Treasure hunter earns £500,000 after his metal detector reveals 52,000 Roman coins
A treasure hunter will have a £500,000 payday after locating Britain's largest collection of Roman coins. Dave Crisp, 63, found the hoard of 52,000 coins, which date from the third century, buried in a field near Frome, Somerset. Crisp had spent 22 years pursuing his hobby, touring fields with his metal detector before hitting the jackpot in April 2010. "The significant thing for me is that I am the person who has made the biggest discovery of Roman coins ever found in Britain. I will keep working until I retire next year and will definitely continue with my hobby." (dailymail.co.uk)
Metal detectorist discovered 500-year-old find gold-plated crucifix
When amateur metal detectorist Matthew Webb discovered a rare 500-year-old crucifix in a field, he assumed it was just another piece of lead. "The crucifix felt very heavy for its size. It had rounded edges and when I got it out of my pocket and rubbed it, I thought it looked quite good. I realised it was a crucifix, but I thought it was modern." As a metal detecting enthusiast, webb has found an unexploded German bomb, Roman coins and jewellery. But the crucifix is his rarest find and has been declared "treasure trove" - meaning its value will be split between Webb and the landowner. (newburytoday.co.uk)
David Booth reveals how he found £1m treasure - 5 days after he bought his metal detector
David Booth recalls his 1 million pounds discovery on his first ever try with a metal detector. The safari park keeper spotted 4 gold necklaces 7 paces from where he'd parked his car as he set out with his new metal detector. The 2000-year-old jewellery he dug up from a Stirlingshire field is now Treasure Trove and David will get a reward based on its market value. "I drove my car to a field, parked in it, took my metal detector out... It flashed to indicate that I had found gold 7 paces away from the car... 6-8 inches down, I saw a glimpse of one of them... I was completely stunned - there was total disbelief." (dailyrecord.co.uk)
Treasure hunter unearths a collection of silver items from English Civil War -era
Treasure hunter Arthur Haig was metal detecting on a farm when he was called over by a woman, who asked him if he could look in her garden to find a gold charm bracelet she'd lost. "In the course of looking for it, I came across the silver hoard in a broken ceramic pot." The find included 4 silver spoons, a goblet in two parts and a bell salt - engraved with the letters CGA - dating from 1603-1630. The items most likely belonged to Angel and Catherine Grey, the owners of Stowey Court at that time. The silver hoard was probably not hidden by the Greys, as they survived the Civil War and would have recovered it. (somersetcountygazette.co.uk)
Metal detector fans find two priceless artefacts: 16th century gold ring, 13th century silver dagge
Two metal detectorists have unearthed priceless items dating back centuries, an inquest in Welshpool revealed. A gold ring dating back to the late 16th/early 17th century, inscribed with the italic words, "forget-me-not" was discovered by Simon Chiles in farmland at Sarn. And a remnant of a very rare silver dagger dating back to the 13th or 14th century was discovered on farmland at Brecon by Stephen Williams. "The chape is the lower end of a silver dagger ... which is at least 10% silver. Such examples from this Anglo-Norman period are virtually unknown, they were latterly made of sheet metal," explained Mark Redknapp, curator of the National Museum of Wales. (walesonline.co.uk)
Largest haul of Anglo-Saxon treasure in UK discovered, includes 1,500 gold and silver pieces
The UK's boggest haul of Anglo-Saxon treasure has been discovered in a field in Staffordshire. Experts say the collection of 1,500 gold and silver pieces is unique in size and worth "a 7-figure sum". It has been declared treasure by coroner Andrew Haigh, meaning it belongs to the Crown. Terry Herbert, who found it using a metal detector, said it "was what metal detectorists dream of". The Staffordshire hoard contains 5kg of gold and 2.5kg of silver, making it far bigger than the Sutton Hoo discovery in 1939 when 1.5kg of Anglo-Saxon gold was found near Woodbridge in Suffolk. Herbert has been metal detecting for 18 years. (bbc.co.uk)
South African shipwreck treasure hunter has to wait a decade to excavate treasure
Bureaucracy has kept treasure hunter Charlie Shapiro away from the 224-year-old wreck of the Brederode, loaded with porcelain, tin and gold from Indonesia and China. One of Shapiro's richest finds lies waiting in the ocean a decade after its discovery, at risk from ransackers. Shapiro found the 224-year-old shipwreck of the Dutch Brederode 11 years ago, but a series of mishaps has left him still waiting for government to grant him a permit to recover its 10.1 M pounds cargo. From combing archives in Europe and South Africa, to a 16-year search and against-the-odds discovery of an amazingly well-preserved ship, his tale is literally of a treasure hunt. (telegraph.co.uk)
10,000 Roman coins unearthed by metal detector enthusiast - on his first treasure hunt
A huge haul of over 10,000 Roman coins has been discovered by an amateur metal detecting enthusiast - on his first treasure hunt. The silver and bronze 'nummi' coins, dating 240AD-320AD, were discovered in a field near Shrewsbury, in Shropshire. Nick Davies was on his first treasure hunt when he discovered the coins, mostly inside a buried 70lb clay pot. The stunning collection of coins was uncovered by Nick only a month after he took up the hobby of metal detecting. He said he never expected to find anything on his first treasure hunt - especially anything of any value - depicting the discovery as "fantastically exciting". (dailymail.co.uk)