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Thread: U.K. Trip .... Double Gold Treasure!!

  1. #1
    Global Moderator Ill Digger's Avatar
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    U.K. Trip .... Double Gold Treasure!!

    Well, I've returned from my second detecting trip to England and what a trip it was!!
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    The first day on the fields are a half day usually. After the 2 hour ride from London to the "barn" where we will be staying for the next seven days. The "barns" are actual barns that have been renovated into vacation rental units. We unload all of our luggage from the van, find our sleeping spot for the week, dig out all of our gear, assemble everything, jump back in the van, and head out to the first field! My best find that afternoon was a hammered copper Rose farthing. They are commonly dated 1636. (Look for the pattern here). And the usual buttons and lead. So that was a good start.

    Day 2: Our first full day. A cool, slightly foggy, just perfect!


    The day wasn't real eventful for me. We hunted two different farms. At the end of the day my better finds were 5 farthings and a wiped out copper token, plus some buttons and lead. The farthings were late 1700s-1800s. Here at home in the States, to find those 5 coins would be a day to talk about for months. It was funny for me while I was over there, knowing with so much history the possibilities make my hopes and expectations exhilarating! You truly never know what will pop up next. It could be 10 years old or 2000 years old! There were multiple milled, and hammered silver coins found and some neat relics dug throughout the day by the other team members.

    Day 3: Things started to pick up for me a little on day 3. We came across a late Georgian/Victorian home site members of the team started popping some milled coins. Coppers and silvers. If I remember correctly one member found 3 or 4 silver 3 pence coins in that same field. A little silver 3 pence was one of the coins I was hoping to get while I was there, but it wasn't meant to be this trip. Shortly before lunch I switched fields and got onto my first bit of English silver for the trip! An 1844 Vicky 4 pence in nice condition. So after lunch I was headed back to the field were I got my 4P and we had to walk past a 1700? mansion to get back to where I wanted to be. So I slowed down and detected in front of the mansion along the way and got my first hammered silver for this trip! A nice "full" penny. Turned out to be a 1279 Edward I ! That was the highlight for my day three. But I did find plenty of buttons and lead too.
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    Day 4: This day was one of those roller coaster type hunting days. The morning was pretty uneventful for me other than some buttons and lead. Until while hunting near a 13th century church and villa when I popped a nice little cut quarter hammered silver and less than 10 mins later another hammered silver coin fragment. Kinda bang bang! We broke for a short lunch break and went our separate ways and as I was walking into a field through a tractor path I got a nice high tone. But real erratic at the same time. One you would figure to be either a coin or part of a beer can. But when I pinpointed the target it was a nice small tight pinpoint I figured I better dig it. Boy am I glad I did! Turned out to be a 1908 Edwardian decorated silver mount! Turns out it was in a place they usually park the van! The rest of my days finds consisted of the usual trash plus some buttons and lead.


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    Day 5: Today was another one of those days that I was digging lots of targets like buttons and lead... But not one coin all morning till around lunch. After lunch I decided to stay on that field determined to find one of my wish coins a "Bullhead". A King George III silver. And with the coins being found in the area one was definate a possibly. Lo and behold it happened! A melted bulkhead six pence. Even though it was melted almost to the point of unrecognition I could make out a G III and a reeded edge. Mission accomplished! The only other "wishlist" coin I really had on my mind on my way over was a Roman silver coin. Not really expecting to ever find one. We all carried radios every day, and as a good find was made, we would put it out over the radio. Ron gave the 15 min count down to the end of the days hunt over the radio so we all started to swing back towards the van. Walking pretty fast, with 8 minutes left, I got a signal figured I had time to pop one more. Boom! A Roman silver coin! It has a bad "horn crust" on it that needs to be "cooked" off so it can be properly identified. Early id's put it in the 4th century! I'm really looking forward to seeing that coin cleaned up!
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    Day 6: The group split up in the morning between some rougher ground and some land that was nice and smooth. I went to the smoother field with a few other hunters. First hole out of the van 20 feet away I nabbed a hammie fragment! After that the first half of the day was pretty uneventful for me other than some buttons and lead of course. It was a enormous field. It has been hunted a lot over the years from what I understand. The lack of targets for me proved it. But it wasn't a total waist. You just have to walk over the stuff. With a half hour walk back to the van and only about 45 mins left to hunt I spun around and within or 3 or 4 swings later I got a loud high tone! As I was pinpointing I looked down and laying right on top of the ground was a complete silver thimble!! Sweet end to pretty slow day.
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    Day 7: The day I dread. The last day. You know not only is it your last day of detecting heaven and the inevitable time you'll power down for the last time of your trip, plus the last day is usually cut a little short. Thats so we have time to get back to the barn and get all of your finds from the week cleaned, bagged, catalogued, and photographed if you want to see them again before they leave your life for the next few months. To optimize our hunt time we decided to hunt some nearby land. Even though it's also the land that the club has had leasted the longest! Even after all those years there were many great finds found on it this season! The week before we came a gold coin and a beautiful Celtic gold "votive offering" were found on it! I walked across the road from that field to a field that was surrounding a 16th century two story mansion. After a half hour or so of slowly working around the old mansion I dug a small piece of a hammered silver coin. That coin put me in a tie for 1st place for the weekly "Hammy competition". So I slowed down hoping to get another one to take the lead and hopefully win the competition. It was 10:10 a.m. when I got the loudest, jumpiest, most obnoxious signal of my trip. Not being too far from a tractor entrance into that field I figured it was a beer can or a grease tube but I figured I'd dig it up and get it out of there anyways. I missed the target on the first scoop. Moved a shovel blade to the left, stepped it in and kicked the back of the shovel and pushed the dirt forward and a big yellow ..... egg looking thing rolled out to my left. As I looked at it half my brain said to myself " what is that?" And the other half of my brain was saying "HOLY .....!!!!! That looks like gold!!" When I bent over to pick it up and I was lifting it off the ground the weight of it made it fall out of my hand! That's when I knew it was defiantly a big piece of gold!!! After Ron came over to shoot some video and take some photos I strapped back on all my gear took 2 steps and 3 swings and got a solid 19 TID on the Equinox 800. I told myself after just finding that thing I dont care what this is, I'm digging it up. One scoop, and I pushed the shovel forward and a 11.2 gram ancient solid gold ring was laying there looking at me!! I about started to hyperventilate!! I quickly got Ron's attention again and he came over to shoot more video and more photos. I can only imagine this will be the most amazing thing I will ever find! It's been over a week since I found it and I still can't stop picturing those two artifacts rolling out of the dirt in my head......


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    Thanks for lookin' & HH
    Last edited by Tony Two-Cent; 11-08-2018 at 03:44 PM.
    Some days you get the corn, some days you get the cob
    ​Oldest coin: ​70 B.C. "Harlow Flyer" gold qtr. Stater
    Oldest U.S. coin: 1814 Capped Bust Dime

  2. #2
    Great story and pics Tim! Congrats on all your wonderful silver AND gold finds. Hopefully everything will be disclaimed and you will be receiving the fruits of your hard work. Thanks for sharing and now you can get back to finding wheat cents and Rosies (just ain't the same is it?)! Muhahahahahahaha!
    Oldest Coin: 100-60 BC Gallic bronze coin (Sequani Tribe)
    Oldest Silver Coin: 1156 hammered Pfennig from (now) Bavaria
    Oldest U.S. coin: 1805 Draped Bust Large Cent
    Best Coins EVER: 1625 4 Sols from Kingdom of Chateau Renaud, France
    1662 15 Kreuzers, Leopold I, Austria
    Best Relics: Bronze Age Arrowheads & Spearhead, 2c Roman silver ring, complete medieval knight's spur (x6)
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  3. #3
    Elite Member Digger_O'Dell's Avatar
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    Wow Tim, what a way to end a trip! But you never said, did you win the hammie contest or not?
    Equipment:
    Minelab: CTX 3030, GPX 4800, X-Terra 705. Whites TDI SL.

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  4. #4
    Global Moderator Ill Digger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Digger_O'Dell View Post
    Wow Tim, what a way to end a trip! But you never said, did you win the hammie contest or not?
    Thanks Chris. I split the pot with the other guy. I found another fragment but it was so small we couldn't give it a any kind of ID. No matter. It was a winning week for me without any of the hammie pot.
    Some days you get the corn, some days you get the cob
    ​Oldest coin: ​70 B.C. "Harlow Flyer" gold qtr. Stater
    Oldest U.S. coin: 1814 Capped Bust Dime

  5. #5
    Wow! Awesome post and incredible finds! Gold and hammered's! What could be better?
    XP Deus

  6. #6
    Global Moderator aloldstuff's Avatar
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    Huge congrats on all those great finds. Massive hunk of gold and the gold ring.....
    Great post, loved your smiling face. by the way....are you still smiling?
    V3i- Prism IV- Pro Pointer
    2020 GOAL: Any Flowing Hair coin

    TOTAL 100 YEAR OLD COINS - -280
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    Oldest U.S. Copper - 1795 Liberty Cap
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  7. #7
    Unreal, Tim!!! In a few short years I'll be retired and hope to join you on one of these adventures! Amazing! Gold is soooo rare!!
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  8. #8
    Administrator del's Avatar
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    I was so happy for you Tim when I saw your picture holding up them golden treasures !Truly finds of a life time sir ! I hope someone can share some historic info about the pieces .

    Dan
    "Honesty is an expensive gift ,
    so don't expect it from cheap people"

    XP Deus II , DFX ,TDI sl -

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  9. #9
    That is beyond cool !!! Great write up. Congrats Tim on what surely will be one of those days that you will never forget !
    Oldest find: 5,000 year old copper spearhead
    Oldest coin: 1699 William III halfpenny
    Purdiest coin: 1832 Capped Bust quarter
    Coolest find: USA button with blue threads still on shank

    "He who would search for pearls must dive below."

  10. #10
    Elite Member Bucknut's Avatar
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    Great write up of an amazing last day! Man!! I am not completely sure how it works so can you tell us how you will get these treasures back? It is my understanding that the authorities need to catalogue the finds and IF they want to keep them then they will give you fair market price for them and that this process can take at least a couple months.

    With the success that you have had over there the last couple years I bet you will go back every year for the rest of your life...and I don't think I could blame you!

    Also post a link (if there is a link) to the video that Ron made. I would like to see how your Depends held up.
    Last edited by Bucknut; 11-06-2018 at 08:13 AM.
    Detectors I use: Minelab Equinox 900 & Manticore
    Favorite finds I have made:
    1,000+ silver coins
    92pcs of 1700's Trade Era Silver
    Copper Culture Indian Artifacts
    125+ War of 1812 Era buttons and relics
    My wife
    (probably should have started with that one)

  11. #11
    Veteran Member BTV Digger's Avatar
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    Great post and pics Tim and fantastic that you found two gold items! We get on some older stuff here in New England, but nothing compared to that type of history. The plowed field in your first shot is a thing of dreams - so smooth!

    John
    Vermont relic hunting, one swing at a time.
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG2...OLib30A/videos

  12. #12
    Global Moderator Fire Fighter 43's Avatar
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    You had an amazing trip Tim and you managed to make me very jealous. I thought it would be hard to top your gold coin find when we were over there, man was I wrong. Hopefully I will be joining you on the other side of the pond again in the very near future. Congrats again on two fantastic finds brother.


    Minelab Equinox 800, 15”Coiltek, 11” & 6”coils

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  13. #13
    Sir Timothy of Goldenshire , Great adventure for sure ! Thanks for sharing it with great photos and play by play .Congratulations on your great finds .That's a lot of good memories you will have to look back on .

  14. #14
    And there it is, the post we've been waiting for! Wow, that egg-shaped hunk of gold is huge! I bet it feels nice and heavy in hand! What an incredible thrill that must have been. And then just a few steps away an ancient gold ring! I bet they were either lost together or buried together. INCREDIBLE!

    I bet you are anxious to have everything back in your possession. I would love to see some closeup photos of the gold ring.

    Congrats, buddy! Those are once-in-a-lifetime finds!

    Lifetime totals:
    9 Large Cents, 415 Indian Heads, 2 Two Cent Pieces, 1 Capped Bust Half Dime, 1 Seated Half Dime, 10 Shield Nickels, 68 V Nickels, 124 Buffalo Nickels, 31 War Nickels, 16 Seated Dimes, 131 Barber Dimes, 405 Mercury Dimes, 249 Rosies, 4 Seated Quarters, 18 Barber Quarters, 19 Standing Liberty Quarters, 89 Silver Washingtons, 1 Seated Half, 3 Barber Halves, 16 Walking Liberty Halves

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  15. #15
    Elite Member The Rebel's Avatar
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    Amazing, simply amazing, so happy for you. Must have been a LONG Flight home!
    Minelab Manticore / SPECTRA V3i, Pro-Pointer II. Lesche Digger.
    Oldest Copper: 1694 William & Mary Halfpenny. Oldest Silver: 1663 1-Reale
    Cob.

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  16. #16
    'Bout time you posted! (this in my mommy tone of voice). You had a great hunt that last day. It would be nice if all the days in England were like that one. I really hope to be able to hunt with you again some time.

  17. #17
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    Great finds!!!!!!
    Looks like you had a good time.

  18. #18
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    That was a great trip. Congrats on the phenomenal finds. GOLD is amazing. WD
    Total silver 3 - Goal 50 (2024 Finds) - 0 Washington - 0 Barber Dimes - 0 Mercury Dimes- - 3 Roosevelt Dimes - 0 V Nickels - 0 Buffalos - 0 War Nickels - 0 Indian - 10 Wheats - $ 3.44 in clad
    Relics: MILESTONES since 2012: 1700 silver coins - 8000 Clad Quarters - 500 Roosevelts - 750 Mercury Dimes

  19. #19
    Wanna see the pic of my rosies I got this week? Didn't think so!!

  20. #20
    Elite Member milco's Avatar
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    Stunning finds!! Big congrats! Amazing stuff and I’m sure you’re already itching to get back!
    Minelab Equinox 600 & Whites Coinmaster, Garrett Propointer, Lesche Digger
    Oldest silver: 1853 Half-dime & 1876S Seated Quarter / Oldest coin: 1849 US Large Cent / 1854 Upper Canada One Penny Bank Token

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