Saturday - Colchester to Portland

I haven't said much about our detecting companions for the second week. We were joined by five guys from New England and what a week it was. They were all experienced detectorists making their first detecting trip to England.  Two joined us and three were at the other house. Clarence and I have never laughed so much or so hard as we did that week. Dinner most nights resembled a vaudeville show with singing and comedy. When we got together at lunch time, in the field, it was the same but with all five guys contributing.  We should have known the first day when someone taped a penny to the bottom of one guy's detector.  He couldn't figure out why he was getting the same signal all the time.  Our thanks to Jim, Joe, Nelson, Mike and Mark for making it a memorable week. We would love to take you up on your invite to hunt in Mass. with you sometime.

It was an uneventful (that's a good thing) flight to San Francisco on Sat.  No problems in Customs, even with bringing in our finds from last Fall.  We always worry they are going to search all our luggage but that has never happened. I slept through most of the flight to Portland.  We picked up our car and pulled into our driveway about 11pm.  From the time we were picked up in Colchester Sat morning, we had been traveling for 22 hours that day. We noticed the grass needed cutting, tulips are about to bloom, and there were plenty of tall weeds in the flower beds.  With nothing in the house to eat except crackers and a jar of peanut butter, we watched the evening news and collapsed into our own bed. 

Back to reality...there are piles of laundry on the floor but I really just need a nap.  It will take a few days to get back in the right time zone.  England is eight hours later than Portland, which is enough to throw a person off kilter. We still start laughing thinking about the antics of our hunting companions.  We have our reservations in for next April for another two week trip. Looks like I will have to wait until then to find my Colchester gold coin.

I am amazed at how many people are interested in things we do.  We know we are fortunate to be able to enjoy each new adventure together. It was a pretty good way to spend our 24th wedding anniversary.  And to think this all started from a blind date.  Who knew???  Thanks for following along.  Until next time...

Week Two - Friday

As I predicted, there was no time to write before we left England on Saturday.  However, we did have a full day of metal detecting on Friday, our final day for this trip. It was another 8am - 7pm day. Once again, there was no rain but plenty of strong winds.  Clarence and I were on "the button field", just across the road from where the Gold Roman was found last week. One of the guys with us found a silver Roman coin, his first, and it was a great way to end his first England hunt.  Clarence and I found about a hundred buttons, mostly common four holers, but a few good ones, too.  I found another livery button and a military button.  Clarence found a vessica seal (for sealing wax) and three interesting tokens from businesses in Colchester and London. He didn't know what they were until we were cleaning up our finds that night. We had no time to research them so that will give us something to do when we pick them up next Spring.  Oh come on, you all knew we were going back next year! Next Spring will be another "Barn Hunt" for two weeks in April, 2012.

After cleaning the finds, having a wonderful roast chicken dinner with our hostess, and getting a hot shower, we got to work breaking down four detectors and gear and getting two and a half weeks of dirty laundry packed again.  We packed and re-packed to make the 50# limit before giving up at 12:30am. We just decided to pay the extra fee and get some sleep before the alarm went off at 6am. When we got to Heathrow, the airline scale said we were two kg under on one bag and one kg over on the other.  I asked the person at the desk if there was any room for grace and she replied " I didn't see anything".  Thank you, United Airlines!

This has been a great trip.  We're glad we decided to stay for two weeks instead of one.  Clarence found his Saxon sceat and I found my silver Roman on the second week, so it was definitely worth the extra effort.  Saturday will be a very  l-o-n-g plane trip but it will be good to be home again.

Week Two - Thursday

Today was Clarence's day to shine.  Once again, he has found not one, but two, difficult to find Saxon items. He started with a tiny Saxon sceat (coin).  A very prized item among detectorists in England.  The reason a sceat is so difficult to find is that the signal it gives is so bad that most people wouldn't have bothered to dig it.  Clarence said he almost walked away from it then decided to go back and dig it anyway.  Now he's really happy he did.  Then he came up with a possible Saxon gold gilt hanging pendant. It has been photographed and sent off to the museum for a possible ID. I will post it here when we get an idea of what it might be.

On the other hand, today was a bust for me.  All I had to show for my efforts was a complete crotal bell, a small bronze lever handle, greenies and a modern Elizabeth II penny.  Of course, we both have a pouch full of the usual stuff...bits of lead, tons of buttons, loom weights, shotgun shells and 50 caliber WWII shell casings.

It was so windy today that it was easy to get knocked off your feet.  The wind was so loud that it was sometimes difficult to hear in your headphones.  Tomorrow is our last day and we are revisiting the 15th Century church ruin site. I found a hammered silver coin there last time so I'm hoping for more of the same. 
Tomorrow will be a busy day as we will get in from the field at 7:30, have dinner, clean our finds and prepare to turn them in for export papers and then get all our stuff packed.  We were just barely under the weight limit for checked bags on the way over.  I hope we can get in a couple of hours sleep before the van comes to take us to Heathrow in London at 7:30am.  I will try to get an entry done tomorrow night but no promises.
It is now 10:30pm and everyone else has already gone to bed.   Good Night!

Week Two - Wednesday

Today I had to admit that I just couldn't keep up with all the guys. I actually took the day off today.  After Clarence and the other guys left at 8am, I caught up on my email and then went back to bed with intentions of a short nap and then reading my book for a while.  Lorna called upstairs at 3pm to see if I wanted a sandwich.  I never did get more than a few pages read all day.  I feel much better and will be back at it in the morning for our last two days. 

The guys got back about 7:30 tonight and covered in mud.  Looks like I picked a good day to stay home.  The finds were few and all three have already gone up to bed or shower. It's just 9:45 and some people actually think we come over here and spend the evenings in the pub.  Hah! Who has that much energy?

Clarence did find a really nice British Artillary button, an interesting mount and a pile of greenies.  It's amazing what comes out of those blobs of mud at the end of the day.  Sometimes, when you are out in the field, you just can't get enough of the clay goo off to even tell what you have.  You only know it is something metal and throw it all in your finds pouch. Often it is a tiny piece of scrap lead but sometimes you find a nice button or coin in the muck. 

We have only two days left to find a gold coin. I wish I had thought to get a pedometer when we started this adventure.  I know we have walked miles and miles and miles in the last two weeks. On Saturday, we will be  on a plane for the USA and back to reality.  Check back tomorrow for the next installment.

Week Two - Tuesday

This posting will be short and sweet tonight.  It's 10pm and I am just beat. I have decided to stay in tomorrow, read my book, take a nap or two and stay off my feet.  This was our 11th day straight of 10 & 11 hour days and this over 60 body is screaming for mercy.  Clarence is still going out with the younger guys tomorrow as he just can't stand the idea of missing out on a day of detecting. 

Today, the farmer and his little blue tractor were fertilizing fields, usually the ones we were in.  We would move to another field and he would follow. We started going to the field he had just finished and that worked out better. The tractor guys always smile and wave but I'm sure they are muttering things under their breath.

Clarence did pretty well today with a 1676 Charles II three pence.  He also found a thimble, greenies, a buckle and a brooch with some gold guilding. I found maily buttons, a modern token, greenies and a 1948 half sovereign(copper). 

I will still write tomorrow about Clarence's day of detecting so check back tomorrow.  I am falling asleep as Isit here so it's time to call it a night.  Check in for more tomorrow..........

PS:  Yesterday's silver Roman is a denarius of Tiberius, 25-30AD.  Not too shabby!

Week Two - Monday

WOOHOO!!!! ROMAN SILVER!!!!!! I (Mary) found it about 4pm today while moving out of one field and into another.  It  was in the same field where I had found the silver cufflink a few days ago.  It was   hiding in a big clump of wet clay.  When I looked at it, I knew it was something good but didn't know what it was.  It certainly looked like a Roman with the profile bust and Roman numerals (big clue) but it was just in too good of shape to be a bronze Roman.  I never even thought about it being a silver Roman. As Clarence and I were leaving the field and walking back to the 7pm pick up spot, we met up with Nicholas, the land owner.  We showed him the coin and he said, "That's just cracking!".

We had been playing tag with the farm workers as they were out with the tractors rolling the fields while we were detecting.  We were just sure to keep one eye on them and to stay a couple of rows away from them. Getting caught by one of those big spiked rollers would put a damper on the day. I'm sure they just love having us in the field while they try to work but they are always very nice to us. As for other finds today, Clarence  found a whole crotal bell, a spoon handle, greenies and a watch winder.  I found some other stuff but it doesn't really matter after the silver Roman.  I should have an ID on the Roman in the next 24 hours and will share it as soon as I know.  It will be photographed and sent off the Dr. Mark Lehman, our Roman coin expert who gives us great insight into our Roman finds.

It was a good day....

Week Two - Sunday

I'm beat! We have fivc new guys who joined us yesterday for thier first England detecting trip.  They are young and fit and want to spend all the daylight hours out in the field.  They're killing me!  We are now hunting 11 hours a day and come in at 7pm.  I can understand how some of us "older" hunters take naps out in the field.  That would only give me time to stiffen up and would just make it worse.  I just keep moving and am bound and determined to keep up with these young guys.  I must be out of my mind!

No great finds today for either of us but we still got some nice stuff.  I had an interesting old (really, really old) key, a lead bale seal and a small Roman coin.  Clarence had  several neat buttons including a 20th Regiment button, a lead seal, greenies and a Cartwheel (HUGE greenie only made one year). 

We are lucking out on weather, so far.  The wind is often cold and my face is really wind burned now. The sun was out most of the day today and it looks like no rain until late Wednesday.  We spent the afternoon in a HUGE field (maybe 500 acres?), that was planted in wheat.  The wheat looks like wide blades of grass and is about 6" tall, so it looks like a huge lawn area.  I just enjoyed walking through the field of wheat and the peace and quiet of a Sunday afternoon.

Tomorrow we are retuning to the area I found the silver cufflink and one of the Chicago guys got a Celtic gold a couple of days ago.  Wish us luck!

Week Two - Saturday

What a switch in the weather today.  It was COLD!  There were a few sprinkles of rain but the wind was blowing hard and very cold.  We had t-shirts, fleece and our rain parkas with hoods up to protect from the wind.  Brrrrrr.  We had five new guys from New England join us today and we all stayed out until almost 7pm.  In case anyone cares, it's dark at 7pm.  Tonight the U.K. goes on daylight savings time.  Lucky us, we get to change time again!

As far as finds go today, Clarence found greenies and lead weights along with the usual common stuff like bullet casings, buttons, and lead weights.  I lucked out today with two silver coins, one "slick willie" and one hammered silver.  The "slick willie" is a silver coin kept in circulation for about a hundred years they so are worn smooth. They were from the reign of King William, thus the name.

It's late, I'm beat and Clarence has already gone upstairs to bed.  All this fresh air and oxygen can wear you out.  I hope we have some nice goodies to share with you tomorrow.

Week One - Friday

Another beautiful Spring day in the UK and I have the sunburned neck to prove it.  It was in the 60's today and the coat and fleece layer were shed within the first hour.  The nice weather was certainly the highlight of the day today.  We were on the field that gave up the beautiful Roman gold coin a few days ago and we had high hopes.  No such luck.  The Chicago team had just pounded that field after the gold was found.  Clarence and I couldn't find a spot of dirt in which to step that didn't have an assortment of footprints already. 

My big finds of the day were two greenies, a decorative hinge, a nifty cover for a pocket watch, and yet another keyhole for a skeleton key.  In eight trips here, I have never found one of these keyholes before. Now I have found four and from four different fields.  Clarence did better than me today.  He found two watch winders, a thimble, several greenies, a set of keys (modern), a two pence and an 1899 one pence coin. 

Tomorrow, we will be with the Chicago guys and five new hunters will be coming to join us around lunch time. This will be their first trip to Colchester, so they will have much to learn about how to hunt here.  Two are staying in our same house and three will be in another house.  We have been really spoiled with having the place mostly to ourselves and not having to share the bathroom. 

That's the report for the day. Tomorrow will start Week Two.

Week One - Thursday

Well, today was pretty much a bust.  Clarence and I were on our own today. We spent the morning on a huge field near a very important archaeological site.  We had great hopes of finding something fantastic but had to be content with greenies, loom weights, a wall hook, a dinger for a bell, a thimble and doo dads.  I found two different key hole face plates which are kind of neat. This week I have found three of them and they might look nice in a display case with the old key that Clarence found this week.  Clarence had several greenies and we each found a ton of bullet casings and shotgun shell parts.

Correction from yesterday:  When I wrote Clarence's finds from yesterday, I didn't notice the container that he kept his better finds in.  He had a 1817 six pence, a hammered silver coin, a 1945 six pence and a pair of legs.  What? Yes, he found the bottom half of a statue showing only a pair of legs in a sitting position.  We would like to say they were from an old Roman statue of a famous sculptor...but we would be making that part up.  It was definitely something different. 

Until tomorrow....

Week One - Wednesday

Well, we didn't beat the Chicago guys to the newly rolled field this morning.  They beat us there by 30 minutes and had found several hammered silver coins before we showed up.  This afternoon, most of the guys moved to the two fields behind our initial choice.  I was detecting away, concentrating on the sounds in my headphones and watching the ground when I turned to find a tractor behind me and not slowing down.  I quickly moved across the field and another fellow and I watched him rolling the field for a while.  Then we decided to go back and detect again the area where the hammered silvers had been found that morning.  Keeping one eye on tractor sharing the field, we were finding new targets that the tractor had stirred up.  I found half of a crotal bell.  When I showed the fellow who was detecting nearby, he pulled another half out of his finds pouch.  We think they may be a match but won't know until the are both cleaned up.

I'm so glad I went back onto that field as I found my first ever Treasure Item.  It is a complete (both sides) Queen Ann Marriage Buttons (cuff link). They are silver and  from 1704. They have a profile of Queen Ann on each piece. They will probably be disclaimed and I should get to keep them, but they need to progress through the treasure process.  To clarify, it is one cuff link but it has a round silver button with Queen Ann on both the inside and outside part of the clunk and the two pieces are joined together. 

Clarence had a slower day today with only buttons, greenies and assorted bits and pieces of lead and bronzey bits.  The only other thing worthy of mention (?) is that there were no sufficient trees or bushes that weren't in a deep ditch or next to a steep slope leading into a deep pond.  Why is this important you may ask?  Try being the only girl on fields all day with 15 guys and you can probably figure it out. 

Week One - Tuesday

We had a great day today.  The sun was out and it actually got warm this morning. We had to shed a coat and a layer of fleece and then, just as quickly, put it all back on as a cold wind started to blow. We haven't been able to get into one of our favorite fields from last year as it was still rough plow.  Yesterday it was rolled and was smooth as a pancake.  This is the field where Clarence found that gorgeous silver decorated thimble last year and I found that itty bitty James I half penny.  We met up with the two teams of seven from Chicago today and it was fun to see so many familiar faces.  There were hugs, high fives and much laughter as we all compared stories from the past several days. 

There were lots of targets today and we were busy digging things all day long.  I found a hammie(hammered silver coin), a bale seal, a Royal Artillery button and some greenies.  Clarence found a hammie, a bale seal, loom weights, and a small decorated crotal bell. We both found lots of items that have already found their way to the dust bin as they are common trash such as bullet casings, modern buttons, and tons of bits of lead.  Tomorrow we are headed to a field that had some real treasures last year.  Again, it has been in rough plow and remained undetected since the end of the year.  Yesterday, it was finally rolled smooth and the Chicago guys don't seem to know about it.  We will be the first ones on that field...Yahoo!  Can't wait until the morning!

Monday, March 21

It was another 8am - 6pm day today, out hunting in the English Springtime.  It's chilly in the morning and evening and there has been a light breeze most of the day.  No momentous finds on our end today with one exception.  Clarence found his first hammered silver coin today.  He also has a possible lead palm guard and a neat button that says "Essex Local Militia".  All my gold coin signals turned into shotgun shell primers when I dug them.  Clarence and I think we must have walked miles and miles today.   Today's fields have all been tilled and rolled flat and planted with their new crops. Clarence tried to cross into the next field by climbing down a steep bank.  He started to slip on the muddy bank and fell backwards, sitting down on the hill and putting his hands behind him to catch himself. Unfortunately, both hands landed in a patch of stinging nettles.  Ouch!

There is an update on the Roman Gold found yesterday.  Our Roman coin expert "on call" for all our Roman finds, confirmed  the ID and says it's value is in the five figures (English pounds sterling).  WOW! Great find made by a nice guy and great detectorist.  Hopefully, our gold find will come soon! We are always hopeful that tomorrow will be THE DAY!  

Week One: Sunday

We spent the day on two large fields.  There were not a lot of targets but most of them were interesting finds. There were the usual plain buttons and hunks of lead scrap.Today, we each found some of the more interesting buttons.  I have a military button of the 71st Regiment, a button with a shield design, a complete crotal bell (bronze. looks like a large jingle bell, for farm animals to wear), and a quarter cut hammered silver coin. Clarence has a neat old key, some sort of a decorative mount, several interesting buttons, musket balls,an old (for us) pocket knife, and some decorative buckle fragments.

The big find today came from one of the two other teams of seven that are here with us.  One of the Chicago guys found what we have all wanted....a gold Roman coin.  This one is from 50AD,about the size of a US nickle, and looks like it just came from the coin dealer.  What a find! Maybe it has a friend and we will find another by the time we leave.  Meanwhile, we are beat tonight.  All I can think of is a hot shower and bed.  Tomorrow we are at it again at 8am.  See y'all back here tomorrow.

Spring 2011, Day one

Here we are, back at it again.  Clarence and I spent most of yesterday in London at The British Museum.  We eyed lots of gold coins and jewelry, in an attempt to program our minds to seek out those hot signals.  Our ride to Colchester from London was a bit late this morning due to traffic.  That put us out in the fields a little later than normal at 1:30.  We hunted until 6pm.  Clarence is cleaning up our finds right now and it looks like there might be some good ones along with our junk.  Clarence has a long, thin piece (possible spoon handle?)with some interesting designs on it.  In my non-expert opinion, I think it might be Viking or Saxon.  We'll see what our fearless leader says when he picks us up tomorrow morning and looks over today's finds.  I found a button with a nice design and some red enamelling showing. It has printing on it but I can't tell what it says. I also have a loom weight, three greenies (copper coins), part of a thimble, a loom weight and some widgets. Clarence has some buttons, a small piece of chain that looks old, a bale seal, a mount and even more widgets.The bodies are tired, so we going to bed early (9:30) in hopes of being rested and raring to go at 8am Check back tomorrow for an update.  Hopefully I will get used to this smaller keyboard on this netbook soon.  Please overlook any typos.  Until tomorrow...