Incredible Metal Detecting Discoveries: True Stories of Amazing Treasures Found by Everyday People (7 page)

When
Was the Hoard Discovered?

November 19
^th
2000

Where
Was the Hoard Discovered?

Close to Hallaton in southeast Leicestershire, England

Who
Found It?

Ken Wallace found the first 130 coins with his metal
detector. He reported the find to the authorities and the rest of the
hoard was found by the Hallaton Fieldwork Group.

Where
Is It Now?

At the time of this writing, portions of this hoard were
on display at the Harborough Museum.

This particular hoard has a very interesting story.
Apparently this is one hoard that was uncovered by two metal
detectorists secretly and illegally. The discovery began in the year
1988 when an archaeologist by the name of Dr. Ian Stead came across
a few pieces of the hoard. He was fascinated by these pieces, but he
had no idea where they had come from.

He started doing some investigating because he saw the
importance of the pieces. He knew they were Iron Age bronze
artifacts. His investigations led him to several rumors that there
were hundreds of pieces floating around the black market. It took Dr.
Ian several years and several secret pub meetings to uncover the full
story.

All of his hard investigative work paid off. All of the
items that have been recovered date back over 2000 years. It is
believed that some of the items were already 2000 years old when they
were first buried. That means that some of the artifacts are over
4000 years old!

Most of the items were found in a huge pit. It is
believed that these miniature items were offerings to ancient gods.

It is unfortunate that these items were all recovered
illegally. Had they been properly recovered, there may have been even
more interesting information regarding the find.

What
Was Found
?

Over 600 prehistoric bronze metal objects. All of the
pieces in this hoard are miniature versions of full sized weapons and
shields.

Where
Is It Now?

The British Museum

Wesley
Carrington's story is the perfect example of beginner's luck. Wesley
knew he wanted to try hunting for treasure, but he did not want to
spend a lot of money on a metal detector. He purchased the cheapest
entry level machine he could find. His purchase would prove to be a
worthwhile investment because just 20 minutes into his very first
hunt, Wesley made the find of a lifetime: a hoard of gold roman
coins.

When
he found the initial batch of 40 coins, he brought them back to the
shop where he originally purchased his metal detector. He was not
sure what he should do with them. The shop owner knew that this was
indeed a rare and incredible find, and he contacted the local
authorities. Another search of the area unearthed another 119 coins.

What
Was Found
?

159 gold solidi Roman coins that are more than 1600
years old!

What Was It
Worth?

The
value of this hoard is still being determined, but single gold
solidis have sold for as much as £1000 or $1663.80 at auction.
That could put the total value at £159,000 or $264,544

When
Was the Hoard Discovered?

2012

Where
Was the Hoard Discovered?

The hoard was found near St Albans Hertfordshire.

Where
Is It Now?

St. Albans' Verulamium Museum

David
Booth's story is yet another excellent example of beginner's luck.
His amazing find also proves that you don't always need an expensive
metal detector to locate buried treasure. The model he used to make
this incredible find was an entry level machine with a relatively
small price tag.

David
set out treasure hunting the right way. He spent some time
investigating an area he thought may have potential for treasure. The
area he was interested in was a field located in Scotland.

The
next step for David was to contact the owner of the land and obtain
permission to hunt and that is exactly what David did.

When
he arrived at the location, he parked right outside of the field. The
area looked perfect for treasure hunting and David was eager to try
out his new metal detector.

Being
his first time using his new machine, David thought it would be a
good idea to try it out on an area of flat ground right behind his
car. He took about 7 steps, turned on his metal detector and this is
what he found.

Image
courtesy of Johnbod

One of
four Torcs found

Could
you imagine finding something like this the very first time you took
your metal detector out for a hunt or any time for that matter? This
is the stuff dreams are made of.

What
Was Found
?

Four gold Iron Age torcs.

What Was It
Worth?

£462,000
or $768,167. I think David more than paid for his entry level metal
detector with this find. He might as well retire from the hobby of
metal detecting and let me or you grab the next great piece of
treasure.

When
Was the Hoard Discovered?

September 29
^th
2009

Where
Was the Hoard Discovered?

Blair Drummond, Stirlingshire, Scotland

Where
Is It Now?

National Museums Scotland

Not every amazing treasure find happens when a first
timer fires up their metal detector. Some people metal detect for
years before they make that huge life altering find. This is the case
with Michael Dark and the Wickham Market Hoard.

Michael is no newcomer to the world of metal detecting.
In fact, it took him 25 years of searching to locate his first gold
coin. He knew there had to be more gold coins buried in the ground
nearby.

Determined to find more of the coins, Michael returned
to the spot where he recovered the first. The hunting conditions were
horrible, but gold fever had already taken hold of Michael.

It was cold, windy and sleet was pelting him. Like any
metal detecting enthusiast who is on the hunt, Michael ignored the
weather conditions and continued his search. As luck would have it,
his search produced eight more gold coins. These eight additional
gold coins were not enough. The gold had made its way into Michael's
heart. One look in his eyes and it was easy to see Michael had
developed a mild case of gold fever.

Michael's metal detector suddenly went nuts. From the
sound of it, there was something really big buried right beneath his
feet. Could it be even more of the gold coins? His mild case of gold
fever was now escalated to the point of no return. He knew he was
standing on a huge pile of gold coins. Here is where the story takes
an odd turn.

Instead of recovering his find, Michael decided he would
have to leave it over night. That's right. Michael decided that it
was in his best interest to return and uncover his find after a good
night's rest. He used rocks to mark the location on the ground and
went home, cleaned up and went to sleep. Wait a minute? WHAT?????

I don't know about you, but there is simply no way I
could have done this, but to each their own I suppose.

When he returned, he uncovered another 774 gold coins
bringing the total amount of gold coins to 840! And just think,
Michael let those additional 774 gold coins lay in the ground one
more night. What harm could come from letting them stay buried for
one more night?

Image
courtesy of Portable Antiquities Scheme from London, England

What Was It
Worth?

£316,000 or $525,413

When
Was the Hoard Discovered?

March 2008

Where
Was the Hoard Discovered?

Dallinghoo near Wickham Market, Suffolk, England

Where
Is It Now?

Ipswich Museum

Jethro Carpenter and Mark Gilmour are no strangers to
metal detecting and this is no case of beginner's luck either. The
two treasure hunters were hunting an area of private farm land where
they made some interesting finds in the past. The farm land would
prove fruitful yet again when their machine gave them a good strong
signal.

Excited to locate their newly found piece of treasure,
the two treasure hunters started to unearth their find. Wouldn't you
know it. There was no real treasure waiting for them in that hole
they just excavated. The piece of treasure was nothing more than a
old rusty nail.

In my book entitled: “
Metal
Detecting: A Beginner's Guide to Mastering the Greatest Hobby In the
World
,” I talk about the importance of always scanning your
holes twice. This story drives this fact straight home.

After removing the nail, Jethro and Mark scanned the
hole again. There were still more targets in the hole. As they kept
digging, they started noticing pottery shards. It wasn't long until
they started finding coins, lots of coins. They knew they had just
found a huge hoard and thought it would be best to report it to the
authorities.

The coins in this particular hoard are very interesting
because each coin is made from a very small amount of silver. It is
estimated that most of the coins are only about 1% silver. This was
done intentionally to devalue the coins when they were created.

What
Was Found
?

3784 silver Roman coins

Image courtesy of portableantiquities