My new Fisher 2 -box hunter - available to rent locally

18th Nov 2003 Looks like I killed it !

I will probably be able to now finish off uploading the last of the guys finds later, it looks like I have manage to kill off the latest virus on my PC. Boston Beau is popping in for a few days hunt tomorrow on his way from a seminar in Paris before heading back to the states. He is joined by Detroit Tracy and Gus and this will probably be the last hunt before the Christmas break. It will be interesting to see if they can continue on from the good work Mike and Gary have started on the new sites.

16th Nov 2003 New PC is knackered - can't kill new virus WARNING

If I can get this to upload then I will will be off air for a few days while I reload another PC with software. My new PC has been attacked successfully through a full fire wall and the very latest anti virus software updates so there is another new virus out their that gets through and rips up your machine. One of the them is on a PAYPAL e-mail that my machine detected but could not kill. (DO NOT open a PAYPAL e-mail asking you to renew your details as it will steal your credit card details !) I will have to wait until Norton come up with a solution to kill this latest one. I can just about download e-mails but it takes for ever as this is a Trojan type virus transmitting data constantly.

15th Nov 2003 Georgia Mike gets gold !!

Arkansas Gary had been kind of skunking Mike all this week until a few minutes before lunch when he pulled up this little beauty on new land. (r). Just proves that it is never over to the last swing or as Mike said it' the fat lady sings' !! He is sort of smiling tonight !

George III Gold Guinea 1787 - this coin must have been uncirculated before the plough got to it ! What a great find !

The boys are off back to the not so sunny USA tommorrow and I will upload the last of their finds later. Their two weeks hunt was spent covering mostly new land and highlighted some new fields with huge potential and they also found a number of good homestead areas to be further investigated. Great company,fantastic weather, the hobby of detecting does not get any better than this.

14th Nov 2003 Lots of silver and cleaning copper grots - latest finds being uploaded.

Lots of great hammered coinage found over the last couple of days which I have uploaded, more to follow shortly.

Huge 1625 Charles 1st Shilling and One Pence hammered silver coinage

Texas Jim has sent me more information on the elusive Arkansas Gary's metal polish for copper coins. I have shown a before and after photo of how this can be really useful for cleaning usually discarded copper grots.

I found a web site for the metal cleaner Loc PLUS . The reason people can't find it in the stores is because it is not sold in stores. It is an Amway product and is sold by persons with an Amway dealership, kind of
like Avon and other types of home businesses.

John

I have sent an e-mail off to the company to see how we get a hold of it.

(c) Here are a couple of the guys finds from yesterday with the before and after treatment using the metal cleaner. Now they can be ID'd to help date the field they came from. I think the one of the right is a Dutch low countries coin and it has a date of 1722 now visible. This is obviously not recommended for rare coins or those in good condition.

11th Nov Extra - New finds coding system

The landowners, who's sites we hunt, take a very keen historical interest in the finds we make and log onto the site daily to see what we are finding. All landowners are informed of any important finds we make that day by phone call but now I am introducing a one letter code against every single find to ID on who's lands the find was made. Please ignore the small alpha code against each find in the style of (x) as this is for the landowners benefit only.

11th Nov Roman Republic silver and Celtic declared hoard

The previous finds of early Republican Silver, Celtic gold and even my latest 27AD Roman silver have been declared part of the hoard and the relevant paperwork completed. Those that found the silver and gold will be sent the paperwork to complete to their home address. The quicker the paperwork gets back the sooner we can get the process rolling.

Arkansas Gary's gold posey ring is now undergoing the treasure process and the relevant paperwork issued. Initial discussions on the gold posey ring indicate that the date of 1641 might not actually be a date but perhaps a bible reference and the ring could even be earlier in date.

I have created a new page of all the outstanding treasure and hoards to save you e-mailing me asking for the latest position of the finds. As I get more info then I will update this page. The treasure process unfortunately can take from 3 months to a year to complete so I will have to wave goodbye to my coin for a while !

I have sort of ID 'd the silver thimble below from the Antiques Road show web site, it looks to be a 19thC silver thimble made in Sheffield and made to look like an earlier style, I could be wrong so I will wait for the experts to give their opinion first.

Some more great finds to post later including Arkansas Gary's beautiful Mary silver hammered coin.

9th Nov New fields produce the goods again- more finds posted

The guys continue to try and hotspot some of the new fields with mixed results, however one field produced 6 pieces of silver in the morning and an outstanding find by Georgia Mike of a possibly rare hallmarked 17thC silver thimble. I need to invest in a good hallmark book but if any of you recognize the year date which looks like an early 'y' or the other hallmarks please mail me. Other really nice finds included a debased silver Roman coin and a Roman lead dice.

Tennessee Joe flew off back to the states this morning happy with his Medieval bronze ring he found yesterday which is an exact match in one in the reference books, great find.

7th Nov Record temperatures - Tyler Texas show

Where are the all the George 1st and 2nd milled silver coins ?

Yesterday apparently was a record temperature for November and again this morning it is just amazingly perfect detecting conditions. I have stayed home to try and upload some more finds, Arkansas Gary and Georgia Mike have gone to try and find some more of that early Roman silver and Tennessee Joe has opted to walk from one end to the other of a 600 acre undetected plot, should have it finished easily by lunchtime !! Yesterday again produced a number of William III 1690's milled silver's which makes them together with late George III silver the most prolific milled silver coinage being found. Where are the George 1st & 2nd silver coins, the ground should be dripping with them ? The Williams are usually very worn having obviously been in circulation for a long time so were they the dominant coin still used during the 1700's ? If anyone knows the answer mail me.

I am trying to arrange a visit to the Tyler Texas show in late February which is a huge event with hundreds of stands both trade and clubs and a big hunt on the Sunday. All the Texas boys should be there plus Arkansas Gary and Georgia Mike O Smith and hopefully loads of the guys that have hunted here also. I thought is would be a fun idea for all the guys that have hunted here to meet up and exchange stories and see each others finds of those that have already been exported. Then on the Sunday we could all do the hunt as the Colchester team ! If I can get the trip arranged I will send out invites and details to you all.

Latest finds posted hunt page 4

6thNov Can't leave them alone for a second- what a find

A great mornings hunting on new land produced a few milled silver and the most beautiful large crotal/cow bell I have seen. I went back to get the lunch and returned to see Arkansas Gary dancing in the field next door (not a pretty sight). He had gone to see if he could find a bell like Georgia Mike's 3 complete bells he had found that morning. He did not manage to find one but had hooked this up instead right smack in the middle of a 100 acre plot ! What a fantastic find, 1641 gold engraved posey ring. This is automatically declared treasure and the farmer and museum have been informed.

The inscription reads 'Prepared be to follow me IK 1641 6t 67' with the markers mark BW

If anyone knows what the last bit 6t or r or 67 means then please send me a mail

5th Nov 2003 Slow hunt but Georgia Mike still brings home the bacon

Another gloriously warm sunny day but it was a bit of a slow hunt this morning with only Tennessee Joe finding another Papal bulla and his first grotty Roman coin having picked a separate field from the other guys. This afternoon was not much better then Georgia Mike does it again and finds a really nice early short cross Henry II 1100's AD hammered silver penny. I have posted more finds page 4.

4th Nov My oldest find to date !

What an amazing days hunt on new land, like a summers day and I got my oldest coin ever a 27AD silver Divus Argusta. Tennessee Joe is real handy guy to have around as he is a Roman coin expert and ID'd it straight away. The back of the coin has 'horn silver' which he tells us is that thick crust that forms on silver Roman's like Milwaukee Mike's and mine. It could turn out to be a rare one if it has a head on the reverse I'm told. It is soaking waiting the removal of the crust. Everyone found some great artifacts and coins including this amazing Medieval papal badge found by Arkansas Gary. Tennessee Joe has offered to go thought all the pictures of the unidentified Roman coins on my site so I can update them.

I will post more finds shortly

3rd November 2003 New hunts page4 created

Weather is sunny and mild but the wind has started to become blustery. Because the light is failing around 5pm the guys have opted for an early start to get the max use of the daylight. The guys decided on new land today and it did not take Georgia Mike long to start sucking up the finds again with a really nice 1stC Roman dolphine brooch and a rough long cross 14thC hammered silver penny. Arkansas Gary replied with this beautiful condition Medieval jetton and some real nice bits and pieces.

French copper- alloy Jetton 1380AD Obv Shield of France bearing three feur de lis Rev trefoil x 4 Ottery St Mary

I have created a new hunt page 4 and have started to upload the latest finds.

2nd Nov Hunts start again

New guy on the blockTennessee Joe with the dynamic duo of Georgia Mike and Arkansas Gary

The detecting conditions were just perfect this afternoon as we started to hunt some new land. The ground is moist and real a real joy to dig after the dry spell in Sept/Oct. It feels really odd going from the worst detecting conditions I can ever remember to some of the best !! All the right bits and pieces were found including a couple of grotty Roman bronzes, coppers, lots of lead, a jetton, an excellent early 69th Regiment of foot officers button and my find of the afternoon an engraved pendant/hanger looking piece with silver inlay, very difficult to date. The guys want to revisit the site tomorrow as it showed real potential after only a few hours hunting. We will be spending a good part of the week trying to hotspot some of the new 1800 acres or so of the undetected sites and hopefully strike it lucky.

I will start posting finds shortly.

31st Oct Extra - Arizona Bert's testimonial & USA contact details added

If you would like to talk to some of the guys that have hunted over here for their unbiased opinion or for more info then telephone or use their e-mail links at the top of this page. Both Arkansas Gary and Georgia Mike as are back here hunting on the 2nd Nov for the first hunt after the break, only one more day to the off !!

31st Oct 2003 Museum update

The final batch of finds are now in the hands of the museum for further ID. No more news yet on the progress of the separate Treasure and hoard already logged with them or on the latest possible silver 150BC Roman silver hoard. Once I have more info I will post it.

I have been given more info on Texas John's Celtic gold coin find, it is on the Celtic coin Index as CCI 03.0811.

Irish Niall's Celtic silver is on as CCI 03.0812

Check out this link to view the CCI

Celtic coin index

28thOct 2003 Ohio Bud's testimonial added

Great testimonial in from Ohio Bud the guy that found the gold Saxon dagger cheaf. Fortunately for both Nevada Gary and Bud they were not put off by the 'other' tours putting around that all the finds and gold found on these hunts is planted, we all know why they are saying it which is very sad for them ! but that would make me either an incredibly generous person or I am now a registered detecting charity!!!

26th Oct 2003 Find of the year page added click here

I have added a pick of my favorite finds so far this year, one of them might end up being voted as the 'find of the year' and getting the prize of a free weeks detecting. See prizes and awards for how the competition is judged.

Nevada Gary's Testimonial added

25th Oct Souvenir page added - Individual designs click here

More finds posted on new hunt page 3

I have added a souvenir page and finally got a confirmed price from the advertising guy for having your own special find designed and immortalized on a sweatshirt. Those that wanted this option please drop me a mail and confirm that you still require them and the words you want added so I can get them made up and posted to you. During the design stage I will send you the final proof copy of the artwork of your find before you give the go ahead. I will adding more items when I get the pictures in of the range of gifts available.

gifts@colchestertreasurehunting.co.uk

22nd Oct Back at full speed at last !! a few more finds posted

I had been suffering from a nasty little 'Welch' virus that I killed today so my connection is now back at full speed. I have wasted days trying to sort this out so now I can start uploading again. I have updated a few of the pages like the hammered silver ones while I have been offline with the most recent finds, take a look. This page is dominated by the excellent Edward IV Groat found by Canadian Don.

I am still waiting for the museum to come back with the latest round of ID' ed finds and more info on the rare ones we found over the last month. Just over a week to go and we are back on the hunt again which is a good job as Billericay mark is suffering massive withdrawal symptoms of hammered silver !!

There are still a few places left for a hunt in Nov before we close for the December holidays and the cooler weather sets in, drop me a mail if you fancy a last minute hunt.

bookings@colchestertreasurehunting.co.uk

21st Oct More finds posted

I have posted a few more finds but the network is running at a snails pace and it takes forever to upload a few pictures. Still working on the problem !!

20th Oct Major software and connection problems

Having real problems with my digital connection and software, postings will be delayed till I can sort it out.

18thOct 2004 Canadian Rod's coin get's a VA number

Got my new PC up and working (just about) so I will start to up load more finds shortly. Had a e-mail in from Canadian Rod about his 1/4 gold Celtic stater he found last season. Every Celtic coin gets it's picture logged onto the National Celtic coin register and gets a CIC number, Rod's has been given CCI 03.0203.

Click on the link to see the coins on the Celtic coin index

http://www.writer2001.com/cciwriter2001/index.htm

Hi Chris,
Unsure whether I mentioned this to you or not already. Its official now , my
Celtic Gold Coin is a little different than any known.
It has been assigned a celtic coin index VA 69-1

Rod

Congrats to Rod on his great find.

16th Oct 2004 New PC and software test

This is just a test to check that my new PC, software and connection are working OK before I upload more finds.

14th Oct 2004 Catch up time - New hunt page 3 created with latest finds posted

Time to now catch up now on uploading more finds and getting some more finds ID'd. A special thanks to Neelie, Bob and Kenny from the Texas boarder for having us all rolling around in stitches with so much laugher last week. They should be on the stage as they were the funniest guys we have ever met, even at 5 am in the morning !!. They are coming back probably in March and we need the time to recover as they had us with tears rolling down our cheeks. They also made some great finds including one of the most superb Elizabeth 1st hammered silver shillings I have ever seen. Texas John's new testimonial added

Beautiful ornate, silver inlay metal pot pieces found by Texas Kenny - no idea of date

more pictures of it posted on New hunt finds page 3

12th Oct Looks like my two week holiday is out the window - a few more finds posted

Yesterday we all had a brilliant day on new land as the weather was perfect and the setting stunning. Nothing overly exciting was found but all the right bits and pieces, coin weight, coppers, lead were present as we tried to hot spot the huge area. The best find was a broken Roman coin so we have confirmed Roman presence.

I have informed the landowner of the Roman Imperial silvers find and await the response from the museum on Monday. I will post more pictures later if I get it confirmed.

So today all the guys were due to leave with the exception of Navada Gary who picked a new field while I waited in to see the guys off. He was going to spend his last morning on an existing farmers land on a field we have not hunted before going off to Colchester museum this afternoon. When I went to pick him up I said 'any luck' and he replied 'no hammered or Romans' and I must admit I was relieved, 'but I have found this' he laughed and stuck a 70BC Galo Belgic full Celtic gold stater in my hand. **** I replied. These Celt's have to be the most careless guys in the world as we have yet another new field where they have been throwing around there cash ! The farmer has been informed of the find. Looks like my two week break is now going to be very short lived !

Another amazing Celtic gold stater- Galo Belgic Clacton type 70BC and it is actually in the coin book for once !!

11th Oct Extra - Looks like another hoard !

I will taking advice from the museum on Monday as I think the guys might have found a Roman Republican silver hoard of about 150 BC. It is amazing story that I will post tomorrow after I have informed the landowner.

10th Oct 2003 More land to hunt

The guys were out hunting hard this morning and we were approached by a really nice farmer to hunt his lands around an old Norman church. Unfortunately they will only get a half day tomorrow to try out the new 400 + acres as they are off to the museum in the afternoon for a some more culture, should have it finished easily by lunchtime ! We have nicknamed Milwaukee Mike as 'arty' as he has gone and found another really great artefact which could be Saxon or even as late as Medieval clothes fastener. One for the museum to positively ID again.

After my two week break the dynamic duo of Arkansas Gary and Georgia Mike Smith return to join forces to hunt the land. Should be a really interesting 2 weeks as Gary returns with his XS2 and the famous 18 inch coil.

9th Oct 2003 150BC day !

Would you buy a used car from these guys ?

A brilliant couple of days hunting on 800 acres of new land produced some great finds including Milwaukee Mikes 15thC ornate dagger handle, Navada Gary's 150BC Roman silver (oldest ever find) 10 bits of silver coinage and a really good condition gold half Victorian sovereign. The weather is still warm and sunny with no sign of rain yet. We all hit McDonalds today as the guys were going cold turkey and needed a fix !

150BC Roman Republic denarius, what a fantastic find

What a beautiful artefact, a 15th C ornate dagger handle, traces of silver inlay remain.

Added Texas Jim's testimonial, great to have met a real life cowboy

8th Oct 2003 Two box arrives and more land - started to post some more finds here

Wisconsin Wayne had ordered up a two box hoard hunter that arrived here this afternoon so we can go off hunting for the big one ! Wayne is well known experienced dectecter distributor in the states and has access to all the best kit. He is on a roll at the moment with two really superb hammered silver and yesterday he found the first complete early fishscale cow bell on my land and amazingly after cleaning it still rings. When Wayne dug it was 15inches deep and he jumped out of his skin as he thought it was a hand grenade ! Texas Bob bagged a really neat 1350AD beehive thimble in excellent condition. We are still praying for rain as the ground is still dry as a bone. The new Saxon village site is like concrete and we can't even get a pick axe in to see if there are any goodies!

A few more finds to photo and process !!

I am waiting for the go ahead on yet more new superb land in the prime area locally that has got us all a bit excited to say the least.

5th Oct 2003 Last tour for a couple of weeks - Do's and don'ts

The last bunch of guys arrived Saturday for a week and then I am taking a couple of weeks off to get some sleep and recharge the batteries. I will be able to catch up on the photos of the latest finds and start processing more of the export licences. We are swamping the museum guys with so many finds and of course the extra work with the treasures so the two weeks will give them a well earned break as well.

I have produced a do's and don'ts page as we are still getting guys here that should be taking up basket weaving not detecting as they think the acceptable rules of detecting don't apply to them. The list is in plain English and if it offends you then that is tough. This is not and never will be a slick professional operation like a hotel, this is a bunch of guys eating lots and hunting hard. If anything on the list applies to you then don't come here, you will be better off staying at home and watching TV.

Do's and don'ts page

3rd Oct 2003 Treasure, hoard what does it all mean to the guys latest finds?

Guys have been asking what it all means when treasure or a hoard is called, here is an overview.

The Finds Liaison Officer or the Museum Curator will inform the British museum of the find. They will decide whether they or any other museum wishes to acquire it from the crown.

If no museum wishes to acquire the find from the crown, the Secretary of State will disclaim it. When this happens, the Coroner will notify the landowner that the object is to be returned to the finder, after 28 days, unless the landowner objects. If the landowner objects, the Coroner will retain the find until the finder and landowner have resolved the dispute.

Museum wants to acquire the find.

The Coroner will hold an inquest to decide whether the find is Treasure, the finder, landowner will be invited to attend and will be able to question witnesses at the inquest. If the find is declared to be Treasure then it will be taken to the British museum so that it can be valued by the Treasure Valuation Committee.

The valuation committee is formed from independent experts drawn from antiquities or coin trades. If you don't like the valuation then you can appeal supplying written evidence to support your claim. If you are still dissatisfied you can appeal to the Secretary of State !!

In simplistic terms you get it back or you get the cash !

3rd Oct A Hoard and treasure in a week !

The recent rare Celtic coin finds off the same field have now been declared a hoard and will go though the treasure process. The museum have taken the coins for safekeeping and all the relevant paperwork has been processed. The Saxon dagger cheaf is automatically treasure and that too will be going though the treasure process. This find has got a lot of people excited and there is also a chance that some of the original fibres of the scabbard have been trapped inside it !! Amazing.

It will be fascinating to watch the progress and eventual outcome of both of the cases and I will naturally keep you updated.

Just a quiet weeks detecting really, I need some sleep and another holiday !

Normal posting of finds will continue when I have a chance.

2nd Oct What's going on here ?? Texas Dave bags a rare Roman silver

The guys just don't seem to be able to find any nice common bits anymore !!. Texas Dave found a nice silver Roman coin this morning that looked like the usual 4thC Roman type. When we looked it up tonight in the book it is a 416AD Constantine III and a rare one again!!

Irish Niall's silver Celtic has been ID'd as a Cunobeline 20-43 AD OBV: Inscribed tablet.

Texas John's Gold stater is a Cunobeline Wild Type 10 to 20 AD OBV:Ear of corn

Arizona Berts silver Roman coin is a Denarius, earlier than we thought at 119BC and minted in Roman Republic and was struck by M.Fovri L. f. Phili (that's old !!!)

Will post more finds shortly.

1st Oct Museum have just ID'd Ohio Budd's piece as probably middle Saxon (c.550-650AD) dagger sheaf end piece

What can you say about a find like this, just beautifully tooled solid gold and probably owned by a very important Saxon.

1st October Gob smacking stuff !!! This will get find of the year !!!

A gold artefact find of possible huge importance has been made by Ohio Budd today and is now safely locked up in the museum safe awaiting final ID. I will post pictures tomorrow once the experts have given their preliminary report. All finds made on my land that are considered valuable are automatically transferred to the museum for safe keeping and further investigation.

30th Sept Awesome, awesome day !!!!!! Looks like another rare one

What an amazing days detecting, a Celtic looking brooch and two Celtic coins, one gold and the other the first Celtic silver found on my land. Irish Niall scored the first hit that looked like a nice bronze Roman but after it was cleaned up the Celtic silver appeared. The silver is not in the coin books so it could be another rare one again. Then 1/2 an hour before the final swing Texas John thought he had found a silver Roman (he needs glasses real bad ) and it turned out to be the full Celtic gold stater. I recognised it straight away as I have found the 1/4 stater version myself. It is from the Cunoblein tribe 10 to 40 AD. What a day and Ohio Budd had also found a beautiful Elizabethian Shilling and half a Medieval groat. Detecting does not get better than this.

Dave and Vickies testimonial added

Cunobelin Gold full stater 10 to 40 AD

Cunobelin silver quarter stater, this could be very rare as it is not in the coin books again !!

30th Sept The Texan's and the Irish invade Colchester - more finds posted click here

The two Hitt Bros and Dave from Texas are here hunting, Dave has already bagged two really nice hammered silver coins, a Henry II early long cross 1080 AD and a rare plume above shield Charles 1st 1625 hammered silver shilling (12 pence). Irish Niall has joined them and is trying to find an elusive Roman piece as they never got as far as Ireland on their travels around Europe.

Latest finds posted click here

The shields are back from the engravers and Vancouver Brent's name is immortalised as the winner of the 2002/2003 prolific coin hunter. This season New England Jerry has set the target already at 86 coins in a week.

The English pewter tankard is presented to winner after first being engraved. Check out the competition page to see how you win the free weeks holiday next season

I am having some mugs made up for use around the house as they look really smart. The advertising guy also left me some ideas as souvenirs to take home rather than the usual box of chocolates at the airport duty free on the way home. There is a huge range that I will put on my site when I get the time. Also he can make up a sweatshirt of you own coin find at quite a reasonable cost, Alaskan George is having his gold coin made into a logo.

28th Sept Berts coin could be a really early Roman one and the earliest coin ever found on my land

Joe has sent me this e-mail as he thinks he had ID'd the coin.

I have made a positive ID on Arizona Bert's find. It is a Roman denarius from the Roman Republic that was struck by M.Fourius L. f. Philus between 110-108 BC. It depicts Janus (god that could see the past and the future)on the obverse. The reverse shows the personification of Roma crowning a military trophy such as would be erected following a victorius battle from the enemy armnaments. The lettering on the obverse is the moneyers name. ROMA is written behind the figure of Roma on the reverse. The catalog number is Sydenham 529. This coin could have been, and probably was in the hands of Caesars men in the invasion of Britain.

Joe Farris

This could be great news for Bert as he now has a good chance to get an export licence granted. 110 BC, what a find ! makes the Celtic look like modern stuff ! Thanks to Joe for the ID.

27th Sept New hunt page 2 created and some finds posted.

I have started to post some more finds on a new page as New Hunt 1 was getting very large.

Latest suggestions on Arizona Berts coin is it Celtic loosely based on a 150BC Roman coin one.

26th Sept Too many finds

I burnt the midnight oil last night and managed to partially catch up on photographing the best finds but the sheer volume of nice bits is going to be real problem with both myself and the museum to process. We had hoped to have a two week turnaround of ID'ing the guys finds but I can't see that happening if the guys don't slow up. There are just too many nice bits and pieces that require particular experts to look at them so there might be some delay in getting the finds returned. I told the guys this morning that if they find something that is really rare chuck it back in the ground !

Last night everyone had their theory on what Arizona Bert's find is and it varied from Persian to Chinese !! Once the museum have ID'd it I will let you know.

Sorry to the guys that are waiting to see their finds posted, should get a few on the site tonight. I will post them just as a new page so the the hunts will be mixed up until I get the time to create individual hunt pages. This is all such amazing stuff!!

25th Sept Oh my god, another one not in the book !!!!! Looks like it is going to be as amazing as last year.

Look what Arizona Bert handed me this afternoon, the first Celtic ? silver off a new field and again I cannot find any thing like it is the Celtic or Roman book. Looks like the museum will have to open a new office locally if the guys don't slow down. What a beautiful coin.

When we got home Bert asked me to take a look to see what date is on it !!!! Sorry Bert they don't put dates on BC coins ! I knew it was going to be good day after the morning session on new land produced a beautiful early silver hawking bell and a small miniature silver mug with a writing style around the 1500's. Other great finds include an early medieval silver hammered Groat, two really nice Medieval buttons and some of the guys are still out there hunting !

25th Sept Alaskan George waves his coin goodbye and heads back over the pond.

The Colchester Museum now have George's coin safely in custody and will be doing extensive research with experts from Cambridge and London musing over what has become a Nationally important discovery. Caroline came over last night to take temporary possession of the little beauty, meet all the guys and tell us some fascinating stories about the historical importance of Ardleigh in Celtic/Roman history. The guys though it was great to have a Celtic history expert answer all our questions and I especially found the trading habits of Celtic and Romans very insightful. I was amazed that all this history actually happened outside my front door. George's coin has obviously got all the Celtic experts really excited and we now wait for their findings with great anticipation. I will let you know as soon as I get any more feedback.

With all the excitement I am severely backed up with posting of the latest finds but will try to get some processed as soon as possible.

New York Jim's testimonial added

23rd Sept NJ Ed and Mike popped in for a fix !!

New Jersey Ed was 'just passing' a couple of days ago with Californian Mike and needed a quick detecting 'fix' for a few days on their way from Dover to the airport home. We managed to squeeze them in and unfortunately Ed was a few yards away from Alaskan George's gold find ! I suddenly realised last night that Ed has been here 3 times now and each visit the Celtics have turned up so he must be a real lucky omen !! They are out there searching for another one this morning so I hope it is his turn. If another rare one of the same type turns up then I will have to call a hoard straight away.

23rd Sept Pictures of Ohio Budds gold coin

Another great gold find from the new team, again coming from a new area and not like any coin I have seen before. If anyone has a clue drop me an e-mail. I have a real backup of finds to process and take pictures of so I will only be posting a few choice ones until I catch up.

Ohio Budd, Eric & Dean

22nd Sept The rarest most valuable find ever and more gold found !!

It had to happen at some time I suppose that one of these Celtic finds was going to be a mega rare one and worth a LOT of money. My area is covered with Roman and Celtic villages and was a major trading area between all the tribes but this find's rarity could be bad news for George.

Chris Rudd the Celtic coin expert has ID'd the coin as a very rare one which is why it it was not in any Celtic book. This is what Chris wrote.

I'm not surprised you can't find this quarter stater in the books, because
it's a very rare type.

It's known as an 'S-Type' because of the reversed S on the obverse and
depicts a stylised Gallic trophy motif on the other side, copied from a
silver denarius of Julius Caesar. Struck around c 50-40 BC, north of the
Thames, probably by the Trinovantes, and almost certainly to accompany the
full SS-Type stater, VA 1509, BMC 350, Evans L1, Allen LX5, Mack 146, Spink
34.

I have looked on the National Celtic coin register where all the coins found are pictured and listed and there are only 4 examples of the S type and the reverse is a horse, none like George's. This means that getting an export licence might be tricky so I will be liaising with the guys at the museum to see what the outcome will be. The coin will still be George's and in the worst event will make him a huge chunk of change but the value is unimportant and he would rather treasure the coin.

21stSept Alaskan George bags a beauty

That old nugget hunter had been taking things real easy and soaking up the sun but today he put on his lucky gold hat and found a beautiful Celtic gold quarter stater on the Northern most part of my land and the first Celtic find in that area. It is not in the books so the farmer is searching the Internet looking for another example. If anyone knows what tribe it is drop me an e-mail. The museum guys look at my website regularly so I might get an e- mail from them ID'ing it. What an amazing coin.

Looks like it has a sun and a moon on the front, a tree and a snake on the back , What an amazing coin

I have added Californian Dans' testimonial today

Got the numbers and names wrong it was NE Jerry on 86 not Dave, I have changed it and it is now correct

19th Sept 2003 Great days hunting, more new land , New England 'tornado' Jerry smashes the weekly coin record with ease and NewYorker Jim gets gold.

It was a tense moment at the coin count this evening as two guys were really neck and neck to the last minute, NE Jerry's coins were checked and he had slipped a couple of dodgy looking buttons in the pile but still the official count was NE Jerry 86 and NY Jim 85. Jim was still smiling as within the last hour of hunting tonight in the most unlikely location he got gold, a full late 1800's Victorian Sovereign on an old bridal path way out in the trees that he had to pick axe out. It was great afternoons hunt on new land with two hammered long cross silvers off two of the fields. This mornings hunt produced some real nice bits and pieces including a bronze bell clapper and an ornate silver hallmarked clog fastener.

1891 Victorian sovereign, we reckon the dent in the middle is the result of the horses hoof !

We were out talking to the locals and I got permission to hunt another 400 acres of prime undetected land around an old Church this afternoon which will be available to hunt from this Monday.

Lots more finds to post when I get the time.

18th Sept Museum guys hit the fields

The Colchester museum folks, Caroline and Phill paid us their first visit today and came out to the field to meet the guys and see what we are up to. It was brilliant to have the experts on hand to discuss a possible early short cross hammered silver hoard that we might have found and how we should proceed to monitor the situation. Lots of the real interesting finds were probed , poked, scrutinised and discussed with great humour on both sides and it was great fun hoping that we had found that rare exciting Viking piece. My valuable round Viking disc brooch turned out to be a Medieval one as Caroline spotted a fleur de lis pattern on it which unfortunately the Vikings never got around to using !! The really tricky bits that had had us stumped date wise also had them stumped so they are now back in the museum being further investigated. Basildon Mark's coloured enamelled piece is now being cared for properly by the museum to prevent cracking, we are not sure what it is yet so I will keep you posted.

All the previous hunts bagged finds have been now taken away to the museum to be looked at and will be returned after ID'ing ready for the export licence application. Once I have an update I will amend the hunt sheets to reflect the new information.

17th Sept More finds posted

A perplexing coin this afternoon that does not look right at all. On first glance it looks like a 18thC 1/2 Guinea gaming token but it's condition is totally wrong. After 400 years it should like like a piece of crud but it is too new. It's condition is so good that I doubt that it has been in the ground more than a week so who dropped it and why ?

Archived News Index

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