Metal Detector’s Blog

The Staffordshire Hoard, as it was quickly dubbed, electrified the general public and Anglo-Saxon scholars alike. Spectacular discoveries, such as the royal finds at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, had been made in Anglo-Saxon burial sites. But the treasure pulled from Fred Johnson’s field was novel—a cache of gold, silver, and garnet objects from early Anglo-Saxon times and from one of the most important kingdoms of the era. Moreover, the quality and style of the intricate filigree and cloisonné decorating the objects were extraordinary, inviting heady comparisons to such legendary treasures as the Lindisfarne Gospels of the Book of Kells.

Once cataloged, the hoard was found to contain some 3,500 pieces representing hundreds of complete objects. And the items that could be securely identified presented a striking pattern. There were more than 300 sword-hilt fittings, 92 sword-pommel caps, and 10 scabbard pendants. Also noteworthy: There were no coins or women’s jewelry, and out of the entire collection, the three religious objects appeared to be the only nonmartial pieces. Intriguingly, many of the items seemed to have been bent or broken. This treasure, then, was a pile of broken, elite, military hardware hidden 13 centuries ago in a politically and militarily turbulent region. The Staffordshire Hoard was trilling and historic—but above all it was enigmatic.

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Tim Pearson, a metal detectorist and amateur treasure hunter (aren’t we all?) found what he thought was a milk bottle cap back in 2005.

Pearson was detecting in a South Yorkshire field that he had combed over for more than six years. In the past the field that had yielded nothing more than a Roman coin for him, but this time, there was something special waiting.

Tim says “When I broke open the clod of earth the first I saw of the aestel was its flat back covered in mud. Seriously just looked like a piece of gold coloured foil, hence the milk bottle top similarity. Obviously, soon as I had the object in my hand I knew it was something special!”

But as you can guess, it wasn’t a milk bottle top.

What Pearson found is a relic now known as the “Yorkshire Aestel” and is the only one of its kind held by a private owner. It’s a hallow “cast pointer” that would have been used by monks as an aid to reading manuscripts. Auctioneers claim -that King Alfred (who ruled from 871 – 899) commissioned several of these aestels to made for his bishops to aid the translation of Pope Gregory I’s Regula Pastoralis.

The pointer measures just 31mm high and weighs 4.12grams and is known to be one of seven pointers in existence. The most famous pointer, “The Alfred Jewel” was found in Somerset in 1693 and resides in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

Four more were found in King Alfred’s Wessex while the other five identified aestels are “The Minster Lovell Jewel” in Oxfordshire, The Bowleaze Jewel” in Dorset, “The Wessex Jewel” in Wilshire, “The Bidford Bobble” in Warwickshire, and “The Borg Aestel” in Norway.

This relic will be auctioned at Bonham’s on October 15th during their Sale of Antiquities in London. It is expected to garner 15,000 pounds, or over $27,000

Madeleine Perridge of Bonhams Antiquities Department, comments: “When handling an object like this, anyone with a love of history and literature knows that they are in touch with centuries of monastic scholarly endeavour, and possibly with royal sponsorship of that work. It is a privilege to be selling this beautiful rare object.”

- Adam & Shaun

My Minelab Advantage metal detector helped me find one of the most rare Texas Civil War buttons ever made.

I got into metal detecting because my wife bought me one for my birthday. 11 years later and I’m still addicted to this great hobby. My favorite places to hunt are private property and plowed fields. The day that I found this button I was searching a plowed field in the state of Louisiana. I had my Minelab Advantage, which I had been using for over two years by this point, and a shovel to help dig.

After about three hours in this field I got a good signal. It was only 4″ down and my hunting partner knew immediately what it was. The only Texas Unit button ever made, only a few have ever been found. It’s a Waco Guards Civil War button, worth anywhere from $2,500.00 to $3,000.00 – but priceless to me!

I was simply amazed that I found this rare and special button.

Jim H. Glimer, VA.

On October 22, 2006 I was relic hunting near Fredericksburg, Virginia. I had just dug three Confederate Gardner bullets and received another signal on my Explorer XS that sounded and IDed like another bullet.

After dumpung my second shovelful of dirt I was surprised to see a small silver coin on top of the dirt pile. I thought I had just dug a piece of Spanish silver but when I picked up the coin I knew I was wrong.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was holding a worn 1792 half disme! I knew I had found something special but it wasn’t until I went home and did some research did I realize how special it was. The 1792 half disme was the first coin minted by the United States.

There were 1500 minted of which around 250 are known to exist today. It is reported that the silver used to mint this coin came from George Washington in the form of his silver serving set. Thomas Jefferson hand delivered the freshly minted half dismes to George Washington and he dispersed them to dignitaries and friends. Some found their way into circulation as is evident by the wear on mine and others. Estimated price on my find is $10,000 .

I am thrill to have found this piece of our nations past. In October 2004 I dug a 1916 D mercury dime. I never dreamed I would ever top that find but I did. Thank you Minelab!

Marc Sciance

Most treasure hunters already know that schools, churches and parks are some pretty good places to go coin shooting. But keep in mind that you have to hunt the older places if you want to find the older coins. (unless your just looking for extra beer money) Old houses built in the 40′s or before are good places to shoot. Back then people would burrie jars full of coins insted of taking them to the bank. River banks or the old swimming hole are a good place to go also, fisherman and kids playing around tend to lose coins while digging around in teir pockets. Coin shooting a school that was built in the 60′s or before is likley to produce silver coins and wheat pennies. Look for the older schools. It is not hard to tell an old school from the new schools. In some cases old schools have been torn down and new schools are built on the same property. This is where a little research comes in. Go to your local public office and look at the old land maps in the county records,You can see where the old schools used to be.Old churches are an excellent place to coin shoot, that’s where you will most likley find the oldest coins. Churches were usually one of the first buildings erected in a small town after the homes were built. Every Sunday most everybody in the town would go to church and children would play all around the church,in front, and in back of the church, losing coins along the way. Trees are great places to search under at an old church. It was a good place for people to sit and shade up on a hot day, and children would play in them. (not knowing some of their coins just tumbled out of their pocket)

Coins are found where money exchanged hands or could fall out of pockets or purses. Old drive-in movies are good places. Yes, they are full of trash, but there are ways to get around that. A smaller coil on your detector will allow the coin shooter to actually detect between pieces of trash. Discrimination options can cut most of the trash out. Some detectors have a bell tone alert or TONE ID which really sounds off on coins but gives a low hum on trash. Drive-in hot spots would be around the consession stands and ticket booth where people would be pulling money out of their pockets and at the playground in front of the screen.

The grassy areas between the sidewalks and the road are a good place for coins. These areas are useally deemed public property but the homeowner is responsable for the care of these areas, so make it a point to check with the homeowner before you start detecting. (after all what would you do if you saw some strange person digging up your wifes flowers) It is only common courtesy to ask first. Don’t forget to check around old parking meters if they are in the grassy area next to the sidewalks.

Old bleachers at the old horse track,the old stock car track,rodeo grounds or your old high school football feild. Alot of years of people losing money out of their pockets yes there’s a lot of trash, but is it worth digging up a little trash if you are finding old coins?

 Learn more about metal detecting and coin shooting at mountaintopsports.com