Last finds of 2017

Hi

Below are the last two finds for me from 2017, my back gave way at the start of November and these was found a week before I did my back in, so after that I did not go detecting till this year.

The Hammered coin on the left is in a worn state and I was unsure if it was until I got home and cleaned it, I can only assume that it is probably a Elizabeth 1st sixpence as they are the most common hammered. The other side has nothing left on it.

The right item with the 4 holes in it, is Egyptian design but for what purpose I am unsure, it has either a seated Pharaoh or God on a throne and the same image is on both sides.  I have always loved Egypt and have been lucky to have been a few times so as a last find for 2017, it's a great one.

Again thanks for visiting and I am hoping it will be a good year for me.

Last Finds from handed back Permission

Hi

I found these over the summer on a field where it all started for me, the field has been good to me and has given me loads of coppers and a few hammered coins and silver coins over the last 6 years of detecting.  I get just over a month on this field before it is seeded again and these are the last finds from it.

At Christmas when I dropped the farmer his unusual xmas presents I decided to hand back the permission so the field could recover and hopefully there will be something their for the next explorer as finds was getting more and more sparse each visit.  It was a great time to have that field but should now go to somebody else one day.

As you can see from the picture there is a silver sixpence and also a Roman brooch plus what looks like a Royal Artillery Badge and also a couple of coppers. A fitting end to a great farm and field.

Thanks for visiting.

Four Romans Part 2

Hi

I forgot to post these in the summer when the club had a return visit to the little field that everybody seemed to get a Roman off, all dating from around the 3rd and 4th AD, AD now known as CE meaning Common Era.

This time I had another 4 Roman making a total of 8 from this field, not in the best condition but you can still some images on them.

Thanks for visiting and hopefully I will be able to post more stuff some if I find anything, I have been getting over a bad back for months so not really on my game.

James 1st half groat 1603-04

Hi

Sorry for no posts lately as I have been not been finding anything worth while to post.

I did have a bit of luck the other week on a club dig when I found my first hammered of the year.

It is a James 1st half groat 1603-04, a tiny coin but a stunning find.

Thank you for visiting, I will post more finds when i have more luck.

Hammy Drought Broken

Hi

I have finally broken my Hammy Drought after 10 months of searching, it has been a long wait with it being 10 months since the last one.  Found on a club dig Sunday where a few other hammies was found and mine is a Queen Mary Groat (four pence) from 1553 to 1554.

Thanks for visiting.

Recent finds

Hi

It has been a good year for finds for me, I have had only one hammered coin this year, but I have had a Beautiful Gold coin and a stunning Roman Silver.

I have been very lucky with silver coins this year as you can see below.  The Gold coin is a Celtic Stater from 55BC to 45BC and is from the Selsey Tribe and the Roman Silver is a Denarius of Geta who co-ruled around 200AD.  I was lucky enough that the farmer, a great bloke, let me keep the Gold coin and the right thing to do was give him half the value of it.

Four Little Romans

Hi

I was out on a club dig today in a little field that had previously brought up some Roman Bronze coins and even though I have only found 2 whilst detecting in 5 years, today I managed to find 4.

They are not the greatest of finds as all worn away but one has the remains of a face on it, the left one on picture.  Even though worn it has made my day finding them as now I have some more in my collection.

Thank you for visiting.

A Crotal Bell - Sheeps Bell

Hi

I found this Crotal Bell a couple of days before the New Year, it is a Sheeps bell and it still rings when you shake it. I am very lucky to be able to find a complete one with the pea still inside it as most get damaged over the last couple of hundred years being thrown about when a field is ploughed. It is from around 1750 to 1800 from what I believe as it does not have a makers mark on it.

Thank you for Visiting.

First Hammered Coin of 2016

Hi

I am very pleased as today I found my first hammy of the year from a club dig.  It is a Elizabeth 1st Half Groat dated between 1582 - 1600, the pictures are not the best as not got anything that good to photograph it and even the iPhone could not get a perfect picture.

A great start to the new year, with hopefully more to come.

Thank you for visiting.

First Silver of the New Year

Hi

A great start to 2016 with my first silver, it was the fourth time out and the second time in the waterlogged field that I found the silver in.

It is a William III Shilling, which might have been sanded down to be turned into a Love Token, nothing left on the one side and just barely a image on the side of the picture I have posted.  It could be even just a normal silver worn down over the years by being in the field.

I hope you all have a silver or golden new year, with some great finds.

Henry VII Groat - 1504-5

Hi

I found this lovely Henry VII Hammered Groat on a club dig last year, and it was made between 1504 to 1505, it is hard to believe how good the profile is on the coin after all these years.  It has been bashed about over the last 500 years but the image is stunning in great condition.  Also with it is a Medieval Token that I found the same day.

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Thank you for visiting my blog.

My Only Roman Bronze

Hi

Even though I have been very lucky with lots of great finds, I have only ever found two Roman coins in over four years of detecting.  One is the bronze below and the other is a very worn silver.

It is a Marcus Aurelius Roman Bronze dating from 170-171 AD, a great first for me but the picture does not do it justice.

It was I.D by a helpful member of the MDF forum and here is what he told me about it:

Marcus Aurelius AE Sestertius. 170-171 AD. M ANTONINVS AVG TR P XXV, laureate head right / IMP VI COS III S-C, Roma seated left, holding Victory & spear, large shield behind decorated with head of Medusa or wolf and twins. 

Thank you for visiting my blog.

It's a Brummie Thing

Hi

I found these three items over the space of a couple of years and I think they are from horse mounting or such.  I did recognise them when I found them as I do see them on most street signs around my area as they are the official coat of arms for Birmingham.  It was nice to find one on my digging travels but never expected to find three.

They are the old version of the coat of arms with the man and woman reserved to as now and I think they changed it a few times since 1880 odd with the current version being used since 1974.

The above image is one I took whilst out walking the dog, even though it is not the best looking emblem you very rarely see painted versions out and about.

A Mixed Bag of Finds

Hi

I found these on a tiny little field all in one the day, a strange mixture of finds ranging from a George III Penny and a fake Sixpence of his too.  A Crotal bell (sheeps bell), a Blackpool Tower badge and a Guernsey 1949 coin.  Plus a couple of worn coppers too.

I have found more fake Silver George III coins than real ones, only got one real one and a real sixpence is high on my wish list.

Thanks for visiting.

Three Pence and a Cufflink

Hi

One of my favourite little coins is this Charles II Threepence, which i found at the start of the year which dates from 1670, it is a shame about the hole in it but very lucky it just missed his face.

The other find is one of what would have been a pair of Silver Cufflinks dating from around 1720 odd, both finds found in the same field.

Thank you for visiting.

A Silver Sunday

Hi

Well, we all love a Silver Sunday and it is rather fitting that one of the finds below was found on a Sunday.  As I said in a early post I have not had many artefacts this year but some decent Silver.

They was all found on a lovely Sunday at a 4q's Rally and of course what made the day better was the company that was there too.  The little cross is such a great find and a little beauty too.

Thank you for checking out my Blog.

Two and Half Hammered Coins

Hi

I found these Two and Half Silver Hammered Coins in May, I consider a good day finding one, but finding more than one is a awesome day.

The left one is a Edward 1st (1272-1307), the Half is a King John (1199-1216) and the right one is a Edward III (1327-1377).  These dates are for the time they became king till death, not from date of birth.

It still amazes me how some coins can come out of the ground still in great condition while others can come out basically battered.

Thanks for visiting.

Gilded Farthing and a Silver Sixpence

Hi

I found these two a while back in the same little field, it is the only silver to come from the field but it did produce 50+ coppers also.

The Victoria Farthing has been gilded and turned into a broach I think as it has two holes either side.  A couple of lovely finds from a tiny field.

Thanks for visiting my Blog.

A Couple of Seals

Hi

I found these two lovely Seals within a month of each other, the first one has a the reverse writtening on it saying 'such are my subjects' and is probably Georgian era.  The lower one is Medieval, 13th century and below is a description of what both was Identified as.

The Georgian one with the chap (George III?) on an unwilling donkey reads "SUCH ARE MY SUB[JEC]TS, some sort of parody of the time.

The medieval (13th Century or thereabouts) one starts "SIGIL ROGERI", the Seal of Roger. The surname could be "CARI"? Cary?

For those who don't know the purpose of the above item, they could be used on a letter or document where wax is melted onto it and then the seal is pressed against the wax so the image then becomes the right way around.  It shows and proves who it is from and that it has not been tampered with and hence sealed.

A Ironic Find

Hi

The irony is I found this lovely Egg club on a club dig but I hate eggs.  I have detested them even from a early age, I won't eat them or even sit by somebody who is eating them.

Even though it is a reminder it does sit on my windowledge as it is a lovely find and a reminder of a great day out digging with a great bunch of folks.  It does have a lovely design on it and I have seen a set of them on a certain website, worthless but lovely none the less.

Thank you for visiting.

Elizabeth 1st Shilling

Hi

It's amazing how some coins come out worn while others come can come out as new.  In the case of this coin it is a bit of both.  The one side is in awesome condition while the other (face side) is worn away, from what I heard they rubbed the face side for lucky, unsure how true.

The coin is just over 30mm in diameter and dates from around 1570, so it's a big one too.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

It's a Big Un

Hi

I found my biggest Hammered coin last year and I must admit it is one of my favourites.  It measures 35mm in diameter at the widest point and is a Charles 1st Half Crown, dating from around 1640.

Love the detail on it and how great it looks with him on his horse.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

My Second Gold Coin - Victoria Half Sovereign

Hi

I was lucky enough to have found my second gold coin last year and as I have not posted for a few years, there is a few finds worth posting.

I was totally gobsmacked as the field was not producing much that day and the only thing I found within a few hours was a Victoria Sixpence and as I never rarely know what I am digging, this came as a total shock.

The Half Sovereign is in quite good condition considering it has been in a ploughed field for over a 100 years, so both finds from that day are one the one picture. The Farmer allowed me to keep the coin, but i made sure he got half the value of it, maybe a bit more a price of gold differs.

The Silver sixpence is in much of a worse state considering that both are over 100 years old.

Thanks for visiting.

A Whistle, A Button and a Gold Ring

Hi

I found these earlier in the year all on the same day, lovely finds.  I do like the Dog whistle, the button has a cracking design on it.  The gold ring is only 9ct and and 25 years old.

Thanks for visiting.

A Couple of Coppers

Hi

I found these two Coppers on a Rally in August and they are in a fair condition I think. The left one is a James II Gun Money Penny with the date 1680 on it and Nov for November.  The other is a George II Irish Penny from around 1740 ish.

I do love the condition of the James II one with his curly hair, a great coin to find.

Thanks for looking.

A Surprisingly Weird Find

Hi

I found this weird skull item last year and must admit it is one of my favourite finds. I think that it might be the top off a walking cane as there is a hole in the base for something to fit into. I could be wrong but will never know.  Also on the same day a great condition sixpence was found on the same field too.

I am still using the same machine that I used in the old blog. The Teknetics T2 is still my favourite machine and now I use the Detech 13" Ultimate coil instead. I tend to use the same setting on it, setting sensitivity between 70-80, the discrimination on 20 and I use 2+ tones. It is great on depth with coins being found down to a depth of 10 inches sometimes.

Thanks for looking.

My Oldest Find

Hi

I was totally chuffed to have found my oldest find last month and could not believe that I was actually holding something in my hand from the Bronze Age.  Even though the era spans over 1700 years (2500BC-800BC), I was amazed by the age of it.

I have been told that the below item is the tip of a Bronze Age Spear, unsure of the actual date but least i know it is from the above date range.