It has happened again.....another Lucky Dog Day!
It poured rain last night and the fields were muddy and not much fun to be in. Having to stop and clean the two inches of icky, clay mud off your coil, shovel and boots before you can walk another step just is not a fun time. We picked a field that has a wheat crop growing so we didn't have as much mud to deal with. It was a field that Clarence, Mindy and I had good success with a couple of years ago. I headed up the hill to a spot next to a farm building and heard a solid target in my headphones. I flipped over a shovel full of soil and there it was....that familiar glint of gold. Not wanting to get my hopes up, I picked it up and started to clean the mud off with a soft toothbrush. It sure looked like gold. I called Clarence on the radio and told him I have something that looks like gold but I just didn't know. He hiked across the field and looked at it. He thought it was gold, too. This is not a coin. It is a handmade, one of a kind, possibly a pendant, maybe a clothing fastener.....we just don't know yet. It looks like it may have held an intaglio or a gem stone which is now missing.
We called our expert leader, the man with the answers and the contacts to ID mystery items. He drove out to the field to take a look. He felt it was old gold, not plated as I had feared. By the time we drove back to our lodging, he had taken it home and looked at it under his electron microscope. He confirmed it is solid gold, Medieval or possible older. WOW! He is soaking it now in distilled water to get the mud and muck off. Not sure yet what it actually is. It might be one for the museum staff to decide. I loved it when I thought it was just electroplated. The fact that it is solid gold has put me over the edge (just a bit). Combine that with the rare Celtic enamelled brooch I found last week and Clarence's Celtic gold and Saxon gold...this has been our best trip ever for finds.
Before I forget...Aussie Vocabulary Word of the Day is....UTE. A "ute" is a small utility vehicle, like a pickup truck only smaller and with a flat bed on back. There you have it. Use it in a sentence three times this week.
Tomorrow we will detect a half day only as long as the predicted thunderstorms go around us. We will come in early, clean our finds and prepare anything that needs an export license to be taken out of the UK. We still need to clean the mud off our gear and pack everything up. We spend so much time packing and repacking to get all four bags under the 50# limit that we usually just give up and throw ourselves on the mercy of the airlines. We drive back into London Saturday morning and then we will be on our way home. I don't know what we will do next year to possibly beat this trip.
Good night all!
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Wednesday, April 10th
We took a break today from 10 hrs of detecting and spent half the day today doing some sightseeing. We started out this morning going to the old church ruins on the property where we metal detect. This church was abandoned in the 1550's and is such a peaceful place to walk around on the property. It also presents a good photo op for those Christmas card pictures.
We went detecting (highlights to follow) at a couple of different fields. In the afternoon, we visited Layer Marney Tower, Britains tallest Tudor Gatehouse and was built during the reign of Henry VIII. It includes the medieval wall painting of St Christopher which was saved from destructions during the Reformation by being painted over. It remainded undiscovered for over 300 years.
Next stop was Mersea, a small island a few miles from where we are staying, and the Roman Burial Mound. Last Fall, when we first got permission to hunt some land nearby, we heard about a woman who is the curator of the burial mound. She offered to give a tour and background information to anyone who might be interested. This has been on our "to do " list ever since. The woman was totally delightful and gave an entertaining presentation, complete with ghost stories, and knew the history of the excavation of the mound 101 years ago. Inside, was found a lead box with a hand blown green glass bowl sealed inside. Inside that glass bowl were the cremated bones of a Roman mystery person. They have been raising money to have these bones analyzed in hopes of finding out who this person was and why they would have built such an elaborate tomb.
The big surprise was....this woman had been to Portland, Oregon with a friend just last Fall. She had even visited Oregon City on a tour bus which stopped at The End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Here we are in a tiny town in the U.K. and we run into a person who had just visited out small town in Oregon, USA. It was an amazing experience today. How often do you have the opportunity to actually go inside a Roman Burial Mound?
Everyone enjoyed the break in the detecting day today. In spite of the shorter detecting time, we still made some good finds. Clarence and Mindy found hammered silver coins, Bruce found greenies and I found a greenie and a Roman bronze. Our Aussie newbies did OK today, as well. Lynne found a golf balls (pretty sure it's not Roman though), and a possible dagger quillion. Peter found a 1917 Gerorge V penny.
Today's Aussie vocabulary word(s) is appropriate for us on those ten hour days in farmer's fields:
Outdoor Dunny= outdoor bathroom or out house. In our case, that would be a trip to the woods or bushes in you are lucky enough to be in a field that have them.
Bonus vocabulary word or phrase: Mindy and I learned this one yesterday while talking to Giles, the tractor driver in the field. I asked if they had problems with night hawkers, people who sneak onto private property, under cover of night, to metal detect without obtaining permission. He said there main problem was with "fly tippers". I am picturing the college prank of cow tipping but on a much smaller scale. I'm trying to get that image in my head when he explained the fly tipping is people who come along and tip out trash "on the fly" on their fields to avoid paying the trash hauler. In other words, illegal trash dumping. It makes more sense than trying to sneak up on a sleeping fly.
Enough for tonight. We have two days left for me to find that elusive gold coin. Clarence has two gold items this trip, so I am behind. See you all back here tomorrow..............
We went detecting (highlights to follow) at a couple of different fields. In the afternoon, we visited Layer Marney Tower, Britains tallest Tudor Gatehouse and was built during the reign of Henry VIII. It includes the medieval wall painting of St Christopher which was saved from destructions during the Reformation by being painted over. It remainded undiscovered for over 300 years.
Next stop was Mersea, a small island a few miles from where we are staying, and the Roman Burial Mound. Last Fall, when we first got permission to hunt some land nearby, we heard about a woman who is the curator of the burial mound. She offered to give a tour and background information to anyone who might be interested. This has been on our "to do " list ever since. The woman was totally delightful and gave an entertaining presentation, complete with ghost stories, and knew the history of the excavation of the mound 101 years ago. Inside, was found a lead box with a hand blown green glass bowl sealed inside. Inside that glass bowl were the cremated bones of a Roman mystery person. They have been raising money to have these bones analyzed in hopes of finding out who this person was and why they would have built such an elaborate tomb.
The big surprise was....this woman had been to Portland, Oregon with a friend just last Fall. She had even visited Oregon City on a tour bus which stopped at The End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Here we are in a tiny town in the U.K. and we run into a person who had just visited out small town in Oregon, USA. It was an amazing experience today. How often do you have the opportunity to actually go inside a Roman Burial Mound?
Everyone enjoyed the break in the detecting day today. In spite of the shorter detecting time, we still made some good finds. Clarence and Mindy found hammered silver coins, Bruce found greenies and I found a greenie and a Roman bronze. Our Aussie newbies did OK today, as well. Lynne found a golf balls (pretty sure it's not Roman though), and a possible dagger quillion. Peter found a 1917 Gerorge V penny.
Today's Aussie vocabulary word(s) is appropriate for us on those ten hour days in farmer's fields:
Outdoor Dunny= outdoor bathroom or out house. In our case, that would be a trip to the woods or bushes in you are lucky enough to be in a field that have them.
Bonus vocabulary word or phrase: Mindy and I learned this one yesterday while talking to Giles, the tractor driver in the field. I asked if they had problems with night hawkers, people who sneak onto private property, under cover of night, to metal detect without obtaining permission. He said there main problem was with "fly tippers". I am picturing the college prank of cow tipping but on a much smaller scale. I'm trying to get that image in my head when he explained the fly tipping is people who come along and tip out trash "on the fly" on their fields to avoid paying the trash hauler. In other words, illegal trash dumping. It makes more sense than trying to sneak up on a sleeping fly.
Enough for tonight. We have two days left for me to find that elusive gold coin. Clarence has two gold items this trip, so I am behind. See you all back here tomorrow..............
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Tuesday, April 9th
This week has become the Battle of the Axes. Yesterday, Clarence found that little 1400BC - 850BC bronze axe head. Today, he found a partial copper alloy socketed axe head, also 850BC. Not to be outdone, Mindy made a visual find of a stunning and huge hand napped flint axe head dated to 11000BC. It's beautiful and you can just image it being used all those years ago. How can I compete with those two? I did manage to find a couple of Roman bronze coins (1st to 4th Century), one of which had a nice image still remaining. Amazing these have been in that field for 2000 years.
Tonight's entry is a little different because we were having too much fun at dinner tonight. I let everyone else get away before I wrote down their best finds of the day. We were having a good time with our new Aussie team members and learned some Aussie words today. Peter asked for a biro earlier today none of us knew what he wanted. So..our Aussie vocabulary word of the day is...biro...definition...a pen to write with. A generic term for any common writing instrument with ink. We can always learn something new, even on holiday. We were also celebrating tonight because Lynn's suitcase, which left Perth, Australia with them but failed to arrive in London on Saturday, was finally delivered here this evening. She has been wearing borrowed clothes and boots and is really happy to finally have her own things.
Pictures of our finds are now appearing on the club website. To see them, go to www.colchestermetaldetecting.co.uk , click on Finds, click on March II. Now scroll to the bottom of the page where the newest entries are added. Our finds (from our group) start with the Large C8th Century Saxon Mount which is a rectangular piece with cut out of a lion. From then to the bottom of the page, you will see finds made by our group of seven. There are some pretty amazing items and more are added each day as they can be photographed and identified.
It is now 10:30 and everyone else has gone to bed. I need to run downstairs and check on our laundry before I go to bed myself. English washers and dryers are quite different from what we are accustomed to. We use "speed wash" which runs a load in about 45 minutes. A normal cycle is twice that long. The dryer will take close to two hours and you need to periodically empty the tray in the bottom where the water accumulates, otherwise, the clothes will never dry.
More tomorrow...............
Tonight's entry is a little different because we were having too much fun at dinner tonight. I let everyone else get away before I wrote down their best finds of the day. We were having a good time with our new Aussie team members and learned some Aussie words today. Peter asked for a biro earlier today none of us knew what he wanted. So..our Aussie vocabulary word of the day is...biro...definition...a pen to write with. A generic term for any common writing instrument with ink. We can always learn something new, even on holiday. We were also celebrating tonight because Lynn's suitcase, which left Perth, Australia with them but failed to arrive in London on Saturday, was finally delivered here this evening. She has been wearing borrowed clothes and boots and is really happy to finally have her own things.
Pictures of our finds are now appearing on the club website. To see them, go to www.colchestermetaldetecting.co.uk , click on Finds, click on March II. Now scroll to the bottom of the page where the newest entries are added. Our finds (from our group) start with the Large C8th Century Saxon Mount which is a rectangular piece with cut out of a lion. From then to the bottom of the page, you will see finds made by our group of seven. There are some pretty amazing items and more are added each day as they can be photographed and identified.
It is now 10:30 and everyone else has gone to bed. I need to run downstairs and check on our laundry before I go to bed myself. English washers and dryers are quite different from what we are accustomed to. We use "speed wash" which runs a load in about 45 minutes. A normal cycle is twice that long. The dryer will take close to two hours and you need to periodically empty the tray in the bottom where the water accumulates, otherwise, the clothes will never dry.
More tomorrow...............
Monday, April 8, 2013
Monday, April 8
This morning, we were on our way to our chosen field when we passed by another field we have under contract. It hadsbeen rough plowed and not huntable without risking a broken ankle. The farmer came through for us and it was freshly rolled and planted. We turned around and headed out into that field. Unfortunately, it didn't have many targets. You just never know if you are going to walk across a pot of gold coins or fnd a big hunk of buried plow parts, like newbie Lynn did today. After a few hours of roaming aimlessly around 100 Acres, we headed back to the field where I had found the Roman fibular brooch and Clarence found his Celtic gold. There are still lots of targets to dig on that field. Some people, not me, made some good finds.
Clarence, once again, had the top find of the day. It is a Stone Age bronze axe head from 850BC. CA Dan found a harness mount. Aussie Peter is quite proud of his 1945 Three Pence. Aussie Lynn found a grotty Roman bronze coin plus the earlier mentioned piece of farm equipment which we decided to leave buried in the field since we couldn't get it out. Bruce had a good day with an 1853 milled silver coin and a hammered silver penney. Mindy found a stunning Celtic bronze coin and a silver button. Today, I had to be content with a pile of buttons and one milled siver coin.
Weather forcast tomorrow is calling for rain. It will make for boot sticking muddy fields but we are up for the challenge. Check back tomorrow for new stories and finds...hopefully I will find gold tomorrow since the detecting days are winding down.
Clarence, once again, had the top find of the day. It is a Stone Age bronze axe head from 850BC. CA Dan found a harness mount. Aussie Peter is quite proud of his 1945 Three Pence. Aussie Lynn found a grotty Roman bronze coin plus the earlier mentioned piece of farm equipment which we decided to leave buried in the field since we couldn't get it out. Bruce had a good day with an 1853 milled silver coin and a hammered silver penney. Mindy found a stunning Celtic bronze coin and a silver button. Today, I had to be content with a pile of buttons and one milled siver coin.
Weather forcast tomorrow is calling for rain. It will make for boot sticking muddy fields but we are up for the challenge. Check back tomorrow for new stories and finds...hopefully I will find gold tomorrow since the detecting days are winding down.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Sunday, April 7th
Who knew there could be TWO Lucky Dog Days in a row??? Clarence found another gold today before noon. We are back on the field where all the Roman coins were found a couple of days ago. This gold is actually a Saxon gold ingot 3.21g 8.43mm diameter. He also found four hammered silver coins, a brooch with a red stone, a brooch with an amethyst looking stone and six more bronze Roman coins. What can I say...he is really on a roll.
Bruce did pretty well, too. He found two Roman bronzes and an 1865 One Pence coin. CA Dan found a hammered silver coin and a cuff link. Mindy found a cute little Roman offering pot. One of our newbies, Peter, on his first full detecting day ever, found the one we all dream of...a hammered gold Half Noble. This is THE coin I have been wanting to find since my first trip to England. I spent the afternoon hoping it has had a friend out there for the last six hundred years but no luck. I did manage to find two more Roman bronzes and about a kazillion four hole buttons (modern). After the past couple of days, I guess I can't complain. Maybe tomorrow will be my golden day?
Update: My fibular brooch has been confirmed as Roman 1st Century. Clarence's broken Celtic gold from yesterday is actually a broken part of a Celtic Full Stater, not a Quarter Stater as first thought. The broken part is 1.68 g and 13.74mm diameter. Not too shabby. We still have five days to find more.
Bruce did pretty well, too. He found two Roman bronzes and an 1865 One Pence coin. CA Dan found a hammered silver coin and a cuff link. Mindy found a cute little Roman offering pot. One of our newbies, Peter, on his first full detecting day ever, found the one we all dream of...a hammered gold Half Noble. This is THE coin I have been wanting to find since my first trip to England. I spent the afternoon hoping it has had a friend out there for the last six hundred years but no luck. I did manage to find two more Roman bronzes and about a kazillion four hole buttons (modern). After the past couple of days, I guess I can't complain. Maybe tomorrow will be my golden day?
Update: My fibular brooch has been confirmed as Roman 1st Century. Clarence's broken Celtic gold from yesterday is actually a broken part of a Celtic Full Stater, not a Quarter Stater as first thought. The broken part is 1.68 g and 13.74mm diameter. Not too shabby. We still have five days to find more.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Saturday, April 6th
Today was a Lucky Dog Day!!! First of all, the sun came out and the wind was light. It was really cold this morning, the skylight in our bathroom was totally frozen over. By 1pm, we were out in the field with five layers of clothes on. By 3pm, my jacket and fleece vest were unzipped to cool down and I was considering leaving a couple of layers in the middle of the field to pick up later. Clarence, Bruce and I stayed out until 7:30 tonight. To top it off, there was a gorgeous sunset tonight.
We were in a field that had just been rolled and planted and no mud. We spent the entire time on one field and had lots of targets to dig. Besides the usual greenies, buttons, bits of lead and about a hundred shotgun shell primers, we three made some outstanding find. Clarence started it off with a broken Celtic gold coin. We are guessing about 1/3 to 1/2 of the coin remained. The rest is probably still out there in the field. Then he found two hammered silver coins. Bruce found his first ever milled silver coin. This one is a William III that has been folded into a love token. I finished up the afternoon with my first ever fibular brooch. Normally, we think of these as Roman but this one is huge and knobby and might turn out to be Saxon.
Update to previous finds: I found out today that the red enamaled brooch I found was not Roman from Celtic from the 1st Century. It is the first ever Celtic brooch found by anyone in our club here in Colchester. I also found out today that the mystery coin weight I found was actually a trade weight from Henry VIII era
We were in a field that had just been rolled and planted and no mud. We spent the entire time on one field and had lots of targets to dig. Besides the usual greenies, buttons, bits of lead and about a hundred shotgun shell primers, we three made some outstanding find. Clarence started it off with a broken Celtic gold coin. We are guessing about 1/3 to 1/2 of the coin remained. The rest is probably still out there in the field. Then he found two hammered silver coins. Bruce found his first ever milled silver coin. This one is a William III that has been folded into a love token. I finished up the afternoon with my first ever fibular brooch. Normally, we think of these as Roman but this one is huge and knobby and might turn out to be Saxon.
Update to previous finds: I found out today that the red enamaled brooch I found was not Roman from Celtic from the 1st Century. It is the first ever Celtic brooch found by anyone in our club here in Colchester. I also found out today that the mystery coin weight I found was actually a trade weight from Henry VIII era
Friday, April 5, 2013
Friday, April 5
Today was a great day. The wind was still blowing but it was warmer today. We hit several different fields today including one that turned out to be one we didn't have permission to be on. The land owner drove down for a bit of a chat but all was good by the time he left. We have permission to detect from the man who farms the land but evidently not from the owner of the land.
There were some really nice finds made today. Bruce found an interesting Medieval bucket mount. Mindy has a really special bronze belt slide with a gold gilt decoration, a complete belt buckle and a Tudor open fretwork button. Clarence has a nice lead token, greenies and some assorted bits and bobs. Mary had a great day with a Knights Templar badge, a Roman enameled brooch, and a coin weight.
Today was the last day here for Alaska George and CA George as they both head home tomorrow. Mindy will take them back to London early tomorrow morning and then she picks up a couple from Australia who will be joining us for the week. They will be back around noon and then we will go out again and detect in the afternoon. With only a week left, and so many fields we want to detect yet, we are having to make a list and pick the ones we have to get to. It has been so wet and cold here that the fields that have been planted are not germinating and the rough plow fields are too wet to work in. A couple of weeks ago they had three tractors stuck in one field, each trying to pull the other one out.
That's our report for the day. We hope to have more stories and fnds to share tomorrrow.
There were some really nice finds made today. Bruce found an interesting Medieval bucket mount. Mindy has a really special bronze belt slide with a gold gilt decoration, a complete belt buckle and a Tudor open fretwork button. Clarence has a nice lead token, greenies and some assorted bits and bobs. Mary had a great day with a Knights Templar badge, a Roman enameled brooch, and a coin weight.
Today was the last day here for Alaska George and CA George as they both head home tomorrow. Mindy will take them back to London early tomorrow morning and then she picks up a couple from Australia who will be joining us for the week. They will be back around noon and then we will go out again and detect in the afternoon. With only a week left, and so many fields we want to detect yet, we are having to make a list and pick the ones we have to get to. It has been so wet and cold here that the fields that have been planted are not germinating and the rough plow fields are too wet to work in. A couple of weeks ago they had three tractors stuck in one field, each trying to pull the other one out.
That's our report for the day. We hope to have more stories and fnds to share tomorrrow.
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