28th March 2005 Posted a few more finds - Find of the day by Veggie Mike, see members area for more details

4000 miles to find his first USA 1900 Barber Dime while looking for Celtic gold LOL!!

27th March 2005 Posted a few more finds - Garrett GTI 2500 does the business again

Canadian Rod's third Celtic gold since hunting here was again found with his Garrett 2500 GTI, the last one being a 70BC Morini Boatree 1/4 Celtic that is a very tricky little beast to find. When I found my own Morini 1/4 Celtic this season 5 of the top of the range machines out hunting on the field with me could not even hear the signal let alone dig it . Last season Rod won the Yearly Coin hunter shield for the most coins found by any hunter in a week so the Garrett appears to be a superbly balanced machine for hunting in England. Fortunately we are lucky that Garrett via Rod's good work have presented us with a brand new 2500 for the guys hunting here to use when theirs packs in or just to take it for a spin. They must have real confidence in it's reliability to let a bunch of hairy arsed guys put it though it's paces under real life conditions. I am looking forward to giving it a spin myself after watching the supplied video. Nice one Garrett, thanks.

The Gray Ghost headphones supplied by Detector Pro for guys to use when theirs fail has also been a great success and a lot of guys have changed to that brand after trying them out.

http://www.detectorpro.com/headphones.htm

Great dectecting store with personal service for the Garrett GTI and good experienced backup, ask for Bill.

http://www.buyametaldetector.com/garrett/garrett-metal-detectors.html

26th March 2005 Potential Celtic gold hoard reported to the museum

Four more Celtic gold 45BC coins have been found and a potential hoard report, in compliance with the treasure act, has been sent to the local museum Finds Liaison Officer and the landowner has been informed. Determination of whether a hoard is declared rests with the museum experts to decide based on type and finds locations. One of the coins appears to be a very rare one and I have sent pictures off to the Celtic Coin Index experts to further ID. More info on the members area.

The most recent update from Philip at the CCI on the previous Celtic finds to date.

'The wear on the Addedomaros staters is fairly heavy, and so it wouldn't surprise me if they knocked around a bit for a while before being buried, probably later in the first century BC. I can't spot anything startlingly different about the particular dies of the examples you've sent so far, but there are a lot to check through (fifty or more different reverse dies are now known for this type) so I'll have to have a closer look at that when time allows. As for the colours, I would guess that this might result mostly from the soil conditions, since the coins themselves are very likely to be in a pretty consistent alloy - something in the order of 40% gold and 45% copper, with a small amount of silver'

Addedomaros type 45- 30 BC 17mm 5.50g not in any major reference book CCI 05.0283
Addedomaros 45- 30 BC found by Canadian Rod 17mm 5.42g sent to CCI for logging

Still not had the time to post any of the latest finds yet.

23rd March 2005 Celtic gold coin update click the link for the Celtic Coin index 

Unique Celtic Coin Index numbers have been assigned to the latest Celtic gold coin finds, check out the gold page. Current expert speculation is that these gold coins were were deposited separately as offerings but there could also be a pot of them equally buried near by. Obviously the guys are looking hard for it LOL.

23rd March 2005 Gold and Emerald looking ring Id - Posted some neat finds

The gold and emerald ring fragment previously reported as potential treasure has been ID'd by the museum as 18thC and is therefore not treasure. The landowner has taken it to a local jeweler to see if they can ID the stones and give us more information. I have posted a few finds with loads to post yet that I will try and get around to later. I am still waiting for feedback and CCI numbers on the recent Celtic gold Addedomaros 45- 30 BC finds from Philip at the Celtic Coin Index.

19th March 2005 First treasure and hoard inquest dates set

Our first outstanding hoard and treasure finds are going for inquest in Colchester on the 5th May 2005, Ohio Bud's Anglo Saxon gold dagger pommel and Vancouver Mac's post Medieval silver button are first. The British/ Colchester museums have shown interest in purchasing the finds and I expect the Anglo Saxon dagger to be eventually on display there so the guys can pay it a visit LOL. Once the Coroner rules that these are treasures they will then go to the valuation committee. I have received notification from the British museum that the Roman Imperial silver and Celtic gold hoards we found last year might also get put forward for this hearing date.

18th March 2005 Great new Celtic areas found - more details on members area

Guys spent the morning gridding the spot where the previous Celtic was found with no luck. They decided to try spread out and try the neighboring fields and all headed in different directions. We all met up for lunch and Chicago Ron said I bet I got the oldest find this morning and Chicago Keith said I don't think so. They both pulled out identical Celtic gold coins LOL.Again both Addedomaros 45- 30 BC. In the afternoon they decided to have one last hunt on the Axe Hoard field from last year hoping there was a nice spear head hoard out there. Chicago Ron was heading along the hedge line from the famous tree and dug a nice solid hit identical to the find from the morning and was staggered to find yet another Addedomaros Celtic stater. This find is especially important as it is the first Celtic from this area and a good 2 miles from the previous Addedomaros find. They all appear to be following the path of a suggested Roman road which links up to the Ark Gary Addedomaros found two years ago. I have written to Philip the Celtic coin expert to register the coins and to see if he has any theories about the locations of the lasted finds. What is interesting is they all appear to have been heavily circulated, did the Romans use these for trading and barter ? It is also very interesting to see the effect of different soil conditions on the coins, the 3 different dies and the variance in weights.

Chicago Keith's and Chicago Ron's full Celtic staters Left example 5.64g 16mm CCI 05.0212 Right example 5.54 g 17mm CCI 05.0213
Chicago Ron's 2nd full Celtic stater 5.30g 16mm CCI 05.0267

18th March 2005 Update on the silver Roman find.

Special thanks to Mark at the UCR forum for the ID and great background info.

'RBS ROMA / Shewolf & twins city commemorative from the mint of Lugdunum (Lyons, France) - it would date to about 335-337 A.D. being the smaller module issue - the larger ones (c. 18 + mm) are the ones from
333-335 A.D'.

'It would have been silver-washed, originally - the alloy itself might have contained a percent or two of silver as well, but not nearly enough to make the coin look silvery on its own. Except for the silver or billon argenteus of the era, there were no silver coins, per-se, in circulation - silver-washed bronze or copper evidently filled-in as token coinage at a good bit above its intrinsic value with the silver wash to indicate that it took the place of silver. Unfortunately, little to nothing survives from contemporary records and no even knows what these were called as a denomination, or what relationship they stood to the gold and other base denominations.
These, and the equally common "CONSTANTIOPOLIS" city commemoratives were issued simultaneously, and at about the same time as the "GLORIA EXERCITVS" - two soldiers flanking one or two standards - and they are even found paired with those reverses.'

17th March 2005 New land produces Celtic Gold

Got skunked to a man this morning on what was a good producer from last year. Lunchtime the guys had a good feeling about a new field we have never hunted but did not want to hunt on her own. The other guys fancied another site but Palatine Bob said I will keep you company so off the two of them went, good job he did as ten minutes from the end tonight he pulled up this beautiful full Celtic gold stater Addedomaros 45- 30 BC. The landowner has been informed and I have sent it of to Philip at the Celtic Coin register for registration and more info. This one is quite different from the other two Addedomaras Celtic's that we found in the past by the 'browning' of the gold around the horse, this might be due to the different soil conditions.

Addedomaros 45- 30 BC found by Palatine Bob - 5.56g 17mm CCI 05.0211

14th March 2005 Posted a few more finds

Pre 1850 Navy buckle

11th March 2005 Feedback from the Fitzmuseum on Boston Beau's Noble - Updated the Saxon page

Thanks again to Martin for positively ID'ing the coin

'Your coin of Edward III is a half noble of the Pre-Treaty coinage, with a Series C obverse and a Series A reverse. There are many 'mules' of this kind in the Pre-Treaty coinage, and this one can probably be dated to 1351. I can see why you thought that this might be a coin of the third period, which has lettering that is fairly similar to Series A lettering.'

Both Texas Dave's Louis XI and Boston Beau's hammered gold coins are to be included in the annual Coin Register in the British Numismatic Journal.

Only posted a couple more finds, will try to upload some more today.

10th March 2005 Extra - Feedback on the Saxon silver

Thanks to Martin at the Fitzmuseum Cambridge for helping to ID the Saxon silver.

'Your 'sceat' is a very interesting mule with designs derived from the Series E plumed bird type and the Series D cross pommee reverse. This is a good example of the copying of designs in this coinage, which often resulted in rather garbled copies'.

Martin is also registering Boston Beau's gold Noble that appears at first glance to be a very rare 3rd issue. Will report back on his findings.

10th March 2005 Saxon silver could be a rare one

The Saxon silver appears to an early 'Plumed bird' variety but differs greatly and appears unpublished in Metcalf Vol 2. The obverse does not appear to match any existing versions published. I have sent it's details off to the Ashmolean Museum to see if they can shed any light on it.

Thanks to the Mark Lehman at the Roman Forum for Id'ing some of the recent Roman bronze finds, updated on latest finds page.

Will try and get more find pictures posted today.

9th March 2005 Posting finds on new hunt page.

Started a new hunt page March 2005, uploading finds during the day and will be ID'ing yesterdays silver. I've sent the bronzes off to the Uncleaned Roman Forum guys to see if they can give us a better ID on them.

Saxon C600 - 775 AD Silver Sceattas Porcupine Type, don't recognise the back 0.94g, 12mm		Henry III voided long cross hammered silver 1.3g, 19mm

8th March 2005 Dakota Dennis finds Saxon silver - update on Celtic Stater from Celtic coin register

Thanks to Philip at the CCI for this update 'a very nice example of the Addedomaros spiral stater, VA 1620. Lots of them about now (150 plus) but this is a very decent example - though as usual without a trace of the reverse inscription, all off the edge of the flan. VA's dating is a bit unrealistic, I would suggest anywhere between 45 and 30 BC, but certainly a little later than the Gallo-Belgic stater you recorded before. This one will be CCI 05.0196.

Dakota Dennis made two good finds today a very nice Henry III voided long cross hammered silver and a facinating Saxon C600 - 775 AD Silver Sceattas Porcupine Type with a reverse I have not seen before. I will be posting pictures tomorrow on a new hunt page.

7th March 2005 Dakota Dennis finds a beauty and Dakota Lowell finds a treasure

Great recovery by the Dakota team having missed a complete day's detecting by a canceled flight LOL . They certainly made up for it with an early 17thC silver button of Charles 1st's marriage and a beautiful full Celtic gold stater of Addedomaros 37 - 33 BC. I have sent the Celtic off to Philip at the Celtic coin register for a confirmation of it's ID and a CIC registration number. The button will be reported as treasure and will undergo the treasure process. More details on these and some other great finds on the members forum.

Addedomaros 37 - 33 BC found by Dakota Dennis CCI 05.0196		Early 1600's silver button

5th March 2005 Boston Will's and Boston Bill's finds make the front pages LOL

Will's ring has made the Eastern and Western find of the year.

Bill's 4thC Roman gold ring was declared treasure by the local museum and is currently under going the Treasure Act. It is awaiting inquest.

Boston Will (Bill Ladd) , not to be confused with Boston Bill LOL and his 1250BC axe head find

21st Feb 2005 New Military page with links

I have moved all the Military buttons and badges to a new page to speed up the loading of the original button page. I have ID'd a lot of the Regiments and badges and put links to the Regimental sites and joined a Military collector's forum to help ID the unknowns. I have also written to a lot of the enactment societies to see if they can also give us a closer date period for the buttons of those Regiments we have ID'd. I am still working on this page and will update as the information comes in.

20th Feb 2005 Very Rare coin find ? - Recording of finds - Chariot track link

Brilliant link to more info and pictures of some of the finds from the Colchester Roman Circus/Chariot track recently unearthed locally.

http://www.ourpasthistory.com/colchester/circus/text.htm

I have been using the latest 3 Volumes of world coins to correctly ID the foreign coppers we found since the hunts started. Two in particular appear to be rarer dates and especially this huge Portuguese Copper found last season which appears to be a 'Pattern' 40 Reis in especially good condition and could be worth up to £2000. If this one of your finds I would go and get it looked at by a coin dealer to confirm it's ID. Let me know if it is yours please. I have updated the copper page with correct ID's on all the previous foreign copper finds over the last two seasons.

Huge 1822 40 Reis 'pattern' Portuguese Coin

I have bought a new set of very accurate digital scales (within 0.01 g) to help ID the trickier coinage and to also help record the important artefact finds more accurately. To speed up the recording process I can use the 'e-mail finds recording template' that can be e-mailed to the correct dept and record kept locally. The Central Unit at the Portable Antiquities Scheme has checked and agreed this form before release.

Descriptions, dimensions etc will be completed in full and include quality images. Full National Grid References are recommended, but voluntary.

17th Feb 2005 Veggie Mike's glasses - Rough silver Roman - Added Boston Bud's Gold Saxon coin on the for sale page.

For those members that want Veggie Mike to get you a set of these brilliant hands free illuminated Magnifying glasses at cost, that we use here, log onto the Members forum for full details.

On the last hunt I found a very poor Roman silver near the Roman Fort site and after working on it for 2 weeks it is still just as poor LOL, time to get serious with it !!

Two earlier finds have now been ID'd below.

Dutch Gelderland 1709/8 Silver Ducat (48 Stuivers) Mint Mark Knight on horse		17thC Portuguese Coin weight - P Withers

15th Feb 2005 Updated foreign silver coin ID's

The second of the World Coin Books arrived today so I have updated the foreign silver coin finds with the correct ID's. Special thanks to Dan Sedwick for ID'ing a tricky one not in the books. I have still not been able to ID the early 1700 German looking silver coin yet.

'You will find it in the Krause books if you look at Peru, Lima mint, King Ferdinand VI (of Spain), date 1757, assayer JM, and the denomination appears to be a half real'

.

12th Feb 2005 Updated foreign copper ID's - added professional coin straightening service

The first of the 3 volumes of World coins arrived so I have updated the Id's of the foreign coppers on the Base Metal Coin page. The Dutch regional coins are very interesting and I also ID'd our first Swedish coin find. I still have a couple of unknowns but the later volumes of the books might be able to ID them when they arrive.

There appears to be a real need for a reliable skilled coin/artifact straightening service for those particularly treasured finds so I have added a link to the menu for more info.

10th Feb 2005 Garret 2500 GTI - Waterloo Button

Garrett has kindly supplied us with their top of the range detector for guys to try out and to keep here as a spare. A couple of guys have used this machine with great success which includes a Celtic gold quarter stater and the coin record cup from last year. I will enjoy giving this machine a spin myself. Daytona Steve has cleaned up an interesting find and done some research on it's ID.

'Napoleonic Period Button, King's German Legion ca. 1802-1816 The King's German Legion mustered eight battalions of line infantry.The first through fifth and the eighth battalions were at Waterloo in the 1st and 2nd brigades K.G.L of the 2nd and 3rd (Anglo-Hanoverian) Divisions respectively.'

7th Feb 2005 80% of export licenses back

Most of the export licenses are back approved with only a few outstanding now, more details on members forum.

3rd Feb 2005 Coins back from the goldsmiths

I have found a guy that does careful restoration work for museums in gold and silver and took along 3 badly chewed up coins to see what results he can achieve. The results are amazing considering the original condition of the finds. The silver was annealed before bending to prevent cracking and all three coins are now perfectly flat. This straightening service is now available at a very reasonable cost without resorting to boiling hot chip pans and lumps of wood LOL

Before Edward III 1361 third issue hammered gold 1/2 Noble found by Boston Beau, 3.78g 26mm		After
Before 1475 Dutch -Karel de Stoute -silver DOUBLE STUIVER found by Ark Gary 2.93g 26mm		After
Before Louis X1 (1461-83) found by Texas Dave		After

2nd February 2005 New Bale and Cloth seal page click here

Added a new page to the site with the back ground and history of sack/bale/cloth seal finds. I have moved all our bale/sack cloth seal finds to this page as we getting quite a large set now. These finds are fascinating as they are a big part of the social history of an area and are badly overlooked in terms of research and books. I have the British Museum publication on cloth seals but the information is scant,if you can ID any of the finds especially the town that issued them then drop me an e-mail and I will update the page.

Will post some more finds later.

1st February 2005 Update from the British Museum on Post Medieval gold ring treasure find - posting more finds shortly.

Just received this update from Canadian Dan on his wife Marjo's gold ring find.

'Just received a copy of a letter from Lisa Voden-Decker, Treasure Registrar, from the British Museum to Mrs. C. Beasley-Murray, H M Coroner in Chelmsford re: Marjolaine's ring.
In a nutshell, the ring is going to inquest. The Colchester Museum is interested in acquiring it, subject to valuation.
The museum describes it as a mourning ring c.late 1600's to early 1700's. The inside initials (MM - Roman capitals) are likely the abbreviation of "memento mori" rather than an individual's initials and still retain small traces of black enamel. The exterior is engraved with a stylised skull flanked by triangular panels and cross-hatching. Here also, traces of black enamel remain'.

(b)

29th Jan 2005 Posted some finds

Posted a few of the latest finds, loads more to post yet. A couple of very interesting Roman bronze chariot fittings were found yesterday that I have not photo'd yet. More details on members forum.

27th Jan 2005 Boston Beau is on a roll - see members forum for more details

Portuguese gold 1000 reis Moidore of King John V 1717.They were acceptable as currency in Britain in the early 18th century found by Boston Beau

25th Jan 2005 Reverse and Obverse of a Edward III half Noble

24th Jan 2005 Boston Beau finds hammered gold

Apart from a couple of fragments of a coin this is the first ever complete Medieval English hammered coin found on these hunts. I have not had chance to play with it yet but at a guess it is a Gold Noble of Edward 1st or Henry around 1400 AD. More details posted on the members forum and landowner has been informed. Will post pictures on a new hunt page later as I am busy out hunting myself. Boston Bud has also found a possible treasure yet to be reported to the Clacton Coroner.

Ark Gary found the Gallo Belgic 50BC Celtic gold stater from the forum competition.

50 BC Gallo Belgic Celtic Stater and Edward III 1361 third issue hammered gold 1/2 Noble

23rd Jan 2005 ID'ing of finds on this site - need your help

If anyone can help update with more information or ID any existing finds or 'unknowns' on this site, whether it be sack seals to foreign coins from books or personal expertise, then please drop me an e-mail. Current Id's come from reference books, museum, best guesses and it is always great to get an expert opinion.

Thanks to David Rowe for ID'ing correctly a military button for us.

'Please note that your Button (shown on General Finds site - under Buttons) is NOT a "Medical Button" but a Button of The Second Regiment of Foot Guards i.e "The Coldstream Guards".

20th Jan 2005 New hunt starts in 2 days - updates via members forum

The latest hunt starts in a couple of days and all the progress the guys are making will now be reported via the members only forum.This is a far better interactive experience for those that hunt here and the farmers who's land we have permission to hunt. The finds will still be posted on a new hunt page but this page will now only report important news and headlines to keep it's size down to speed up loading times..

16th January 2005 Forum update - Metal detecting Law's in other countries

The Colchesterforum is proving a great success for members discussing all aspects of hunting here and I will be moving all regular updates to that forum as well to keep this page at a manageable size. I will post the latest finds here and the more important posts.

During a discussion on hunting in another European country by one of the members I thought I would check the law for that country. I found that it is illegal which surprised me so I have added a page to this site that covers most countries metal detecting laws for anyone considering a metal detecting holiday. The information is generally out of date, with the exception of the UK laws, very little updated information is available via the web. If anyone reading this would like to send me their countries latest metal detecting laws then I will update the page.

Treasures laws in other countries

While surfing the web I came across some very bad stories of widespread looting of antiquities around the globe so I have posted them at the bottom of the Treasure Laws page. Unfortunately legitimate detectorists get 'tarred by the same brush' as these arseholes but these are just thieves that use a metal detector as a tool like a house breaker uses a crowbar.

Useful guide if you find something is Britain and you are not hunting here and using the local museums facilities. This page also covers Merchant Shipping Act (1995) of Maritime finds in you are detecting in the water.

http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/topten/treasure.html

11th Jan 2005 Members area transferred to the forum

If you click on the members area button it will now take you to the new members only forum. To get your log on activated you MUST send me an e-mail otherwise you will not be able to see the topics.

9th January 2005 New Member's forum up and running

I have set up a members forum to replace the 'members area' which will cover in more depth all aspects of hunting here. Guys that have booked but not hunted here before can ask questions/tips about the holidays from the old hands. There are sections on land news, flights, finds etc and they are all password protected with the exception of the for sale page. Log on as a new user with the 'BostonWill', 'MassBruce' type format for the user ID and register and I will enable your full access once you have sent me a confirmation e-mail to me.

Click here to view the forum

9th January 2005 Trade and Bullion Weights - extra equipment ordered

It is just under two weeks to go to the next hunt so I have been using some of the time to read the new specialist reference books to closer ID some of the coin and trade weight finds. Interestingly small square bronze blocks with circular marks on them like dice, about the size of an Antwerp type coin weight have been found here and both myself and the museum have been unable to ID them as any thing significant. However in the latest weight book it ID's them as bullion weights and the number of circles indicates the weight. I have also been able to narrow down the difference between George 1st to 3rd trade weights as the markings on the weights are at different o'clocks for the different kings. With these books we can also ID the town of manufacture of the trade weights.

Lunch times are always an important part of the hunt LOL and I have ordered up two new picnic tables that you can vary the height on uneven ground to help stop Ark Gary spilling the hot soup LOL, more importantly a new quick pop up tent suggested by one the Florida crowd in case it is a rainy day. The previous tent I had was a pain in the butt to assemble and we could not be arsed to use it. This new one is supposed to only take a minute so I will test it out with the next team and get the stop watch on them LOL. Looks very cosy so I will have to try and keep Orlando Rolo from falling asleep in it on his next hunt!

I have just ordered up the latest Hallmark book for Marks of Origin on English, Scottish and Irish Silver, Gold and Platinum and on Foreign Imported Silver and Gold Plate 1544 to 2010. This is an important publication as any item that is older than 300 years, 1705 or earlier is deemed 'treasure' and the act applies. The last gold ring found by Texas Rechy appears to be 1735 with an Edinburgh mint mark using a page from Georgia George's Scottish hallmark book he sent me, this book covers all three countries in more detail so I should be able to confirm the date.

3rd Jan 2005 More Napoleon News - up dated testimonial page and Commonwealth hammered coins.

Thanks to Peter on some more info on the Napoleon find.

'I did a bit more research on it. They are both genuine.
and are pictured and described at the following web addresses......

My find : http://www.napoleonicmedals.org/coins/bhm-794.htm
Yours : http://www.napoleonicmedals.org/coins/bhm-796.htm

The one on your website is particularly entertaining.... Reverse shows Napoleon 'sitting backwards on an ass being led by the devil' on his way to Elba ! Some people are born popular! Cheers,Peter'

I have added an article to the testimonial page written by Canadian Marjo on her Post Medieval gold ring find. I also fixed the missing 1649 Commonwealth hammered silver coin finds on the hammered page.

1st Jan 2005 Napoleon find update.

Thanks to Peter Page a UK detectorist that sent me this very interesting information on an earlier find under the Token section which I thought was to do with Wellington.

'I have also found one of these, and can tell you that the inscription actually reads .....' We Conquer to set free ' around the top front. The remainder of the front reads '

Emp of Russia
K of Prussia
Marquis Wellington
PrinzSchwartzenBerg

i.e.. These are the four key players of the alliance between Russia, Prussia, Britain and Austria in the wars against Napoleon. The other side of my find shows a lady in flowing robes holding a 'Peace' branch and a date 1814.Your item appears to show a horse on the front. If these are genuine artefacts (as opposed to a magazine collectors item), then it would probably commemorate Napoleon's exile to Elba in 1814 . Unfortunately this was premature as he subsequently escaped to be finally defeated at Waterloo in 1815. Note Wellington was a Marquis in early 1814, but was made a Duke in later 1814. The Battle of Waterloo was in 1815' .

1st Jan 2005 Exporting and Treasures

I have updated the export page with the latest news on the new forms I used to apply for the licenses. I have added links to the guide on exporting Cultural Goods and also on the valuation committee for hoards and treasures. Most guys have had letters now from the British museum detailing their finds that are going before a Coroner to determine their outcome. Here is a link on the valuation committee and how it works Valuation Committee. Hopefully we should start to see the current backlog of hoards and treasures start to move through the process now.

31st December 2004 Happy New year all - updated site pages

I have revamped the Base coin pages and set up separate links from that page with background history of each of the following areas:

Jettons

Coin and Trade Weights

17th to 19th C tokens

Lots of the new books for the reference Library have arrived and I have updated some of the Saxon page with more detailed ID of the Saxon silver finds.

29th December 2004 Roman and Stone age pages updated

I have updated the Stone Age page with the most recent axe head finds, also putting the axe head finds in the right date order. I have updated the Roman page with the most recent Romano British finds.

28th December 2004 Happy new year - members area updated

Hope you all had a good Christmas and have a great New Year to come. All the completed museum paperwork arrived and now it is just waiting for the export license application approval to be issued. I don't expect much to happen until after the new years holidays are over. Members area updated.

18th December 2004 Happy Christmas all

Hope you all get lots of detecting goodies in your sack from Santa this year, have a great new year.

The next hunt starts at the end of January and sees the return of Ark Gary, Boston Bud, Boston Beau and NJ Ed. This is a small hunt of seasoned campaigners that will brave the possible wilds of Winter in order to get that detecting fix and the ultimate prize LOL.

There is still no more news on inquest dates for the outstanding hoards and treasures, the whole system is just so painfully slow and unfortunately there is little we can do to speed up the process.

I am currently waiting for the signed ID paperwork to complete the export license applications for outstanding finds.

16th Dec 2004 Dubble STUIVER is a Double patard

Confused, I certainly was. My original ID of Ark Gary's and Van Brents foreign hammered medieval silver coins is in fact correct. A 'Dubble STUIVER' is a 'Double Patard' as the Fizmusuem at Cambridge ID'd it.( that's how it is known in England). So Karel de Stoute is Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (1467-77). Glad I cleared that one up LOL.

15th December 2004 Specialist books arrived and ordered up some more

The new Saxon volumes arrived today and they are very highly detailed, should be invaluable if we find any more coins of that type this season. I also ordered up another series of specialist books to add to the reference library. Some of these were used by the museum during the ID process and will be a great addition. I have reserved a set of the 7 volumes of World Coins due out in January to help ID the foreign coinage we keep finding. Here is a list of the current books on order, a bit of light reading for bed time LOL

Celtic iron age coins - Nearly 300 page volume covering in great depth the Celtic coins we find here

Apothecaries weights, This is specialist book that covers the finds of this type in a lot more detail than our current standard reference books.

English weights - this will help us narrow down the more specialist trade weights that are not in the standard weight books.

Hammered silver coins - I have ordered up 6 new specialist books that cover short and long cross Medieval hammered coins which are very tricky to ID given the huge variations possible.

The farthings and halfpennies of Edward 1 and II

The farthings and halfpennies of Edward III to Richard and II

The farthings and halfpennies of Edward IV to Henry VI

The farthings and halfpennies of Henry IV,V,VI

The voided long cross coinage of Henry III to Edward 1 1247 to 1279 AD

English short cross coinage from 1180 to 1247

14th December 2004 Early Christmas present arrived LOL

This year we have had tons of headphones fail while out detecting and the evenings are spent with the soldering iron out trying to keep them going. My current headphones, which were recommended by Ark Gary, are Gray Ghosts. They have never given me any problems at all so this year I asked the company if they would like to send us a couple of spare pairs for guys to use in case theirs failed. Today two nice new pairs arrived today for guys to try out and the great thing about these phones is they have a lifetime warranty so no worries if there is ever a problem.

Check out this link to view them

http://www.detectorpro.com/orig-grayghost.htm

14th December 2004 Updates and amendment from the museum

The local museum have received further feedback from the Fitzmuseum at Cambridge on Ark Gary's & Vancouver Brent's coins that I thought incorrectly were hammered silver 1475 Dutch -Karel de Stoute - DOUBLE STUIVER. It is in fact a double a 'dubble Vuurijzer' of the same date. Here is a link to a Dutch site showing the coin.

http://www.muntstukken.be/karel_de_stoute_afb_.htm

Charles the bold is Karel de Stoute - DUBBLE VUURIJZER, must mean double patard

Found by Ark Gary		Found by Vancouver Brent

'I have had the 15th century Continental coin identified by the FitzwilliamMuseum. It is a double patard of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (1467-77), which corresponds with our identification of the Burgundian shield'

'The Iron Age unit has been identified as a coin of Cunobelin VA 2101, and has been recorded with the Celtic Coin Index as 04.2645'

I have amended the date of the turret ring as it is late Iron age not late Bronze age.

13th December 2004 More books for the reference library

The museum had some great specialist books that they used on the Saxon silver coin finds which I located and I have ordered up today. There are 3 large volumes which are pretty amazing with pictures of all the front and rear types like the ones the guys have found so far. I also ordered up the early hammered silver volume pre Edward 1st that covers in more detail the coins like Boston John's shortcross hammered.

c1000 BC Bronze Age socketed axe fragment found by Mass Linda	Late Iron Age/ early Roman bronze strap divider (terret)found by Texas Rechey	Another Nazi badge probably from the Dornier bomber crash site	Medieval hammered silver penny where the hammering process weakened the flan, it fractured and broke off

13th December 2004 Duel arrival airports reintroduced- Heathrow or Gatwick

These flight arrivals to just one airport are causing real problems for guys that cannot get a direct flight into Gatwick so I re- introduced the ability to arrive at Heathrow for the pickup. Check the holiday page for more details and flight arrival and departure times to book.

11th Dec 2004 Museum process completed

All outstanding finds have now been completed through the museum process and again there were some interesting updates. Texas Rechey found a late bronze age/ early Roman bronze strap divider. Boston Will's early Greek looking coin turns out to modern at 80BC and is in fact a Republican Roman LOL. Boston John's hammered silver is confirmed as a King John at 1205 AD. A more detailed study on the Saxon silver coin finds was made by the experts and I will update the site with the results once the report has been received. All finds will now go through the export process.

I will be updating the site with more pictures of the finds over the next couple of days.

9th Dec 2004 Museum process underway.

While getting the finds ready for the ID process I look at each piece individually and put a preliminary ID on the package ready for the museum to concur or change. While the hunts are underway guys are making hundreds of finds and there are a lot of dodads, buttons, coppers that escape a close examination at the time. While bagging up yesterday I held a usual small Roman grot, round bronze lump encrusted with crud. I went to bag it as a 4thC illegible Roman coin and noticed that the earth had not been washed off it sufficiently and it had a very bright green patina, hmmm strange. A quick wash revealed a 40AD Cunobelin Celtic bronze in nice shape with the horse visible, this was found by Vegas Mike. This is a great find as it is only the 3rd Celtic bronze ever found here, this has been confirmed by the museum. I will be sending this off to Phillip de Jersey at the Celtic coin register for a CCI number and more information.

Key highlights during the museum ID process so far are:

The bronze piece found by Mass Linda is ID'd as a part of a Bronze axe socketed axe around 1000 BC (not uploaded a picture yet).

A Roman looking piece is a Roman lock pin 1st to 4thC.

Celtic Cunbelin bronze 1/4 stater found by Vegas Mike

Celtic Coin Index as 04.2645

An interesting copper coin ID by the museum turns out to be a gun metal coin of James II 1690

Will be doing more updates at the weekend

6th December 2004 Updating site.

Updated the find of the year page, I reckon it is probably between the two Bostonians so far this season with the 1250BC axe head and the Roman gold ring ! I need to start separating the various sections within the site into smaller pages to speed up load times as there are just too many finds on pages like the milled silver, copper coins etc.

5th December 2004 Boston Al's coin ID'd - updated silver pages

I have updated both the individual hammered and milled silver pages with the most recent finds.

Thanks to Stan at the South Asia Coin Group for ID'ing the abstract copper coin, our first Mughal coin.

'Your coin is a pie (pice) of the East India Company struck in Benares during the period 1815-1821. It has the fixed regnal year 37 of the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II'.

4th December 2004 Added Boudicca and Domesday book brief history pages

Added a couple more history pages as we have two of our sites listed in the Domesday book and Boudicca trashed Colchester while she was fighting the Romans.

3rd December 2004 More info

I have tried to research the abstract coin and it appears to be of a style of the The Mughals (ah 932 - 1274 ad 1526 - 1858). I have joined the South Asia Coin Group and hopefully they can give us a positive ID.

I am busy getting the rest of the outstanding finds ready for the museum ID process. This is a fun part as it can be quite exciting to see some of the unidentified widgets turn out to be good finds. I will update the site pictures if anything turns out to be Queen Boudicca's nail clippers LOL

29th Nov 2004 Posted more finds - another 1stC BC silver Roman forgery

Photographing some more of the finds I noticed another 1stC BC Roman silver forgery like the one found by Boston Bud, it's in very rough shape but perhaps we have an area that a forger was working just before Christ arrived LOL? Below is a fascinating coin find , no idea what it is. Will be posting more finds shortly.

No idea about this coin, copper about the size of an old penny, abstract design If you can ID it please drop me a mail Thanks to Stan at the South Asia Coin Group for ID'ing the abstract copper coin. 'Your coin is a pie (pice) of the East India Company struck in Benares during the period 1815-1821. It has the fixed regnal year 37 of the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II'.

28th Nov 2004 End of the half season round up and John's little corker !!

Looks like a King John 1199 AD hammered silver penny - Several Kings of this period have the inscription Henry on the legend so if you can confirm the ID drop me a mail - found by Boston John (confirmed by Museum experts as King John 1205)

That's it now until Feb when the next hunts begin. I will be posting the last of the latest finds over the next day or so but I am putting my feet up first !! Fascinating season so far, gold rings are coming up like ring pulls LOL including those beauties found by Boston Bill and Canadian Marjo. Celtic gold has been coming up from new areas together with those amazing Saxon finds. Some of the new land has really sucked big time so far when it should have produced some serious Roman bits, other parts of the new land are starting to rock with those hammered silver and that 1250BC axe head. A great find by Boston Will and possibly the oldest coin found here that 2nd/3rd C Greek dolphin type. Most of the 100 or so fields have hardly been scratched so there could be some great stuff still lurking out there for after Christmas. Canadian Rod is back to see if he can do the double and get his name again on the shield for the second year running. I reckon Boston Bill's Roman gold ring is probably winning the find of the year so far but Mass Bruce and team are back in March to see if they can get a few more hoards and get the free weeks holiday again LOL

The seeded hunt competition has been great fun watching guys come within a few feet of them LOL, still 4 gold coins out there including the top prize. Loditom is still the current forum competition winner.

We are still getting guys coming here that can't read the don'ts page properly and leaving unfilled holes and trash on the fields, make sure if you are contemplating making a booking that you read this page carefully. If you get caught doing it then you be be asked to leave.

The export process for outstanding finds starts in Dec so hopefully licences will be through by the end of the month.

24th Nov 2004 Bavaria Mike finds a treasure - Updated treasure/hoard page

Boston Will pounded the spot where he got his Roman bits with no success but Mike found another couple of nice pieces early on including a potential treasure of a 17th/18thC solid silver thimble with the inscription of MW. This has been reported to the museum and the landowner. Will post more finds later. (dated as 18thC and therefore not declared treasure)

24th Nov 2004 Latest Roman coin finds provisional ID.

Thanks to Mark at the Uncleaned Roman forum for the provisional ID's of the recent Roman finds

Your 2nd coin is a "BEATA TRANQVILLITAS" altar type and appears to be from either London or Trier mint - the exergual mintmark is too vague in your picture to be sure - these date to the early Constantinian era, pre 324 A.D.

The first piece appears to be Greek - there were many Greek cities that used the dolphin as a coin-type, and I can't quite make out the "ethnic" - the inscription under the dolphin that would identify the origin. Best guess would be 3rd or 2nd century B.C

Very interesting, our first Greek coin

24th Nov 2004 Bavaria Mike finds a beauty - Members area updated

Yesterday the guys continued to dig up some great bits and pieces but Bavaria Mike was about to hang himself from the nearest tree as light started to fail as his pouch was empty. He sat down stopped for a quick smoke under a tree contemplating his bag of junk and thinking of packing it in for the day LOL. Walked out from the tree and wammo ! his first hammered and what a corker !! It's never over to last swing LOL. Boston Will continued to suck up some great artefact's including an amazing possible Roman bronze mount with a figure standing on it and a debased looking silver Roman coin. Posted more of the finds on the hunt pages.

1572 Elizabeth 1st hammered silver half groat (2 pence)

23rd Nov 2004 Axe head finds - update

Interesting feedback from the museum on the recent axe head finds on their dating. Mass Bruce's axe head hoard dates from 800 to 1020 BC, Boston Will's dates at around 1250 BC so it is a modern one LOL.

22nd Nov 2004 Boston Will finds a circa 1250BC bronze age axe head

Nice to have a a few days break from posting as most of the guys headed to do the sightseeing bit for a couple of days. Yesterday was fairly quiet on productive land but Boston Will found another 1625 AD silver button commemorating the marriage of Charles 1st, this has been reported to the museum as treasure and landowner informed.

Today we hit the new land for the second time and came up trumps. Two nice large hammered silver including a Queen Mary 1553 Groat and then just before lunch Will made this fantastic find, a bronze age Palstave axe over 3500 years old. Will start posting some more finds shortly including some very interesting Roman looking pieces

Note that the cutting edge has been heavily used

17thNov 2004 Progress on new land is slow

Not having much luck trying to hotspot the new land so far but Maryland Ron continues to keep pulling up the odd nice artefact, the very first Roman 2ndC AD bronze trumpet brooch that has ever been found on the land we hunt, great find. Ron also managed to pull up his second hammered silver, a very late 'wool pack' mint mark 1595 Elizabeth 1st penny which is at the end of her reign. Posted a few more finds.

2ndC Roman trumpet brooch

15th Nov 2004 Perfect weather - update on the Celtic coin find - latest finds posted

The detecting conditions at the moment are just fantastic, warm and sunny, ground is moist and compacted. We hit some of the new land yesterday with mixed success, Texas Rechy got a nice gold ring made in Edinburgh which I cannot date yet as I do not have a Scottish hallmark book.

Very interesting gold ring, Edinburgh mintmark .625% gold date letter Script capital F (anyone know Scottish hallmark dates drop me a mail please)

I managed to get 3 silver including a potential treasure of a 17thC silver button which I have reported to the museum. All the usual bits and pieces turned up but apart from one large Roman Sertersius very little Roman signs so far. Cal Dave continues to suck up the hammered silver and Cal Vicie got a mint Edward III hammered silver groat.

I have created a new page 'Nov finds' which I have started to post the latest finds to click here

This update on the 1/4 gold stater is kindly supplied by Philip de Jersey at the Celtic Coin Register at Cambridge

'As you say it is the Morini boat/tree type. The closest catalogue reference would be Van Arsdell 69-1, though as you realize it's not quite the same, but has all those extra little crosses around the boat. This is not particularly uncommon - we have at least 60 or 70 examples of this among the 700 or so of the basic quarter stater type - but it is quite unusual to see them as well displayed as here. It's arguable that this variety ought to be given some sort of separate catalogue entry, but for the time being it falls into the VA 69 bracket.
This one will be CCI 04.2470'

13th Nov 2004 My first celtic gold for ten years !!!!

It took me just 30 minutes from when we started hunting on new land this afternoon to find this little beauty, my second Celtic gold with over a ten year gap since my first one LOL. I recognise it as a Morini 'boat tree' type of around 70 BC so it is by far my oldest coin find, heeeeeeeeeeeha !! The decoration on the back is one that is not in the reference books so I will send it off to the Celtic Coin register for them to ID it some more. Will start posting some of the guys finds shortly on a new page.

Morini ' boat tree' type c 70BC Celtic quarter stater

12th Nov 2004 Update - some movement on the hoards and treasures - Next full hunt starts tomorrow.

The next full hunt starts tomorrow and it should be very interesting hitting the two new lands we have just got permission to detect to see what is lurking. It is only another 1000 acres so we should have it done in a day LOL. I will be out there hunting myself so posting of the finds will be slow unless we hit the big one !

I got a letter from the British museum today and some of the outstanding hoards and treasures are starting to progress towards inquest. The latest two are the Roman Imperial silver and the Cunobelin Celtic gold hoards. I will be personally be attending all the inquests for hoards and treasures as I am fascinated as to the eventual outcome of the finds.

The latest news on the Saxon gold dagger is that a report is being currently written by Colchester museum, the Axe head hoard is still at the British Museum awaiting a report.

10th Nov 2004 More new land added- Members area updated

I have just been to visit more new land that were offered to hunt this morning locally and have signed the deal with the farmer. It is approximately 650 acres and has some serious historical aspects to it, including being noted in the Doomsday book, check out the members area for more detailed info. It is available to hunt from the next full tour starting this Saturday.

Try out this link to read more about the Doomsday book, commissioned in December 1085 by order of William The Conqueror

http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/England-History/DomesdayBook.htm

5th Nov 2004 Opened up another weekly slot

The early season free slots for 2005 are almost completely booked already so I have reopened up the 3rd to 10th Sept for guys that need a fix but can't get in. That first week can be a bit risky as the weather during the summer determines how many fields are ploughed and rolled for the first day. Last season the ground was baked like a rock and this season is rained every day in Aug preventing the crops being harvested. However some great finds were still made that first week on restricted field availability and who knows the weather next year could be back to it's normal pattern LOL

2nd Nov 2004 New land now available to hunt - members area updated

I went to visit the new land we were offered to hunt this morning and it looks very promising with a river running through it and a very early church at one end, the land owner tells me that it has not been detected for 20 years. There are 10 fields ploughed and rolled and they are now ready for the next tours. It is located in serious Roman country so I am hoping that some nice artefact's of that period will turn up.

30th Oct 2004 Revamping site - hammered silver

Added new links off the hammered silver page for individual Monarchs to improve loading speed. I also put the coins into their denomination sections and added history and pictures of the King or Queen.

I will updating all sections with the finds so far since Sept and again creating individual sections to improve loading times.

28th Oct 2004 Two weeks before the next full hunts

Time to catch up on the photographing, preparing finds for the ID/export process and checking out some new land for Novembers hunts.

25th Oct 2004 Celtic gold finds - update.

Thanks to Phillip again at Celtic Coin Index for further information on the Celtic gold finds

'many thanks for these, they're both very fine coins. The Dubnovellaunus stater is VA 1655-5, and will be CCI 04.2295. We have records of just under 100 of the basic Dubnovellaunus stater type (VA 1650-1655); it can be very difficult to split them further without studying the individual dies, because key motifs such as the inscription are often off the edge of the flan, as here. In fact this example is struck a long way off-centre on the reverse, since it's unusual to see just about the whole of the motif beneath the branch under the horse.

The Cunobelin quarter is rarer. It's actually the so-called 'plastic' type, VA 2017 (CCI 04.2296). The key to its identification is that it's the only Cunobelin type which has CAM CVN on the obverse, rather than the usual CAMV. We have records of just 17 other examples. There are also other, rarer subtypes, which have A or AGR on the reverse coupled with this obverse'.

Looks like Bud keeps finding the rare ones as he also found that Saxon gold coin LOL

Still got more find to post yet

23rd Oct 2004 Members area updated - couple of slots free in Nov.

A few more finds to post yet and then time to catch up on some sleep during the mid season break. There are still a couple of slots free in Nov if any one wants to have a go on the new land before the Christmas break, drop me a mail if you can take advantage of the cheap off peak airfares .

22nd Oct 2004 What a way to end a hunt !!

Detecting is an amazing hobby. This morning the guys got skunked on what should have been a productive site. In the afternoon they headed for a set of fields that had not produced any finds this year but showed potential last season, Bud however felt the calling of another field miles away on a different farm and even though the guys wanted him to stay for the last afternoon he went with his gut feeling. When I went to pick him up to my amazement he had found a beautiful 1/4 Cunobelin gold so we set off to pick the other guys up hoping they too had had some luck. Before Bud got to show his great find Texas Dave dropped a full Dubnovellanus Celtic full stater in my hand, there I was standing there with the little and large of the Celtic coins in my hand, stunning examples. Dave's find is particularly exciting as this was in an area that we had not previously found any celtic presence. What a way to end the hunt before the mid season break. Both landowners have been informed and I have sent the pictures off to the Celtic coin register to get them a VA number , I should have a confirmed update on their type after the weekend.

Dubnovellaunus Late 1st BC to Early 1stC AD Full Celtic gold stater found by Texas Dave		Cunobelin 40AD - 1/4 Gold stater found by Boston Bud

22nd Oct 2004 2nd silver piece reported as potential treasure to museum - posted a load more finds

Posted a load more finds including two more hammered silvers found yesterday by the Texan boys, last day of hunting before the mid season break.The silver jewellery piece has been reported to the museum and landowner has been informed.

Small clear stone set in silver without hallmarks - possibly post Medieval found by Texas Dave

21st Oct 2004 Boston Bud finds an amazing intaglio relic

By pure luck I took two photos of the same intaglio and then noticed that the face is different depending on how the light hits it. It is probably a husband and wife memento , what an amazing find. This is extremely difficult to date as it looks like a 16thC silver mount with a Roman period intaglio. The skill required to make this must have be unbelievable. Reported to museum as possible treasure.

What a find - etched onto an amber coloured stone and set in silver

Lots of finds to post and yep Texas Dave and Jim find more hammered silver again LOL

20th Oct 2004 Louis X1 link - Members area updated with land news

Here is the link to the site where I found Dave's Louis X1 gold coin, it is half way down the page

http://home.eckerd.edu/~oberhot/paris-coins.htm

Added Tenn Earl's testimonial

19th Oct 2004 Extra Texas Dave finds double hammered and one was French gold !!!

The guys followed Texas Dave around this morning hoping he was on a lucky streak and got totally skunked, this afternoon they split up and Dave headed for one ugly field !! Looks like Dave's lucky streak only happens in the afternoon as he pulled up two big hammered coins and one was gold LOL !! The coin is complete, having been hit by the plough it should straighten out perfectly. What a find heeeeeeeeeeeha !!

Louis X1 (1461-83) Ecu d'or, 28mm, 1re emission 31/12/1461. Obv: LVDOVICVS:DEI:GRA:FRANCOR:REX, ecu de France crowned, bounded by deux lis crowned. Rev: XPS:VINCIT:XPS:REGNAT:XPS:IMPGRAT, "croix feuillue avec quadrilobes en coeur, accoste de quarte cournelles, dans un quadrilobe." Mint is Paris - pt 18 on the obv. Dup 539v (with XPC); C 741v which has the reverse ending "XPS IMPERT."

19th Oct 2004 More land and the Texan's do the treble hammered

I have started a new hunt page to speed up loading, click the link above to view the latest finds posted today

Yesterday I was approached to hunt some new land in a very exciting area in south Colchester that has not be hunted since the guy has owned the farm for 20 years. I will be meeting with the guy next week to see the land which is about 300 acres, apparently it is around an early church. It will be available to hunt after the mid season break in Nov.

Jim's double - Elizabeth 1st Groat (4 pence) and 1 penny hammered silver coins

Yesterday the guys headed for 2 new fields we were given permission to hunt at the start of the season, they got some great buttons and the usual coppers but right before lunch Texas Jim pulled up a really nice Elizabeth 1st hammered silver groat. The rest of the guys were not impressed by the two fields and moved on to a different farm in the afternoon but Texas Dave decided to give the two fields a better look which really paid off. He found a Charles 1st hammered silver shilling and Jim pulled up a fantastic Elizabeth 1st penny, the other guys got pretty well skunked on the other land. This morning they are following Dave's choice of fields LOL

Another brilliant WWII artifact was also found by Boston Bud as a nearby field was the site of a crashed Dornier bomber.

17th Oct 2004 Texas Dave finds a Viking piece?

Out of a lump of mud in Dave's pouch last night came this little beauty, it is a Viking mount in the reference books, bronze and heavily gilded. However you have to be careful not to jump to conclusions as Saxon period finds of 700 AD have a great similarity to Viking pieces of the same period. One for the museum to ID. Another interesting find is this clothing fastener found by Alaskan George which again looks like a Saxon period find. Will be posting more finds later including some great Regiment of foot military buttons.

Possible Viking mount (ID'd as Post Medieval)	Id'd as post Medieval

16th Oct 2004 Tenn Earls amazing short hunt

Earl arrived, luckily found a hammered and milled silver the first day as he was then dragged off screaming by his girlfriend site seeing in London for 4 days LOL. As you can imagine he was itching to go yesterday on newly ploughed land and managed again to suck another 2 silvers including a very nice Elizabeth 1st hammered silver groat !!

Earl has booked up another hunt this time coming on his own LOL.

13th Oct 2004 Boston Buds silver Roman find ID'd - great artefact

Thanks to the guys at the Uncleaned Roman forum for the ID's of the latest Roman coin finds and in particular this Roman period silver forgery. Some good hammered silver turning up , will post more finds later

Trajan 98 AD 'It is a fouree,
that is an ancient counterfeit. The silver that is left in the coin
has swelled which is the result of the base metal underneath the
silver swelling as it is decaying'.
Kelly UR Forum

12th Oct 2004 Revamping site

Over the next couple of days I am reducing some of the page sizes and bandwidth overheads to try and speed up the site, too many finds and pictures LOL. Will keep posting finds during the day.

Webmaster Joe

11th Oct 2004 Updated Members area with hoard and treasure update - Posted a load of finds

I managed to provisionally ID Boston Bud's short cross hammered silver coin last night as a William 1st of Scotland 1165 AD, brilliant find and another nice really early hammered. Boston Bud cleaned up the most spectacular condition lead trade weight I have ever seen last night.

After straightening this 1165 AD William 1st of Scotland hammered penny coin will in great shape	2" diameter - 1/4 pound - Plumbers mark in circle, sword and shield. This is a rare one not in the reference books. Possibly pre - 1605

10th Oct 2004 Good couple of days hunting and some neat hammered silver

Guys are making some great finds, Boston Bud is already sucking up the good stuff, early enamelled Medieval pendant , huge 1547 AD Edward VI hammered silver shilling and a small highly decorated hammered silver penny that I have not seen before, possibly Scottish, Tenn Earl also started his hunt well with a double silver, one is a very nice Medieval hammered penny yet to be cleaned.

Huge Edward VI shilling (12 pence) next to Henry IV penny

Will get around to taking some pictures and post a load of finds tomorrow

Dino UK and Paddy popped down for a days hunt and to meet their forum stable mate Alaskan George. Dino had managed to ID that earlier hammered silver find (24th Sept) by Vegas Mike as a very early 1032 - 1035 AD Tiel Denar Conrad II of the Netherlands.

Alaskan Geo and Dino UK

I found a good site tonight that has more pictures and history on those type of coins. I dropped the guy that runs the site an e-mail to see if he can give us more info on the coin. (Just got a reply from Arie
that runs the site) Here is his reply.

It's indeed a coin of Tiel and Conrad II (1024-1039)is right too.
Conrad was a German king (1024-1027) and emperor (1027-1039) and Tiel was
one of the many mints of those guys. At my site you find his coins in the
Coin Gallery Tiel / German kings and emperors. Your coin is of type Ilisch
3.7, without titles like REX or IMPERATOR.
So we cann't be more precize in dating the coin, just use the total period
1024-1039.

http://www.homepages.hetnet.nl/~amvherwijnen/FILWEL/welcome.html

Posted Mass Bill's testimonial, great sentiments.

8th Oct A really old one

Great early BC Roman find on a potentially good Roman site, Ark Gary continued to suck up the silver with another early milled 1686 James II and a 1216 AD Henry III hammered half penny.

Silver Denarius of Octavian/Augustus, Cohen/Roman Silver Coins no. 91, Crawford 538/1, assigned to c. 36 BC.

Posted Manhattan Gary's testimonial.

7th Oct 2004 Slim pickings !

Not too much success since those double Saxon silver finds earlier in the week, loads of coppers, thimbles and the usual bits and piecs but the hammered silver is hard to find. Even another session around the 9thC house failed to produce any silver but Ark Gary pulled up two really nice early milled silver on new land. Posted some more finds

George II 1739 milled silver sixpence		1696 William III milled silver sixpence

5th Oct 2004 Exceptionally nice hammered silver

Alaskan Geo is having a good start to his hunt with this exceptional 1581 Elizabeth 1st hammered silver threehalfpence. The difference in scale in some of the coins can be seen by comparing the tiny Elizabeth with Georgia Mike's cleaned up Cartwheel penny. Started to post a few finds.

Mike's cleaned up cartwheel 1797 George III Cartwheel penny next to Alaskan Geo's 1581 Elizabeth 1st hammered silver threehalfpence.

5th Oct 2004 Out of the scrap bag ! Members area updated with outstanding export news

A washed up find from the scrap pouch last night produced the first complete Roman fibula brooch found this season amongst the trash, great find. It looks like a Colchester type 1stC AD. I have lightened the photo so you can see the engraving down the front of the bow.

I have cut this weeks finds page down really small as it is growing too large to load quickly but it will

still be available to view here Latest NEWS PAGE 2 FOR NEWS PRIOR TO 27TH jULY

4th Oct 2004 Boys hit the double !!!

Yesterday afternoons hunt was saved by a late couple of hammereds that included a 1475 Dutch -Karel de Stoute silver DOUBLE STUIVER from Ark Gary. This morning it poured down with rain so the boys headed for a 'non boot sticking' new stubble field while Ark Gary stayed home in the dry.

Lunchtime the boys came back almost skunked and then NY Ken handed me a small piece and said is this anything ? Yep it sure is, Saxon silver, heeeeeeeeha !! Ark Gary said I have got to get me one of those and then proceeded to walk across a muddy ploughed field to get to the stubble field to find one. I was chatting to the farmer but before he got to the stubble he suddenly started jumping up and down and yep he found another Saxon. Both the coins are beat up by the plough but still great finds and another confirmed Saxon area.

Saxon C600 - 775 AD Silver Sceattas Porcupine Type found by NY Ken		Saxon C600 - 775 AD Silver Sceattas found by Ark Gary

NY Ken also pulled up another 14thC Medieval enamelled horse pendant, again with a duck design just like the earlier find from Cal Charles. Both use the same red and white enamel so are they from the same Medieval producer of duck pendants LOL

NY Ken's Medieval duck	California Medieval Charles's Duck

3rd Oct 2004 Boys are getting skunked so far !!

Looks like Mass Bill turned the switch off when he went LOL, boys have got almost skunked so far but Ark Gary managed to pull up a few interesting dodads including a huge Medieval looking document seal with a shield on it.

Posted a few more finds and added Mass Bill's e-mail address if you want to know what his secret is LOL and ask him about hunting here.

2nd Oct 2004 Added 2 top of the range used detectors to the For Sale page

I have started to add bits and pieces to the 'For Sale' page for guys unwanted kit, drop me mail if you are interested. Hopefully I will be able to catch up on some of the latest finds during the day so check back later to see some more nice bits and pieces.

1st Oct Mass Bill is still on a roll !! Started to post more finds on hunt page

Mass Bill still continues his reign of terror on the land with another two large silver hammered coins in his pouch and a very unusual Venetian Soldino 14thC hammered silver coin ID 'd by the guys at the museum. Luckily he is off back to the states tomorrow so he will leave something for the next tour !!. Bill has now formally handed his Roman gold ring into the museum and I detected a tear in his eye when he waved it goodbye LOL. Some great finds to post including some nice early milled and hammered silver and a fantastic 1792 French Louis XVI huge copper in great condition found by Wisconsin Paul.

1340 AD Bronze Beehive thimble.

29th Sept 2004 Mass Bills ring dated as 4thC Roman - more info on Gary's Celtic gold find

Mass Bills gold ring find is confirmed as 4thC Roman and will now undergo the treasure process, see hoard and treasure link for how the process works. What a great find. Wisconsin Wayne's early 17thC silver button find commemorating the marriage of Charles 1st (not posted picture yet) has also been reported as treasure to the museum.

Here is some more information on Manhattan Gary's coin, I sent Phillip an e-mail checking that this coin is the size of a full stater but is in fact ID'd as a 1/4 stater.

'yes, it's definitely a quarter stater - it has the designs of the quarter rather than the full stater. There's not always very much difference in diameter, particularly if the quarter has been struck on a large, thin flan'.

Philip de Jersey

Canadian Dan just sent a great testimonial, he reckons Marjo will share her gold ring find with him LOL
Posted a few more finds on Hunt page

28th Sept Extra - Mass Bill finds the BIG one !!

What a truly stunning find, could be Saxon or even Roman. It has been reported to the museum as potential treasure and the landowner has been informed. Not much more to say about a find like this and the rest of the guys also came back with huge numbers of finds including 6 silvers and a possible Roman seal Matrix, what a day !!

Started to post some of the latest finds click here to view

4thC Roman gold ring with a green stone

28thSept 2004 Manhattan Gary's Celtic ID'd and registered

Thanks to Philip de Jersey at the Celtic Coin register for the information on Gary's find. It is a fascinating as we have found both the 'Morani boat tree' Celtic's and the 'Clacton types', check out the gold page to view them. All Celtic gold is unique and given it's own VA number which is available to view on line, the site link is on the gold page. It appears to be modern one LOL 50BC !!

'This is an example of the Clacton 1/4 stater - it's not listed in VA, but there's one in the British Museum catalogue, at BMC 192 (where it's incorrectly attributed to the Corieltauvi). These coins were virtually unknown until the 1980s, but we now have records of more than 50 of them, predominantly from Essex, and it seems certain to be the quarter stater type associated with the full Clacton stater. There is strong Gallo-Belgic influence, as you mention - the obverse seems to be copied from the 'three men in a boat' design found on the imported Gallo-Belgic quarter staters, while the reverse is indeed nearly identical to the Clacton stater type. Its date is probably c. 50 BC.

This one will be in the Index as CCI 04.2136'.

27th Sept 2004 Manhattan Gary finds the first Celtic gold stater of the season

	(b)
Could be a Gallo Belgic type c70 BC or even a Clacton Type c70BC will wait fot the ID from the experts

What a great find ! this time by Manhatten Gary who was just casually swinging while the guys were in the middle of huge field discussing the mornings finds !!! This is first Celtic gold found from this area and it appears to a Clacton type 70 BC one. I have sent a picture off to the Celtic Coin register for a positve ID and a VA number. Other great finds include a Roman bird mount, medieval clothing fastener and some nice silver coins both milled and hammered. Will post a few more finds later.

26th Sept 2004 Mass Bill finds a Saxon Sceattas

Another amazing Saxon silver coin was found by Mass Bill only hours after getting of the plane. These latest Saxon finds just appear to be random drops over several large sites and as of yet give no clear indication of a village settlement being present. What is interesting is that it is almost an identical coin found last year by Vancouver Dave on field half a mile away, exciting stuff !

Saxon Primary silver Sceattas c 680 - 710 AD(g) found by Mass Bill
Saxon Primary silver Sceattas c 680 - 710 AD(y) found by Vancouver Dave

25th Sept 2004

Cal Charles Silver Roman ID'd below, Emperor Vespasian (69-79 AD), minted in Rome AD 75, great find.

24th Sept 2004 Last of the finds posted and Orlando Don's testimonial added.

24th Sept Extra - Vegas Mike finds another great coin

The boys are off back home tomorrow but on their last day they managed to find another load of good stuff. including some great hammered silver. This hammered silver found by Vegas Mike could be a very exciting find , it is a very early short cross hammered penny and it's type of single pellets per quadrant in not in any reference books. I will try and do some research to see what King it is. I have posted a few more finds (click here)

Very early shortcross hammered silver penny not in any major reference book !!! (b) 1032 - 1035 AD Tiel Denar Conrad II of the Netherlands, ID'd by Dino UK

24th Sept 2004 - Got the green crud off Cal Charles Roman silver finally ! - Started 2nd hunt page with more finds (click here)

Finally got some of the green crud of the roman silver found by Charles and now there is only brown crud left LOL. Great find, will update when I get the coin ID'd positively by the uncleaned Roman forum guys.

It's a denarius of the Emperor Vespasian (69-79 AD), minted in Rome AD 75. Obverse: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG Vespasian, his laueate head right Reverse: PON MAX TRP COS VI Pax seated left, holding olive-branch, left hand at side. Thanks to Jan de Veen of the UR forum for ID

23rd Sept 2004 Posting more finds

I am going to try and spend the day catching up on getting some more finds posted but the guys have already found hammered and Roman even before I left the field !! Got to hope they get skunked for the rest of the day so I can get the pictures done LOL If Wayne goes and finds another gold on some more new land they are hunting this morning then the guys will have him swinging from a tree when I take out lunch.!!

23rd Sept 2004 Fantastic days hunting - Wayne does the double gold - Cal Charles pulls up an amazing enamelled artefact

Detecting is all about luck, going with your gut instinct with a small bit of skill thrown in. The boys spread out yesterday morning ,some of the guys continued to pound the fields where the Saxon silver came up hoping for another little beauty but ended up with just a bag of trash. . So lunchtime they all decided to hit a brand new farm of 1000 acres for a change of scene. On arrival some of the rolled ground was very dry and on the hard side to dig. Neither of those two sites to me would have been my first choice given the more attractive ones around old churches that were ready to hunt. But this is a reason that I don't pick the fields LOL Wayne goes out on this huge ugly field and chisels out another mint Gold Guinea out of dry clay, luckily he was on hands and knees using his Lesche knife digger so he did not clip it.

Wisconsin Wayne's second gold 1769 George III gold half guinea (sr)		Looks like a Henry III 1249AD hammered silver penny(y)

Cal Charles decides to stayon a field I would say did not even have a button left to find, he pulls up a staggering find, an enamelled Medieval horse pendant LOL. Will be posting a load more good finds later including a very early bronze key, Roman silver and some nice large milled silvers including a William III 1696 half crown.

Beautiful 14thC Medieval enamelled pendant, my favourite find of the year so far(y)

22nd Sept 2004 Cal 'Roman man ' Charles get's a beauty Roman

So far this season guys have only hit about 10 of the 80 fields available as the land just seems to keep producing. The new sites have never been detected before so all the junk of 6000 years is scattered over them , lead, crotal bells, buttons, shotgun shells LOL, muskets balls and then amongst all this trash is a nice hammered here the odd Roman there. We have not found any concentration of finds yet , they just seem to be casual loss widely scattered over vast fields.

Cal Charles who we have dubbed the 'Roman man' found an absolute beauty Roman silver yesterday, it has green crud on parts of it which should come off OK but is appears to be an Augustus Caesar 27BC to 14AD denarii. (will post it later when the crud has gone LOL) His grandson Las Vegas Mike, who found those two Silver Saxon coins, continues his 'Alaskan Todd' type hunt and pulled up a really nice Elizabeth 1st hammered silver penny on the same site.

Got some other really nice bits to post later including another mint Henry silver long cross hammered half groat and an amazing condition William III 1690's copper found by Wisconsin Wayne.

21st Sept 2004 Posted a few more finds under hunt link

Posted a few more finds and updated the Saxon page

21st Sept 2004 Las Vegas Mike finds another Saxon silver

Looks like Vegas Mike appears to be using a special 'Saxon' setting on his detector as another newly ploughed and rolled field this afternoon produced a Saxon silver similar in period to the other one found yesterday. Loads more good finds to post yet.

Saxon C600 - 775 AD Silver Sceattas

20th Sept 2004 Wisconsin Wayne is on a roll !!

The boys headed to a pair of freshly ploughed and rolled plots as the tractor literally came off the field. Wayne did a circuit of the field and after an hour came back over his own tracks and found his gold only a few inches from his original path an hour earlier LOL. What a stunning find and must it have been uncirculated when it was lost. Yet another amazing discovery was this American silver three pence found in the field opposite in mint condition.

1765 George III Gold Guinea(y)		1852 American 3 cents !!!

19th Sept 2004 Saxon silver - posted a few more finds

Saxon C600 - 775 AD Silver Sceattas Porcupine Type		Mint condition hammered silver half Groat, Looks like a Henry VII 1485 but I cannot ID it exactly in the book- drop me a mail if you are a hammered buff and can help

Some stunning finds have been turning up on new fields, Saxon silver, a mint Henry VII hammered silver half groat , Foreign hammered and an absolute beauty, 1696 William III guinea coin weight in mint condition. The guys are digging hundreds of targets, mostly junk,but some real neat artefact's amongst the trash including a 13thC Papel Bulla, complete 16thC toy petronel. Posted a few finds, loads more to catch up on yet.

18thSept 2004 Canadian Marjo waves goodbye to her ring

Marjo's officially handed her 15th/16thC gold ring to the museum staff yesterday afternoon and it will now undergo the treasure process, it will be fascinating to see the eventual outcome of the dating of her find. After taking a well earned days rest and going into London site seeing , the Canadians first day back on land they got skunked. Marjo however was still smiling as she is now in cruise mode LOL.

Quite a few Roman 'grots' mainly huge 1stC Sestertius have been coming up but all have been in very bad shape, silver has been very thin on the ground since the gold ring find but Orlando Rolo managed to pull an absolute beauty Elizabeth 1st 1582 hammered silver half groat.

16th Sept 2004 - Updated Hoard/Treasure and Gold pages

Spoke to the museum yesterday and still no more news yet on dates for the outstanding hoard and treasure inquests.

15th Sept 2004 Gold ring is treasure -More info on the Roman silver - few more finds posted

The gold ring found by Canadian Marjo yesterday has been provisionally ID'd as 15/16thC having been reported to the local museum, it will now undergo the treasure process, brilliant find.

Thanks again to Mark at the http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UncleanedAncientCoins for provisionally ID'ing Orlando Don's Roman find. It's still soaking trying to get some more of the crud off it.

'That's a "silvered" AE follis of Constantius I (Constantine the great's father) as Caesar c. 295-305 A.D. The Obverse inscription is (probably) [FL VAL] CONSTANTIVS NOB C - his laureate and cuirassed bust right. The reverse inscription is GENIO POPVLI ROMANI "(To) the genius (spirit) of the Roman People" with Genius standing left holding a patera in his right hand and a cornucopia in his left. Unfortunately, I can't make out the mintmark - in the exergual space on reverse - under the "ground line" upon which Genius stands - so I can't give you a definitive attribution - if you can make out letters in this area, let me know and I'll give you RIC # and exact dates.'

14thSept 2004 What a stunning find !! - posted a few more finds - members area updated

Canadian Marjo had a great day again, in the morning she pulled up a 1575 Elizabeth 1st hammered silver sixpence and then finished the day with a Post Medieval solid gold ring inscribed on the inside MM. (Provisionally ID'd as 15th/16thC) The find will be reported to the museum as possible treasure, what a stunning find. Orlando Don has also found what looks to be a Roman bronze ring with a spiral design. What a great days detecting.

(b)

14th Sept 2004 Orlando Rolo does the chicken dance

(b&y)

Not a pretty site yesterday seeing Rolo doing the 'chicken dance' but he found a gold ring yesterday so I suppose he is entitled to. It is a plain gold band fully hallmarked Birmingham mint 1816, gold is gold !!! Florida Dan could have found what looks like a rare debased silver Roman Constantine III coin, I am no great Roman expert and it is difficult to take a good picture of it as there is green crud in places on it. The legend is good and it appears to have been minted in Roman. I will send to off to the Roman experts to see what they make of it. He also found a really neat 1804 Silver Vatican circular pendant in great shape.

Will try and post some pictures tonight.

NEWS Sept 2005 to Oct 2005

Great Saxon silver finds Offa Rex - Coenwulf - Hammered gold

NEWS March 2005 toSept 2005

Villa Dig - Roman gold - Celtic gold hoard found

NEWS Sept 2004 to March 2005

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

NEWS March 2004 to Sept 2004

Roman gold coin - Mass Bruce's axe hoard

NEWS Jan 2004 to March 2004

2000BC Axe - Boston Buds Saxon gold

More Archived News