None of this type has ever been found in Britain before and continental examples are not even close to this design. They expressed an interest to acquire it for the museum so Mass Bruce has decided, because of its importance, to generously donate it to the museum for display. Bruce already has the 850BC socketed axe hoard he found in 2004 on display and part of a large 850BC Addedomaros Celtic gold hoard in the museum.
ESS-691516 Roman brooch - unique to Britain A possibly unique to the British Isles example of a Roman copper alloy brooch depicting a man riding a beast, possibly a sheep or horse. The brooch plate consists of the body of the animal, from which the neck and head extends forwards at 90 degrees so that the head is looking to the right. The figure also extends from the animal at 90 degrees from the body, rather than from the back of the animal as would be expected. On the reverse of the brooch are the remains of a catch plate and lug. The lug is located at the animals hind and consists of a rectangular projection with a slot through the middle from which the pin mechanism would have attached. The catch plate is located under the animals shoulder and consists of a thinner rectangular projection which is now broken but would have curved over to house the pin. The pin is missing.
Roman bronze offering pot I have reported another 16thC treasure to the museum found by Ontario Jim, a really nice Tudor gilded silver clothing fastener that I have posted on the 2013 March finds page. Jim also got the stonking condition miniature Roman votive offering pot above.
This coin looked like it had a fresh break with the chunk missing when dug. Dropping it in lemon juice prior to cleaning gently is has fractures in two places. Time to test our goldsmiths repair skills again 825 - 845 Athelstan I of East Anglia, North 439 Obv ETHELSTAN in centre A Rev REX ANG Omega 1.16g, 18.53mm Sent to CCI for recording
Can Ron is having a brilliant hunt and added another gold find to the clubs total with a Georgian cuff link with covering of a thin sheet of decorated gold, Gold Page. He also made an amazing discovery with our first ever Athelstan I Saxon silver penny. The guys have also been making more great silver and relic find that I posted to the 2013 March finds page. Updated the free comp page with 913 scrap musket balls dug so far. Forum competition
13thC seal matrix Anonymous: letter R An initial with crown above, branches at the side, was a design that became increasingly common in the 15thC and was often used on a signet ring. The letter suggests it stood for the owners forename. Examples were used in 1424 by Edward Saddler, clerk.
Interesting find yesterday from Min Mindy, is it silver, debased or washed ? Not attempting to clean it until I know it will not be damaged. sent to Mark Lehman for ID
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11th March 2013 - More ancient gold - More stunning Saxon finds
10.35mm, 1.46g 70BC Morini boat tree Celtic gold qtr stater - reported to museum as hoard and sent to CCI for recording
Saxon gold 'Flat type' pin head back- reported as treasure to museum 0.94g, 10.35mm Chicago Ron added another gold coin to his count making him our 2nd best gold coin finder in the club with 12 now. He popped another hoard coin with a sweet 70 BC Morini boat tree that I have reported to the museum and sent to the CCI for recording. Tenn Brad continues his rampage of terror on the land and found the back of a 'Flat head' type Saxon gold pin head. he also got a very neat classic dot design Saxon buckle.
C 8thC Saxon buckle
I have uploaded more great hammered silver and relics including a Roman bronze votive figurine, the first E(a) sterling imitation of a hammered silver English penny to the latest finds page 2013 March finds page Updated the gold page with the latest find Gold Page Updated the free comp page with 869 scrap musket balls dug so far. Forum competition
Stunning enamelled Saxon mount
As dug and now 'cooking' to remove crust Primary Saxon silver sceat 600- 700 AD - sent to Fitzwilliam museum for recording and ID Left facing bust 1.23g, 11.41mm This new find (EMC 2013.0069) might be Series R9, but enhanced images would certainly be appreciated. Best wishes, Martin
Beautiful crisp strike of a rare Class 3d Lincoln mint distinctive by the R having an annulet tail 1272 Edward 1st I hammered silver penny - Class 3d Obv EDWAR ANGL DNS HYB Rev CIV/TAS/LIN/COL- Lincoln mint
Very crisp 1758 George II milled silver sixpence
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8th March 2013 - More monster Saxon/Viking finds ? and double stonking gold finds
Monster find - circa 8thC Anglo Saxon mount - possibly Viking - one for the museum Black enamel with silver inlay 40.28mm high I am completely swamped with the monster finds the guys are digging at the moment on both the old and new land. We were given another 5 news fields by one of our oldest farmers who just bought the land right next to our best ever producing Celtic gold areas. We have not even been on there yet as we have 40 other new fields we are trying to hotspot. We must have over 550 fields that guys can pick from each morning so the task is mind-blowing. It is really tricky working out what to post on the latest news page as finds that normally would make the front page just end up on the latest 2013 March finds page. I have several enamelled Saxon looking pieces soaking in distilled water that need to be cleaned up before I take pictures. Tenn Brad just had anther monster day after he popped part of the latest Celtic gold hoard. In the morning he dug a nice crisp Saxon silver sceat but in the afternoon he found a potential 'find of the year' relic. It is Anglo Saxon but the Norse type head makes me lean towards Viking and there is a noted Viking Saxon battle field in the area. I have looked through all my ref books but nothing really comes even close to this find. At a guess I think it is a mount off a bowl or drinking vessel. I have sent it off to the museum to see if they have seen anything like it as the rest of the bowl could still be out there. Can Ron added another stunning decorated pin head to the gold count and it looks quite early, possibly medieval. Not sure what the two cut outs in the head are for ? Report to museum as potential treasure. The museum have replied on the potential treasure, Amethyst and gold pendant, reported a couple of days ago, it is dated as 18thC so not treasure as it has to be 300 years or older by law.
1712 Portugal 100 Reis gold coin Obverse: Crowned arms with vertical value at left side, titles of John V at right Obverse Legend: IOANNES V D G ... Reverse: Jerusalem cross, quatrefoil in angles, date above Reverse Legend: IN HOC SIGNO VINCES
Min Mindy has also popped a beauty early milled Portuguese gold coin making it her 6th and she is also now the 3rd highest gold coin finder in the club, Ark Gary still holds the title with 13. She also found a monster vessica shaped medieval medallion that I have soaking in distilled water, never seen a medallion that looks like seal matrix. Updated the gold page with the latest find Gold Page Updated the free comp page with 855 scrap musket balls dug so far. Forum competition
John Stills has recorded and issued CCI number for the Cunobelin bronze unit and the two Celtic gold Adde hoard coins. Unfortunately I did not clean the original Adde hoard as they were handed in as is condition and subsequently acquired by Colchester museum. Philip the head curator told me they will be on display in the new revamped museum opening so I have not seen them since 2004. Not sure if they were ever cleaned so I cc’s this to Philip to see if he knows. I can't see the Cuno bronze anywhere and have recorded it as 12.0854. The two Addedomaros hoard staters are 12.0855 for coin 1 and 12.0856 for coin 2. Several Addedo staters from the hoard recorded in the CCI were photographed in an encrusted state and are difficult to die link, do you have cleaned photos of everything if I gave you the numbers? There are about half a dozen in this category; I only ask because I've been cataloging the gold of Addedomaros recently and your coins have been extremely useful. All the best John
As dug and now 'cooking' to remove crust Primary Saxon silver sceat 600- 700 AD - sent to Fitzwilliam museum for recording and ID Left facing bust 1.23g, 11.41mm Many thanks. This is EMC 2013.0066. Series D (Type 2c). Best wishes, Martin
Stonking gold decorated pin head with 2 small cut outs - it 'feels' early and could be even medieval - reported to museum as potential treasure I am still trying to find more time to use my new macro tools on the 'cooking' ancient silvers and they are showing amazing improvement with the couple I have been working on below.
As dug and 'Cooking' Roman silver - still more to do yet and then I will resent it to Mark Lehman The details are still a bit fuzzy, but I can tell you that it's a denarius of Hadrian (117-138 AD.) and the reverse type is TELLVS STABIL. A woman - the personification of Tellus - standing left holding a plow-handle and a rake - 2 corn plants protrude from the ground behind her. This is a product of the Mint at Rome in 133 AD. The obverse reads (or should read) HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P - and if you study it closely, you can tell that it does have that legend.
As dug and 'cooking' pics - still more work to do yet Primary Saxon silver sceat 600- 700 AD - sent to Fitzwilliam museum for recording and ID
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6th March 2013 - Another Celtic gold hoard found - First Saxon sceat - Rare Roman silver ID's
45 BC Celtic stater of Addedomaros - sent for recording to CCI and reported as hoard to museum 5.54g, 17.19mm
45 BC Celtic stater of Addedomaros - sent for recording to CCI and reported as hoard to museum 5.54g, 17.19mm The guys are finding stuff quicker than I can photograph it at the moment. Ten Brad and Louisiana Sal popped another two Celtic gold coins 70 feet apart on new land so I have reported them as potential hoard to the museum.
Amethyst and gold pendant - not certain of age so reported as potential treasure to museum - no hallmarks 16.72mm H, 2.25g Brad had already found a beautiful amethyst gold brooch in the morning that initially looked modern but under my scope it looks fairly old construction with no hallmarks but what looks like a museum number scratched into it. I reported it as potential treasure to the museum to be on the safe side. Can John then bangs the clubs first Saxon coin find of 2013 and it is his 4th Saxon silver sceat making him the clubs top sceat finder. It is very crispy example so I have stuck it straight into the cooker to clean off the crust before I send it off to the Fizwilliam museum for recording and ID. I have taken possession of the new micro tools I ordered and they are absolutely staggering brilliant. The 0.015 mm wide chisels are so accurately made and are perfect edge under the high power microscope. I tried them briefly on the Saxon gilded necklace find and the when gently picking off the green crust the gilding it totally intact underneath. I can do major improvement to the finds but will not have time till the end of the season to spend serious time on them.
I have posted a load more to the latest March finds page but it will take me at days of photographing to try and catch up.2013 March finds page Updated the gold page with the latest find Gold Page
circa 600 AD Saxon silver sceat - cooking to remove crust
BC Roman silver sent for ID- interesting dug condition, cooking to remove crust Can Bill has made another major find with our first Roman silver find off a new site. The picture above is in dug condition and I have never seen one with a spotty crust before. As it was in good shape I sent it off to Mark Lehman for his views and his write up below is fascinating. He sent me a second e-mail on the coin and this is a stonking find and very rare. This one took a little digging - since there's no legible inscription at all. Turns out that first off, you had the reverse photographed upside-down as you sent it to me. If you look carefully (it's weakly struck) you can make out a peaked roof with statues at the peak and eves. This is an elevation of the Curia Julia - which still exists in the Forum in Rome - the edifice is represented by 3 stout uprights supporting the architrave and surrounded with a balustrade on 4 short columns at "waist level". It's illegible, but on a better-preserved example you would see IMP CAESAR across the architrave - the only writing on this piece by Octavian (before he became Augustus). The portrait is of Octavian, of course. This piece dates to about 30-29 BC, or shortly before Octavian became Augsutus, dissolving the Republic and creating the Principiate - the official beginning of the Empire. This piece carries a fairly high estimated price in Sear where it is # 1557; RSC 122, RIC 266; & BMCRR 4358 / BMCRE 631. Mark Very unusual to have a piece with such clear types and still have it require almost an hour to find in the literature. Not at all the sort of thing we normally see in British digs - particularly around Colchester which, although it was a really major Romanized center, dates at its earliest to mid-1st century AD - by which time this coin would have been very unlikely to still be in circulation, at least in the condition we find this one. We have no proof, of course, but this would seem to indicate either an earlier Roman presence - perhaps of some private, non-governmental, perhaps mercantile establishment or center of operation - or of significant trading activity to bring this, among other pre-Claudian, Continental types of coins, to this general location. The tin mines were nowhere near the Eastern part of the Island, right? I'm afraid that my knowledge of the geology/geography of the British Isles is poor to non-existant, but I think of the mining districts being more a feature of lands to the west, Cornwall & Wales, etc. But tin was certainly the most important (in the point of view of importers on the continent) "export product" of the Island(s) before the establishment of an ongoing, official Roman presence. I know there were flint mines not too far north of London, a good friend is originally from Feltwell, but that activity rather significantly predated the Hellenistic age and I don't think there's any geological connection between flint and tin. Mark
Circa 1260 AD lead personal seal , 4 have been found attached to pasture rights. The design is typical of mid 13thC non heraldic seals
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3rd March 2013 - Mixed Celtic gold hoard confirmed - More monster finds
Tom's team are now flying back to the USA and finished on a real high with more great relics and silver coins + another piece of gold with a tiny gold buckle. Mindy's new team arrived today so it will be tough to follow their 10 gold find Tom's boys made, not forgetting their 9 Celtic coins, 7 gold, that mega rare silver and a single bronze unit. The new guys are already making some monster finds including a stunning Saxon cheek piece with face design and an early 11,000 BC flint spear head. There are too many top finds, like at least 2 dozen hammered silver coins, another beehive thimble, mint medieval seal matrix, stunning medieval buckles, toy cannon , fibular brooches and all manner of other widgets. I have posted a load more to the latest March finds page but it will take me at least two days of photographing to try and catch up.2013 March finds page
50 BC late British G 'Early Clacton' gold stater - cleaning up and sending to CCI 5.25g, 19.54mm - reported as potential hoard to the museum CCI 12.0853
John Stills has now recorded the 2nd Celtic gold that we first thought was forgery and now turns out to be a known low gold content Clacton type stater. It cleaned up really nice and the camera captured the copper tinge on the rev that you cannot see with the naked eye. Also notice that the gold runs right through the coin by the edge hammering flaw exposed. Yes, definitely genuine again and a reasonable weight, I'm sure you've got another hoard of mixed GB E and Clactons. This one's 12.0853, same dies as the other complete stater, 12.0843 and possibly the same obverse die as 12.0840, the fragment, but not sure without the rest of the cards to hand. Hope a few more turn up! John
Mint Medieval seal matrix
Stunning find - Anglo Saxon harness bridal cheek piece with face decoration
Medieval buckle with integral plate
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1st March 2013 - More Celtic gold found - Cleaned up first one - new finds page Created a brand new 2013 March finds page on the site to speed up loading times. Just received today great new books supplied by the Finds Research Data group, excellent reference sheets 1- 24 & 25-40. It will take a while to read but covers a huge area of finds with detailed line drawings. The guys are still out there making some amazing discoveries including a load of very neat hammered silver coins from 13th C right up to Charles 1st, I will be posting them onto the new finds page later. There is also an unusually large number of very diverse types of Roman fibular brooches turning up that I have posted to the new finds page. Mark Lehman has sent back the ID's of several nice Roman bronze finds including a rare example below. I have posted his in depth ID's to the latest finds page.
1.05g, 12.72mm The third piece is actually fairly rare and quite interesting from a British History standpoint. This is a little "Æ4" nummus of Magnus Maximus (383-388), with a so-called "campgate" reverse - more likely a representation of a signal-tower/"mile castle" from a Roman frontier fortification. These would have been strung along a frontier, as along Hadrian's wall, and provided a way of quickly passing information up and down the border. It could also be a city-gate, but since cities generally grew up around/out of military camps, the distinction between "camp" and "city" gate is fairly vague at best. The legend on the reverse would be SPES ROMANORVM if you could make it out. The exergue is similarly illegible, but this would be from a western European mint since that was the only part of the Empire he controlled - and in fact, when he went to expand his territory to include Italy, he met his demise at the hands of Theodosius at the battle Poetovio. Rudyard Kipling made him a character in one of his short stories - "Puck of Pook's Hill"
Mark
Fascinating find - 50 BC late British G 'Early Clacton' gold stater - cleaning up and sending to CCI 5.25g, 19.54mm - reported as potential hoard to the museum
Bill has found his 2nd Celtic gold Clacton type 'forgery' of the trip and I spoke to John Stills at the CCI to see if any Celtic forgery hoards have even been found in Britain. There are no Celtic forgery hoards in this country that I can think of, but there are several temple sites such as Hayling Island on the south coast where a very high proportion of the finds are plated copies, presumably because people could look as if they were giving a genuine coin while actually getting rid of forgeries! All the best John However after the latest pictures I sent to John it appears that the 3 forgeries pictures I sent him are in fact real full staters of very low grade gold content. That means Wash Tom's team found a total of 6 Celtic gold staters, one silver and a a bronze this week. Amazing trip and they still have one day left to hunt. These 'real' staters have been added to the hoard now. The cut fragment is now 12.0840 and the full stater 12.0843. I'm not at all sure that these are forgeries, especially the full coin, because late British G 'Early Clacton' staters can often look quite rough and the weight of 5.07g is in line with it being genuine, but very base (in some cases the gold content is under 20%). Also there are two hoards, Clacton 1898 and near Woodbridge, Suffolk, where early Gallo-Belgic E staters have been found in association with Early Clacton gold, so your finds would make a lot of sense as a third hoard of this type.
Cleaned up 50 BC late British G 'Early Clacton' , reported as potential hoard to the museum CCI 12.0843 5.07g, 19.7mm
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28th Feb 2013 - More exciting Celtic coins found and a monster Saxon find - New micro tools John Stills has confirmed the ID's of the last two gold Morini coins and issued CCI numbers below I've recorded the two quarters, the oval coin with a fairly clear 'boat' is 12.0838 and the round one with a more worn boat is 12.0839. Both are from fairly early in the Gallic War series and are Scheers class 3 (her earliest Gallic War quarter type), probably struck not long after the stater. They're standard types, nothing particularly unusual about them. Where there are three GB E and D there are usually more so there could be quite a few. All the best John
5.07g, 19.7mm
Fascinating find - Contemporary 50 BC Gold Gallo Belic stater forgery - cleaning up and sending to CCI Hard to imagine the skill required in those days to to put two thin gold sheets over a bronze inner
Celtic gold 1/4 full stater forgery - you can clearly see the two thin sheets of gold over the bronze inner - cleaning up and sending to CCI 'definitely a Clacton stater forgery, ABC 2329, as you say. If you don't mind I'll wait till everything's cleaned up before printing out images and doing CCI numbers, All the best John The guys are having a crazy week on new and old land and newbie Seattle Gordy has found his 3rd Celtic coin of the week but this time an amazing 60 BC contemporary forgery. We have only ever found two Celtic gold forgery examples in 10 years with all the hundreds of Celtic gold coins we have dug so these are rare as hens teeth to find. When Gordy handed it to me in the field I initially though it was crusty silver but I knew they did make full stater sized silver units. When I got it home I put it under my microscope and saw it was gold. Nothing sticks to gold so I suspected a forgery. This was supported by Bill's find, he found a 1/4 of full stater nearby and you can clearly see the two thin sheets of gold over a bronze inner. As this is not 10% of gold by weight this coin is not classed as part of a hoard. I rang the FLO at the museum this morning to pose an intriguing question that is not obvious in the treasure act. A hoard is classed as either 2 gold or silver coins, 10% by weight, or 10 bronze units. As this is not gold, silver or bronze what happens if we find 10 of them in a hole? They are going to seek advice from the Treasure Dept but I have a feeling that they will be classed in the end as bronzes so 10 or more is a hoard. Just got official feedback from the British Museum and they are indeed classed as Bronzes so 10 is a hoard. Meanwhile the guys are finding other Celtic bronzes and Bill has also found an amazing Saxon rope necklace end. It was covered with a thick crust and I soaked it in distilled water and worked on it under the scope and was staggered to see an abstract animal with its head resting on a paw with a curled up tail like a python. The detail is so minute and intricate that it is not possible to see with the naked eye. How does someone make that 1300 years ago ? I have tried to take macro pictures of it but the detail is just so tiny. I have more work to do to clean it up some more but man what an amazing discovery. The rope part of the necklace is still in the recess and is held on by a single river through the main trumpet. I have blown up the pictures as much as my macro allows as the find is only 43.18mm long x 10.14mm dia. My new micro tools posted below arrive at the weekend and these are staggeringly small at 0.015mm head size. They are viciously expensive at £75 each for just one tool head but they are made with such precision and will really aid in cleaning finds. I have posted more finds to latest finds page .2013 Feb Finds including some interesting Roman fibular brooches Updated the gold page with the latest find Gold Page Updated the Forum competition page with the scrap musket balls the guys have dug so far - current total 781
Rope necklace end still in place, single rivet fixing - curly tail on rear of beast
C8thC Saxon rope necklace end cap - bottom picture show beast with large bottom jaw, large nose, recessed eyes with his head resting on his paw left - rear shows curled up spiralled tail. 4.18g
Tiny specialist micro tools on order
10-40 AD Cunobelin bronze unit - CVN and what appears to be a Pegasus Victory left type. Obv Pegasus L head turned back Rev Victory standing CVN in front Sent to CCI for recording and ID confirmation 1.74g, 14.22mm
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26th Feb 2013 - Guys find Celtic gold hoard - rare Celtic silver confirmed - Cleaned up seal matrix Tom's team are having a monster hunt this week and found a Celtic gold coin hoard that I have reported to the museum. Newbie Gordy started the ball rolling with an early 57 BC Gallo-Belgic E class 1 full stater. Then Col Bruce popped a very unusual 70 BC Morini boat tree qtr stater followed by Cal Gary's 'normal' looking 70BC Morini Boat Tree type Celtic gold qtr stater. I have reported all three to the CCI and the museum as a hoard. John Stills has now recorded the first one and issued a CCI number below. He also confirmed my ID on the extremely rare Celtic silver unit found a couple of days ago. I've done a card for the Sitting Griffin unit and it's now CCI 12.0835; I've used the photo you sent but will replace it with a better one when the coin's 'cooked'!
All the best John
I have posted more finds to latest finds page 2013 Feb Finds. Updated the gold page with the latest find Gold Page
Gallo Belgic 57 BC Celtic gold full stater 6.35g, 17.74mm It's a nice early one, from a known reverse die, from near the start of Gallo-Belgic E class 1 so should date to c.57 BC as the series probably began soon after the start of the Gallic Wars in 58/7; CCI 12.0837. John Reported as hoard to museum
70BC Morini Boat Tree type Celtic gold qtr stater - sent to CCI for recording 1.49g, 10.40mm Reported as hoard to museum
70BC Morini Boat Tree type Celtic gold qtr stater - sent to CCI for recording 1.45g, 9.63mm Reported as hoard to museum
13th C bronze Vessica seal matrix - needs a soak and pick to clean legend and impression Now partially cleaned up shows a sacrificial lamb type impression
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24th Feb 2013 - Extremely rare Celtic silver and two more gold - new Celtic ref book and wall plaques
10- 40 AD Cunobelinus 'Sitting Griffin' type silver unit - Classed as extremely rare VA 2051, BMC 1868-9 Chris Rudd 30.73 Cooking to clean up and sent to CCI for recording and confirmed ID Rev CVNO in tablet, wrealth border Obv Griffin r - on tablet containing CAMV
Chris Rudd just sent me a copy of his latest Celtic coin book and a couple of beautiful wall plaques to go in my study. It is good job I updated my old Celtic Ref book as Seattle Gordy on his first trip here has popped an extremely rare Cunobelin Celtic silver unit. It features in Chris's book with twice size pictures making it a lot easier to ID these tricky rare Celtics. By the BMC number range is would appear that only 2 other examples of this coin exist. I have sent it off to John Stills at the Celtic Coin Index to confirm my ID and issue a CCI number. I have put the crusty coin straight into the 'cooker' to remove the horn silver growth. What a great find.
The guys have been having mixed success on new land and a new 800 acre site with huge potential did not produce one single hammered silver coin but Ill Gene saved the day and popped our first ever solid gold fob seal. Texas Tom also found a more modern gold wrist watch and these are both firsts for the club. I have posted more great finds to the latest finds page 2013 Feb Finds. I have a tone more great finds to post including Seattle Brian's very crisp James 1st monster full hammered silver shilling and loads of great widgets. I have been busy posting out export pouches and not got around to much photographing yet. Updated the gold page with the latest find Gold Page
New Celtic gold wall plaques and latest Ref book.
Some nice crisp hams being found , Penny v half penny size comparison
Medieval gilded harness pendant - star and circle decoration
1681 Charles II milled silver 2 pence
1754 Portuguese 10 Reis, X; 1/2 Vinten
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18th Feb 2013 - More great finds and cannon balls - new book on order - Mindy's gold video
Chicago Ron has just posted a video of the Colchester Club's outing to find gold at Gains Creek Alaska last season. He forgot his camera and had to use his phone to capture the moment when Mindy found her 4oz gold nugget, priceless gold dance. WARNING lots of swearing on this video. The guys have been having another amazing hunt his week and dug a load of hammered silver coins from all periods. I have just posted another dozen or so on the latest finds page 2013 Feb Finds. They have also be finding some great relics including two early cannon balls which are a rare find for us, the first continental openwork top thimble I have seen, the first French Revolution copper coin and a rarer early milled Charles II 3 pence. I have posted a whole raft of great buckles, buttons and widgets to the latest finds page also. I have ordered up a new Celtic coin book, Ancient British Coins, produced by Chris Rudd as my Hobbs reference book is getting out of date with all the new Celtic coins being found, should arrive tomorrow hopefully. The pictures in the book are twice as large as Hobbs so it will make ID'ing our finds a lot easier. It is Mindy's team last day tomorrow and then Wash Tom's team take over on Wednesday for 10 days. Both Mindy's and Beau's first two teams of the season have kicked serious butt so Tom's boys will have to work really hard. I will need to create a Feb finds page 2 shortly as the first page is getting too large already.
15thC rim less copper-alloy thimble with an openwork top and small, circular, manually produced indentations.
1683 Charles II milled silver 3 pence
1350 -64 Field of France Jetton Field bearing 9 lis arranged 1-2-3-2-1 with some tracery Obv + LECONTE rosette VRAI rosette TROVVERES Rev Simple expanding cross feuilly with central quatrefoil +AVE MARIA GRACIA floral spray Mitchiner 435
1/2 lb Cannon ball 41mm dia, 1.6 inches dia Cast iron cannon ball dating from the post Medieval period around 1500-1700AD. It is small in size suggesting it could have been used in a Rabinet, the smallest of the English Standard Sizes of cannon. These type of cannons were used in the 17th century (Blackmore 1990 Arms and Armour of the English Civil Wars, Royal Armouries p. 83). It has a diameter of 36.70mm, weight 193.7g. A similar example is SUSS-CA5D04 on the PAS database.
1798- 99 French Republique copper coin - Un centime Paris mint
16thC 1 Ib Stone cannon ball - 2.8 inches dia Historic sources in the late 16th and early 17th century suggest 'falconet' cannons shot balls of 2 inch diameter weighing between 1lb 2 ounces and 1lb 4 ounces.
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16th Feb 2013 - Tom finds a neat gold ring and Gail a beauty seal The guys are still hitting new land with mixed results but some real choice pieces turning up. Texas Tom popped a rarer Chester mint Edwardian period sapphire gold ring and then Cal Gail found a stunning 13thC seal matrix. I spent the morning using my new microscope to clean all the dirt out of the legends which really helped when I took a wax impression as it did not stick at all. Lombardic script legends on seal are very difficult to decipher as they used their own short hand. When we record these seals with the museum sometimes the British museum experts can decipher them for us. Another very rare find for us is a beauty George II silver penny, in 10 years we have only found a dozen examples. If you check out the George 1st and 2nd page on our site you can see just how rare early George coins are to find. http://www.colchestertreasurehunting.co.uk/george1st2nd.html Updated the gold page with the latest find Gold Page Posted more silver and relics to the latest finds page 2013 Feb Finds
Stunning 13thC seal matrix Legend + I'IR DIG ' ZTOEC H ' II 'R'
1909 18 carat gold ring - Chester hallmark - Maker JH & S - John Hamilton & Son 18.89mm,3.79g
1361- 1369 Edward III hammered silver half groat - Treaty B London Cross Potent Trefoil on breast - double annulet stops and satires Obv EDWARDVS REX ANGL DNS HYB Rev POSV/DEVM/+ADIVTO/REMEV CIVI/TAS/LOND/DON - London mint
Tiny 1740 George II milled Maundy silver penny
1641-3 Charles 1st hammered silver shilling (12 pence) Tower mint under Charles - Triangle in circle mint mark
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14th Feb 2013 - Boris finds hammered gold - more recorded find ID's - Saxon medallion
1817 George III milled silver shilling and an 1817 George III milled silver shilling forgery off same site
Can Boris found our first medieval hammered gold coin of 2013 on another new 22 field site we just started searching. It was a tricky one to ID as I had never seen that legend before on an Edward III gold. It is in great shape with only a partial bend that our goldsmith will be able to repair like new. Updated the gold page with the latest find Gold Page The site also produced some real nice hammered silver coins from medieval to Elizabeth 1st which I will be posting to the latest finds page 2013 Feb Finds. Boris also found both a real 1817 George III milled silver shilling and a forgery of the same date. I took a photo of them together so you can compare the silver washed version. I have posted more confirmed ID's below on the last batch of our recorded items from the museum including the Saxon medallion that has the British museum perplexed as they have never seen anything like it before.
1361 Edward III hammered gold 1/4 nobel Obv + EDWR + R ++ ANGLIE DNVS HY Edward III (1361), Quarter-Noble, Transitional Treaty Period, quartered shield of arms, two pellets in upper left quarter, within beaded and linear tressures of eight arcs, pellets on cusps, fleur trefoils in spandrels, all within beaded circle, comma and saltire stops in legend, +edwr;r; anglie: dnvs; hv rev ornamental cross potent with annulets in angles and at centre, lis terminals, lions in angles, lis above lion in fourth quarter, within beaded and linear tressures of eight arcs, trefoils in spandrels, beaded circle surrounding, saltire stops in legend, +exaltabitvr: in: gloria 18.99mm, 1.93g
1352-1353 Edward III hammered silver half groat - Pre treaty series D Obv EDWARDVS REX AIIGL Z FRACI Rev CIVI/TAS/LOND/DON - London mint 2.20g, 23.45mm
Unique ID: ESS-130065
A cast copper alloy fragment of an openwork strap end dating to the Early Medieval period. The strap end is rectangular in plan, tapering in width slightly to a rounded end. The fragment has suffered an old break across the width and would originally have been much longer. The decoration comprises of interlaced vines around open spaces although any detail on the vines is now obscurred by wear. The strap end has a light green patination across all surfaces. It measures 33.15 in length, 23.5 in width and 4.1mm thick; it weighs 11.15g. Thomas (2004; pg 1) states that Class E strap ends are liekly to have entered Wessex in the last quarter of the 9th Century and continued in use throughout the country, although mainly in the South and South East, through to the tenth and eleventh centuries. Several other examples can be seen on this database of a similar style to this object, e.g. SWYOR-127597, with added knop at the base and Thomas illustrates similar examples (2004; pg 3), no 24. Class: Thomas Class E ChronologyBroad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
A currently unidentified copper alloy object of probable Early Medieval date. The object is a circular disc with a moulded design in relief on one face only. The reverse is undecorated. The design features two busts, facing each other. The bodies and hair or helmets are comprised of parallel lines whilst the head is a solid raised area with a recessed space for the eye. Above the heads and between the two faces is a five pointed star. This central motif is surrounded by a pellet border which is in turn encompassed by a border of alternating crescents and vertical lines. The outer edge, about 1.5mm in width, appears to be undecorated. The object has no visible attachments and does appear complete, although the sides are somewhat worn. It measures 27.43mm in diameter, 3.72mm in thickness and weighs 11.08g. Images of this object have been seen by Kevin Leahy and John Naylor; National Finds Advisors for the PAS. It was originally thought that this object may be a bractaete die, but as the impressions are positive rather than negative it makes this unlikely. Other suggestions as to this object's form include a die for making foils for use on cliche faced brooch such as those from Winchester (Biddle 1990, 633-5, fig. 169), nos. 2006 and 2007 (Leahy, K. pers comm). The imagery has been discussed as Byzantian in appearance, with some numismatic precedent relating to the 'confronting heads' motif. John Naylor (pers comm., 2013), draws a parallel between this object and the Series J (type 73) sceattas. These coins depict confronting heads with a cross-on-trident motif between, dated to the 8th Century and also an Iron Age coin type found in Kent, a likely precursor to J (37), but states that this object has stylistic differences to both of these parallels. From the style of the object, it has been assaigned an Early Medieval date. Until the object's purpose is identified, it is difficult to provide a narrower date range. Gannon (2003; p. 38) states that 'aside from numismatic precedents, in the Roman world, the iconography of people facing each other was also commonly used to signify a relationship, as we find on marriage rings, devotional medals, or gold-glass' and this object appears to be a devolved late Roman style (Naylor, J. pers comm). Subsequent actionsSubsequent action after recording: Returned to finder ChronologyBroad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Unique ID: ESS-67E2A2
An almost complete cast copper alloy socketed axehead of late Bronze Age date. It is broadly rectangular in plan, flaring in width towards the crescentic and enclosed cutting edge. At the other end to the cutting edge the socket is open and square in plan which extends almost to the cutting edge. This gives the axehead a triangular profile. The mouth of the socket has moulded double transverse ribs, the upper of the two being more prominent and forming the upper edge of the socket. Each side of the outer edge has a vertical casting seam, with a small and integrally cast D-shaped side loop, 'D'-shaped in section, extending from just below the moulded ribs on one side of the axe. The socketed end of the axehead has suffered damage and now only circa 40% of the circumference survives. The breaks appear are still quite rough and although patinated it is likely that the damage was caused fairly recently. The axehead has a mid green patina with paler green patination in the many pits and abrasions covering the surface. In addition, the surface has striations which look like recent plough damage which has revealed the original surface in places. It measures 105.3mm in length, 40.26mm in width including the loop, 28.14mm excluding, and 39.6mm at the cutting edge. It is 30.35mm thick at the socket and 14.76mm just before the cutting edge; the walls of the axehead are 4.13mm thick. The object weighd 217g. This socketed axehead belongs to the Ewart Park phase of Bronze Age axeheads, which dates from c. 1000-800 BC. Smidth and Burgess (year) illustrate a similar axehead; plate 153, no. 1271 and other examples similar to this object can be found on this database, e.g. SOM-CO3882 and SF-81BDE1, with wider flaring cutting edge. Subsequent actionsSubsequent action after recording: Finder applying for an export licence ChronologyBroad period: BRONZE AGE
Unique ID: ESS-159732 Circa 2500 BC Bronze Age copper alloy chisel. The object is flat and rectangular in plan. The upper end has suffered an old break and is very worn. The fragment is ovoid in section towards the break and expands slightly in width at the centre. From this expansion, the lower section is triangular in section and tapers to a point which is rounded in plan. The sides of the lower section are slightly thicker than the flattened central area, possibly indicating that the edges had raised sides which are now worn to almost the same thickness as the rest of the fragment. It has a light green patina and a smoothed surface. The object measures 99.86mm in length, 16.17mm in width, 7.4mm in thickness and weighs 54.23g. Subsequent actionsSubsequent action after recording: Finder applying for an export licence ChronologyBroad period: BRONZE AGE Dimensions and weightLength: 99.86 mm |
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13th Feb 2013 - Celtic gold and bronze ID's confirmed - first Roman silver - disclaimed treasure ID's I am working my way through the disclaimed treasures and recorded items just back from the museum. Nice to see most of the confirmed ID's are what I originally thought and Can Bill's bronze age sword blade fragment is dated as 1275 to 1140 BC and is a Saint-Nazaire type from France. I have whole bunch more to do yet and will post them over the next few days. Virginia Scott found our first Roman silver of the 2nd half of the season with a really crispy example off new land. I have put it into the 'cooker' to melt of the horn silver crust as it appears to crisp great under the crust. I have posted more silver and widgets to the latest find page2013 Feb Finds.
2012 T21A medieval mount with a central shaft that flares at one end and terminates in a downturned hook. At the narrow end two arms branch out ending in a foliate terminal. Each of these is pierced with a hole, as is the flared end. Beneath the hook is an incised design, semicircular in shape, containing elliptical motifs. The design is much abraded. The function of the mount is unclear but may be connected with the accessories that were used to adorn horses. The mount is silver and dates from the fourteenth century. Dimensions: length 27 mm, width 19 mm. J P Robinson Curator of Medieval Collections
TREASURE CASE 2012 T184. Tiny silver hooked tag with a circular undecorated plate c. 10mm in diameter. There are two small circular attachment holes close to each other near the top; these have raised edges around them on the reverse, suggesting that they were bored or drilled through from the front. The hook at the bottom is thicker, with a distinct step on the front but a smooth junction on the reverse. It bends backwards but the tip is missing. 16.0mm long, 10.25mm wide, plate 0.5mm thick. Weight: 0.4g. Early-medieval hooked tags range in date the 7th to the 11th centuries, but those with circular plates do not occur in the earliest contexts, 7th-century graves (Geake 1997, 66). An 8th- to 11th-century date is therefore likely. Notes: As the object is made of more than 10% precious metal and is over 300 years old, it constitutes potential Treasure under the Treasure Act 1996. Subsequent actionsSubsequent action after recording: Returned to finder after being disclaimed as Treasure
Treasure case: 2012 T246 Date: 17th - 18th Century Description: gold posy ring, large heavy D-shaped, with inscription engraved in lower case on inside: As I expect soe let me find A faithfull friend and a constant mind Stamped with maker's mark BA in capitals in a rectangle, this mark does not appear on any ring in the BritishMuseum and has not so far been identified. Dimensions: Weight: 7.4g, Diameter: 22.11mm, Width: 4.40mm, Thickness: 1.94mm Discussion: Joan Evans records a version of this inscription with heart instead of friend, in books of lovers compliments, of 1685 and 1715. In view of this, the ring may date to 18th Century and there is not enough evidence to confirm that it is pre 1712. The ring cannot be securely dated to pre-1712 and as such falls outside the provisions of the Treasure Act 1996. Judy Rudoe BritishMuseum
Period: AD c.1500-1600 Finder: Daniel Dawson Date of Discovery: 11/3/12 Circumstances of discovery: whilst metal detecting Description: silver-gilt dress hook of trefoil form. Pinked backplate cut from sheet applied with three bosses of hemispherical shape. Each boss has three filigree spirals with a central knop. In the centre of the three bosses is a knop that has been threaded through a flower design cut from sheet and held in place on the reverse using a butterfly pin. On the reverse is a recurving hook and an attachment bar. Dimensions: Length: 17.66mm Width: 14.31mm Thickness: 8.41mm Weight: 3.54mm Discussion: Similar items can be found from Winterton, North Lincolnshire (2011 T108; PAS no. BM-CEC4A2) and Duxford, Cambridgeshire (2003 T85; TAR 2003, p. 234, ref. 232) Consequently, in terms of age and as the object contains a minimum of 10% precious metal it qualifies as Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996. Janina Parol Assistant Treasure Registrar British Museum John Stills of the CCI has ID'd the tricky Celtic bronze unit from a couple of days ago and it is a Cunobelin Pegasus Victory type. He has also confirmed the Clacton Cross type gold find as the one Orv ID'd. I asked John if there was an easy way to ID the difference in the Cunobelin Celtic gold 1/4 starters that are classified as Plastic, Linear etc. From John's reply it is even difficult for a top expert like him to distinguish between them and he is working on a new classification system to make it easier. First of all I've identified the bronze you sent recently (12.0698), I'd been looking at the obverse as a helmeted bust, but in fact it's a standing Victory! It's almost certainly the Cunobelin Pegasus Victory type, ABC 2921. The unusual quarter (12.0751) is a Clacton Cross type, ABC 2356, the companion quarter to British F, the Late Clacton stater, ABC 2332. In ABC it's illustrated as a 'three men in a boat' design but the obverse is probably a degraded boar and it should be the other way up; at the moment there are around 30 known, mostly from Essex and Suffolk so it's a definite Trinovantian type. You ask how to tell the difference between the various Cunobelin quarter types, unfortunately the answer is with great difficulty! The Linear type is the easiest because the horse always has a clear ladder-back mane, and the Classic type with its fine style horse is also straightforward, but some of the Wild and Plastic quarters are so similar that it's almost impossible to describe the differences without photos. Just to complicate things even further some varieties have recently been re-assigned from one group to the other and some Plastic quarters (the CAM CVN obverse types, ABC 2819) are now known to have been struck in the middle of the Wild coinage. I'm working on a new classification at the moment which will hopefully make them easier to identify; I've recorded yours as 12.0752 but after all that don't have the cards here to tell if it's Wild or Plastic.
Unique ID: ESS-15EBF5 Object type: BLADE Colquhoun and Burgess further explain (page 54) Fragment of a Bronze Age copper alloy blade from a Saint Nazaire sword. The fragment is trapezoidal in plan, tapering in thickness towards the edges from the centre giving a lenticular section. Both ends have suffered old breaks and are very worn. The fragment is decorated with four incised lines either side of the thickened centre and on both faces. The object measures 55.14mm in length, 26.3mm in width, 6.25mm in thickness and weighs 40.08g. Features of the Saint-Nazaire swords of France include a strong central midrib curving away to the bevels, emphasises by a grooved outline, sometimes a series of lines running parallel to the blade edge. When complete, the hilt is similar to that of Wilburton swords, but the blade is straighter than is usual on this type and it is suggested that the Saint-Nazaire sword is the forerunner of the Carp's Tongue type. Colquhoun and Burgess (1988, Prähistorische Bronzefunde , Abteilung IV, 5. Band, The Swords of Britain, C.H. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, München, page 53) discuss swords of this type in which they suggest the origin of these swords was probably imported Saint-Nazaire French weapons which enjoyed a brief popularity in Britain during the late Penard phase, circa 1275-1140 BC. In Britain the Saint-Nazaire type swords are found in association with late Wilburton hoards, circa 1140-1020 BC, which often contain metalwork more appropriate to the succeeding Ewart Park phase, circa 1020-800 BC. This would date the fragment recorded here to circa 1020 BC.
2ndC Roman silver coin - 'cooking' to remove crust
1569 Elizabeth 1st hammered silver sixpence - Coronet mint mark
Rhuddlan (Welsh) mint - Cross is Cross pattee, a cross with pellet ends 1180 Henry II hammered silver short cross penny - Group 1 coin Obv HENRICVS REX Rev + TOMAS ON RVLA - Tomas of Rhuddlan mint (wales)
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10th Feb 2013 - Celtic gold ID - Unique Roman find - brilliant new present - collected disclaimed treasure list
Mindy's Barn team arrived early and were on the fields by lunchtime, they picked a brand new site for the afternoons warm up. WA Brian brought me a really excellent present use with my new Microscope when picking at finds to get the crust off. They are like dental tools but in a hard plastic designed not to scratch so they are perfect. I have been using wooden tooth picks that fall apart when you use them. I am still waiting for the CCI to send back the confirmed ID on the two last Celtic gold coins found but meanwhile Idaho Orv managed to ID it as a Circa 70 BC - 65 BC Uninscribed G gold Clacton type. In my Hobbs Ref book it describes the coin accurately but the picture is of totally worn example as that is the only example the British museum has. rev Cross of double lines with pellet in centre. We have found a number of Clacton type gold qtrs before from the other side of Colchester but not one with this design, a first for the club. I have uploaded the last of this weeks finds to the 2013 Feb Finds. The guys got so many neat relics last week that the new page is getting very full. Mass Bruce finder of the Bronze Age axe hoard that is in a huge display in Colchester museum had done it again with a major find. He found this amazing Roman brooch below last year and it had been recorded and ID'd as unique to the British Isles and the museum are keen to acquire it also for display, what a great find. I was also informed while I was at the museum collecting disclaimed treasure that Bruce's part of a Celtic gold coin hoard he found will also be only display when the new revamped museum re- opens shortly. Not bad have 3 major finds on display in a museum as important as Colchester.
ESS-691516 Roman brooch - unique to Britain A possibly unique to the British Isles example of a Roman copper alloy brooch depicting a man riding a beast, possibly a sheep or horse. The brooch plate consists of the body of the animal, from which the neck and head extends forwards at 90 degrees so that the head is looking to the right. The figure also extends from the animal at 90 degrees from the body, rather than from the back of the animal as would be expected. On the reverse of the brooch are the remains of a catchplate and lug. The lug is located at the animals hind and consists of a rectangular projection with a slot through the middle from which the pin mechanism would have attached. The catchplate is located under the animals shoulder and consists of a thinner rectangular projection which is now broken but would have curved over to house the pin. The pin is missing.
Tiny 1800 George III milled silver penny
1272 Edward 1st hammered silver penny - Cross Pattee - Class 4e - First Class 4e I have seen - unusual 3 pellets on breast Obv EDWR ANGL DNS HYB Rev CIVI/TAS/LON/DON - London mint
1634 Charles 1st gold coin weight - twenty shillings (gold Unite) Obv Bust and legend of Charles 1st Rev Crown XXs
Anglo Saxon buckle
As dug and 'Cooking' Roman silver - just sent it off to Mark Lehman again for his ID update now a legend has appeared. I stand by my original ID Mark The details are still a bit fuzzy, but I can tell you that it's a denarius of Hadrian (117-138 AD.) and the reverse type is TELLVS STABIL. A woman - the personification of Tellus - standing left holding a plow-handle and a rake - 2 corn plants protrude from the ground behind her. This is a product of the Mint at Rome in 133 AD. The obverse reads (or should read) HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P - and if you study it closely, you can tell that it does have that legend.
As dug and 'cooking' pics
Primary Saxon silver sceat 600- 700 AD - sent to Fitzwilliam museum for recording and ID This is Series BIA, recorded as EMC 2012.0265 Martin Below is the list of disclaimed treasures I picked up from the museum on Friday to be returned to the members. 2012 T241 Tim Rushing 17thC silver cufflink 2012 T21 G. Arnold
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9th Feb 2013 - 2 more Celtic gold coins to end the hunt - more treasures reported - Museum meeting
Very unusual Jetton as this purports to be a 16thC Mercury bust Jetton of one of the Kravwinckel or Lauffer families, however it only has a series of flowers as a legend both sides ?? Not listed in Mitchener
c1795 Norfolk Norwich Halfpenny Condor TokenOBVERSE: A bottle. MORE TRADE AND FEWER TAXES. REVERSE: A figure of Hope, standing holding anchor. PROPERITY TO OLD ENGLAND. EDGE: RICHARD DINMORE & SON NORWICH
Beau's team left today finishing their week with two more Celtic gold coin finds off another new plot of land we just started searching this week. The site is huge with 18 fields to search so hopefully there are more out there. They had an amazingly consistent week choosing between old and new land and found some other key hotspots including an old fair site. They had the whole raft of finds with 13thC seals, tokens, hammered silver and Jettons up to 18thC Condor tokens on the site. The next team arrives on Sunday and is the famous Min Mindy and her crew. They have a very hard act to follow but with 500 fields to choose from it is a real crap shoot. I have two days worth of finds to photo and post yet and will be working on them during the day and uploading them to the new finds page 2013 Feb Finds. I have already uploaded a load more goodies including 4 more silver treasures I have reported to Colchester museum. I spent the morning at a meeting with them yesterday and took away dozens of disclaimed treasures and recorded finds but I have not had time to play with them yet. One find of note however is Mass Bruce's Roman rider on animal brooch that has been ID'd as the only one of it's type ever found in Britain. I have a large report on the find I will publish when I have the time.
Circa 70 BC Celtic gold qtr stater - first off this type I have seen - sent to CCI for recording and confirmed ID Possible Ingoldisthorpe quarter, ABC 2448, not in VA or BMC. Another extremely rare type, 1.42g, 13.55 mm I just sent off the two latest Celtic gold finds to the Celtic Coin Index database expert John Stills as one of the qrt staters is a type I have never seen before and not in the Hobbs bible. It has elements of a 70 to 50 BC Ingoldisthorpe quarter but the Obv is very unique. Great find for Boston John and the Cunobelin is Boston Gary's 3rd Celtic gold find. Updated the gold page with the latest finds Gold Page
10 to 40 AD Northern Celtic gold 1/4 stater of Cunobelin - sent to CCI for recording and confirmed ID Cunobelin wild type quarter, 1.34g,10.8mm It however don't have to be ancient gold to be a stonker !!! . The museum had never seen a Queen Anne bust pair of cuff links Org Mary donated to them so wait till they see this button. Amazing a 1704 Queen Anne button with her legend, amazing find and reported as treasure.
Fantastic 1704 Queen Ann silver button - never seen a button with a Queens legend - reported to museum as treasure
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7th Feb 2013 - Brilliant first week - Rare Celtic and Viking - new microscope
C8thC Viking fretwork 'ladder of life' strapend - these are well known for being unusually large 53.95mm L x 29.77 mm W
The guys have opened the season with had one of the most steady weeks detecting I have seen in a very long time. They have picked two new sites and scored and one old site and done very well finding our 3rd Viking ladder of life strapend which are rarer than hens teeth and known to be unusually large in relationship to Anglo Saxon versions. The previous 2 are currently with Colchester museum being recorded on PAS. Another very rare find for the club is the Celtic bronze unit below as Colchester is know as an area with a disproportional ratio of gold to bronze coins finds. We have found over 100 Celtic gold staters and only a dozen bronze units in 10 years so this is a major find for the club. The guys are also making some very interesting finds like an Indian looking medallion which Beau found I posted on the members forum for ID help. Mitch Chris did an amazing job at ID'ing it and it is quite a surprise. I have posted a load more great finds to the new finds page and will try and get a load more posted today. 2013 Feb Finds The coin is related to Hindu temples, i.e., it is a 'Temple Token', with various Western spellings such as Ram Tanka, or Ramatanka, or Ram Tonka.
India Ram Darbar Temple Token Ramatanka
Celtic bronze unit - sent to CCI for ID and recording The bronze is definitely Celtic, the obverse has a right-facing bust with 'wings' behind similar to those on the obverse of Whaddon Chase staters but even closer to the hair curls on late Gallo-Belgic F and Criciru staters of the Suessiones and Meldi, so it may be Gaulish. The reverse has a left-facing horse with what look like the letters CA below, perhaps followed by an M in which case it should read CAMV, but this may be wishful thinking. I've recorded it as 12.0698 All the best John
1814 'Emperer' Alexander Napoleonic War Medallion,dated 1814. Diameter is 24 mm.
Inscriptions are "THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER" "THE GLORIOUS RESULT OF BRITISH PERSERVERANCE"
And in the centre "PEACE 1814"
A rep from a company in Cambridge came to my house yesterday to demonstrate a new stereo microscope for the club in real time. I tried out some of our current 'cooking' ancient silvers under the scope and it has amazing clarity to help clean our finds. There are so many thousands of models out there so I wanted to ensure we got the right one with extra illumination, large working height under the lens and very crisp optics. I did a quick test on Cal Jim's crusty Saxon silver sceat and this new model is perfect so it purchased it. Once I get more time I will be working on our crusty ancient silver finds.
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4th Feb 2013 - First gold of 2013 - more fixed hammered silver - awards Weather has been great for the start of the season with almost no rain and 10C temperatures. The guys hunted late last night on their first full day on the land. Boston Gary has started the 2nd half of the season with a bang digging a beauty Celtic gold off a huge new 18 field site we have just started detecting. Miss Jeff got our first neat relic with a mint Georgian fob seal and the rest of the team found some grotty Roman bronzes and some nice silver coins including a mint medieval groat. Boston Jeff found our first treasure of the new year I just reported with a Charles II silver seal matrix with heart and arrow impression. I will start posting more finds and widgets to the new finds page 2013 Feb Finds shortly. Three of the guys here were also on the Feb hunt last season when it was really cold and snowy. They went out every day and haunted hard and long and so they won the club's 'dedicated detecorist' award for last season. In fact Boston Gary chiseled out another Celtic gold full stater in last years frost so this latest gold is his 2nd.
50 - 20 BC Essex Wheels quarter, VA 260, BMC 485 and 496, ABC 2231. Quite a rare Trinovantian type 1.4g, 14.42mm - sent to CCI for recording and ID confirmation.
Neat Georgian fob seal matrix
17thC Charles II circa 1670 silver seal matrix - reported to Colchester museum as treasure
Miss Jeff (left) and Cal Gary get their free Spinks coin books for first great finds of the season - Gary also got the cup with Boston John (left) and Beau for last years 'dedicated detectorists' I have started to clean up and post the latest fixed hammered silver below, just back from our goldsmith
As dug annealed and cleaned Fixed 1634 Charles 1st hammered silver penny
1636-8 Charles 1st hammered silver shilling - Group E, 'Aberystwyth' bust - single arched crown. smaller bust - Mintmark Tun
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1st Feb 2013 - Kick off in the morning - fixed finds done - more approved exports and new Barn pics
As dug and now fixed 1362 - 1369 Edward III hammered gold half noble - Treaty Period cross potent- annulet before Edw Obv + EDWARD DEI G REX ANGL 19.16mm, 1.98g Finally the kick off is here in the morning and the weather has stayed mild and sunny all week with occasional showers. Boston Beau's Barn team are in first staying is a self catering Barn with their own mini bus so they will detect as long as their arms hold out. I not certain what set of fields they are picking for the first mornings hunt but they have a choice this time of year at over 500, both old and brand new. I am going to tag along with whatever land they pick for my first hunt of the new year. This is our clubs 10th year of searching and we are well overdue for a monster pot of gold !!. Over the years we have found multiple bronze, silver and gold hoards but they have never exceeded more than 18 gold coins in one area. A third batch of approved export licenses arrived on the door mat this morning, names list posted onto the members forum. The large 7 man self catering Barn where Beau's team have selected to stay has a 2nd restored Barn. by the same owners, 50 yards away ready for us to use. The owners have just sent the first set of really nice pictures showing the accommodation. It is a brand new conversion so it is all top notch. This Barn has two - twin bedded rooms with two bathrooms and sleeps from 1 to 4 guys. This again is the type of hunt where you have you own car and come and go as you please.
I picked up all our fixed hammered gold and silver coins and relics today from the goldsmith. He has done an incredible job again especially with the gold which is posted above and below. I have yet to clean up the annealed silver hammered coins and will probably post the before and after shots tomorrow if I have time. I have also been sorting out a finds case for one of our new farmers who has showed real interest in the history of the finds so far. I will be dropping it down to them next week for them to keep.
Fixed medieval gold ring - disclaimed treasure 2.37g, 22.16mm I have also while I was sorting out my finds case took the chance to re- photo a load of my milled silver as the pictures on this site are 10 years ago and very poor quality. I took the opportunity to show the relative size of a James II milled silver 3 pence to the monster sized milled silver 60 pence crowns. It is amazing how digital cameras and proper light well set ups have improved since we started this club.
1890 Victoria old bust crown (5 shillings or 60 pence) - 1819 George III crown - 1696 William III crown 1671 James II three pence - 1845 Victoria young bust crown - 1672 Charles II crown
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