New land

Had a good chat with one of our landowners and we were lucky enough to be allowed on another farm belonging to a brother.. I'm sure these things happen due simply to being honest and always involving the landowner in the things you find.. Trust with farmers from my own experience of having met them through this hobby and also growing up with friends who farm is huge. A handshake and being of your word means more than anything...

Anyway.. We headed on to the new land mainly to do a reccy and to see where we were able detect. The land owner said many people had been on detecting over the years but that never means much as I think fields are never "done" 

We had a mixture of pasture and maize stubble to investigate and opted to start with the pasture..
Roy called over after just a few mnutes of starting to say he had a copper half penny but very worn which we agreed was a good sign... we both headed to the highest point of the field so we could have a good look around and see the lie of the land at that point I got a very dodgy signal which i wouldnt normally have dug but my arm was aching so I dug it for a rest :) It turned out to be a Sestertius of Hadrian circa 117-138AD Not in the best of conditions and the reverse of the coin was completely blown as it had been lain against a piece of Iron hence the dodgy signal i suppose.

A little while later Roy called me over with a lovely Silver Button find, as I am wri

ting this I thought I would try and identify the type of button and its known I think as a "blowhole" button due to the 2 holes on the underside. Secondly It might be worth a bit more rersearch as it could also be classifed as Treasure under the treasure act.. another one for Roy to take to the FLO.. Great news if it is though and that would be our 3rd between us in 12 months.

I literally walked back to my etrac and Roy shouts over again.. Walking back over to find that Roy had found a lovely little 1843 Victoria Fourpence or groat as it was also known.. The new land definitely is shaping up to be good from the early signs... 

We have yet to try at least 6 other fields of pasture and about 80 acres of maize stubble but we'll be back soon for sure...

Above

Poor example of a Roman Sestertious of Hadrian

Lovely Silver Blowhole Button Possibly 17th Century..

Queen Victoria Groat / Four Pence dated 1843

The Medieval Field

Out with Roy again this week and we headed back to what we call our medieval field. The field is Maize stubble and at least 30 acres, to date we have managed to save some finds such as an early medieval harness mount, several hammered pannies of Henry III and Edward I/II, a gorgeous William III sixpence, Beehive Thimble and other various objects..

The field is due to be ploughed anytime soon so we thought we would give it one last go until after the harvest.

Finds were pretty thin on the ground really, my first decent signal of the day was an early victorian buckle probably for use on cattle or horses, not that old but a nice find all the same.

A few worn copper georgian coins came up as per the norm on most of the fields around here and the obligatory Musket Balls... I did also find a small artifact which I belive to be a partifact of a belt hanger which dates i would imagine to late medieval period.  A nice Lead bag seal also came to light which I think it probably a russian flax bale seal circa early 1800's

Then, bizarrly I had a sweet little 12-45 tone on the etrac and on turning over the sod I saw what looked like a small silver three pence.. lightly removing the mud from the coin I knew it wasnt and found myself looking at a 1917 Silver Mercury Dime.. I have always liked these coins and envied our friends over the pond digging them up all the time. I never thought I would dig one mysefl especially in a field in the middle of Cheshire.

I imagine that at some point there would have been a WW1 army camp in the vicinity and it was dropped by a soldier or by someone who had been given the coin for its silver content.. Its silver number 8 for the year though so I wasnt going to complain. 

Anyway.. thats me for this outing..

Lovely Victorian Bronze Buckle

Circa 1600-1700 incomplete cast copper-alloy Post Medieval strap fitting for a sword belt

Lead Russian Bale Seal Flax or Hemp early 1800's

 1917 American Mercury Dime ( Phillidephia Mint )

The Gold Armorial Ring..

My Detecting pal is a good friend by the name of Roy, between us we have a few joint permissions and called up to one the other day. It was a field that had just been ploughed and ready to take seeded potatoes in a few days so we thought we would give it a go.

A few bits and pieces turned up such as bag seals, buckles and the odd worn coin mainly georgian era and younger.

A few hours in to the day and roy gave me a shout on the walkie talkies and says " you better come over here, i might need you to help me find the other bit of something"

Very ominous I thought! so I trudged over the other side of the field to where he was to find him with a very large grin on his face holding a piece of gold between his fingers.. very very lovely old yellowy buttery gold too i might add!

It tirned out to be a broken Gold Armorial ring with a coat of arms we are currently working on deciphering which was used as a form of seal matrix. When Roy cleaned it up it even still had a small piece of wax in it.

The ring we think dates to about the 15th Century and looks to have Scottish connections so who only knows what it was doing in a field in Cheshire.

Hopefully we will get a good ID on it soon and I will update the Blog when I do.. Its off to the FLO tomorrow to be declared as treasure under the Treasure act and in accordance with British Law so no doubt it will end up having a spell with the folk at the BM until its final resting place is decided.

The impression is pretty much flawless..

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