This chapter is given over to the results of much dedicated hard work by a number of colleagues. Do not think for one minute that finds of this quality are the result of good luck: the friends who have given me the opportunity to show these fabulous items have more than 200 years of dedicated detecting experience between them.

An impressive haul of silver jewellery, together weighing about 1kg.

What these finds show is that, if you take up the hobby after reading this book and follow the advice given throughout, the opportunity definitely exists for comparable finds to come your way. I have just been told of what could be a truly significant find by a metal detector in northern England. The word is that a hoard of more than 800 Celtic gold stater coins has been discovered, each of which could be valued at around £800. The possible total could be as much as £640,000. Just how must the detectorist and the landowner be feeling? Which one of us is going to beat that?

I will start by showing some of the better pieces of jewellery we have found and then move on to a range of historic finds found by other detectorists of my acquaintance. Some will be quite small individual items and others will be collections built up over many years.

The dream of most detectorists is to find or be part of a group that finds a hoard. The closest I have ever come to finding one was when I was able to assist another member who uncovered a hoard on a club site. The definition of a hoard is when related items or artefacts are found in close proximity and are usually considered to have been hidden or buried with the intention that they should be recovered at a later date. While the public image of a hoard would probably be a pot full of gold coins, a hoard can consist of coins, jewellery, tools or mixed artefacts.

MODERN JEWELLERY FINDS

The large platinum ring inset with three diamonds shown in the accompanying photograph as weighing in at an impressive 27 grams, giving it a scrap value at the time of writing of more than £690, was found in about 10cm of water at the very edge of a lagoon. This confirms my earlier advice (see Chapter 14) that when searching in the water it is important to detect right up to the very edge of the beach. Many of my best finds have come from underwater.

Two resplendent jewelled pieces in my collection are of particular interest since they are related to one another. The pendant and ring shown overleaf were found three years and 500km apart in Spain. Coincidently they were both found in storm gullies about 1.5m below the normal beach level (see Chapter 12). They are copies, rather than fakes, and are inspired by a collection of Cartier panther or leopard pieces designed and made for the Duchess of Windsor by Jeanne Toussaint during the 1940s. These copies are typically produced in the Gold Souk in Dubai; the pendant, which contains 45 grams of 18ct gold and is set with diamonds and sapphires, is valued at £2,880, and the similarly constructed ring is valued at £460.

A ‘Cartier’ leopard pendant and ring, valued together at nearly £3,500.

A stunning 5 carat ruby ring found in France.

My wife was responsible for finding the stunning ruby ring opposite on the same bridle path near Béziers that produced the 1576 double sol parisis of Henri III discussed in Chapter 8. It is 18ct gold and dated 1932, and I am advised the ruby weighs 5 carats.

Unfortunately not every Rolex Oyster watch that’s found is genuine; this one’s a fake.

A most unusual find I came across underwater in Spain is a silver pendant that opens out to form a cross. When closed it represents an orb, with no indication that it opens. By pulling on a hidden point with a fingernail, however, the orb rolls out to form a cross made up of pyramidal sections, each of which is engraved on its four sides. Its real beauty, though, is in the intricate engineering that has gone into it. I used to think it was a sort of concealed crucifix, but I have recently been led to believe it might be a fob or pendant used by the Masonic Order. I doubt whether it is particularly valuable, but it is a notable display piece and always of interest to audiences.

HISTORIC FINDS

The collection of items and displays illustrated here have been found by detectorists in various regions of the country. Their finds may not necessarily have a high monetary value, but all are of historical value and prized by them for that reason.

All of the detectorists had full permission to search from the appropriate landowner and followed the approved codes of conduct as recommended in publications available from the Finds Liaison Officer via your local museum (see Chapter 10).

TWO IMPORTANT CASE STUDIES

Either by coincidence or through extraordinary diligence, two of the most significant historic finds made within the general area of North Wiltshire in recent years were made by the same detectorist, Pete Hyams, the first of them being with his ‘buddy’ Ken James. The two accounts that follow both draw upon his reports of the finds and his memories of the protracted course of events until they were installed in Swindon Museum.

Wyvern/Wanborough Hoard

The first of these spectacular finds concerns a hoard of Roman coins found by Pete Hyams and Ken James on 31 May 2000 on a site that had been arranged for the use of the Wyvern Historical and Detector Society (WHDS).

Club searches normally take place on a Sunday, but since the field had just been seeded it was decided to hold a search that evening. Pete Hyams was a relative newcomer to the hobby but Ken James was an experienced detectorist. After about half an hour Pete picked up a signal that he recognized as probably being silver. He recovered the item, cleaned off the soil and identified it as a denarius. Soon another denarius turned, followed by more. Following club rules, he called over Dave Ebbage, the club’s site officer. By the time he arrived the total had reached ten. Soon everyone joined in the search and coins were being found over an area of ploughed topsoil 10m in diameter. Dave informed the landowner and asked permission to dig down to retrieve the deeper signals concentrated in a patch 2m square in the centre. This main area was then roped off.

As Ken, Dave and Pete started to remove the soil in layers, Pete took photographs of each stage, making sure to include an object of known scale in each photograph. There was no sign of a container; the deepest coin recovered was at 30cm. The whole process took about three hours.

At home Pete carefully washed the coins individually in warm distilled water. He then scanned both sides of all the coins into his computer to provide an accurate record of the find and their condition. The hoard contained a total of 161 denarii, all dated to the reigns of emperors from ad 68 through to ad 180. The emperors represented included Vespasian, Domitian, Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. An unusual inclusion was Hadrian’s adopted successor, Aelius Caesar, who died shortly before his patron.

They returned to the site the following morning to check it thoroughly for any more coins before putting all the soil back in place. The area was then reseeded. That evening Pete presented the collection to the landowner before handing it over to the correct authorities. In compliance with the Treasure Act the Swindon Coroner was informed of the finds after the weekend.

A week later Pete, Ken and Dave handed the hoard of 161 coins over to the then Curator of the Swindon Museum, Isabella Thompson. Pete made sure that he was given his ‘Treasure Receipt’, without which he would have no title to the hoard.

Not long after the Coroner convened the inquest, which was attended by the finders, the landowner and a representative from Swindon Museum. The Coroner examined the coins and heard all the evidence, before declaring that the coins were Treasure. Then, with due correctness, he ‘seized the coins on behalf of the Crown’ and declared that from then on they would be referred to as the ‘Wyvern/Wanborough Hoard’.

The hoard was transferred from the Swindon Museum to the British Museum for cataloguing, cleaning and valuation. After six months the British Museum confirmed that it had no interest in the hoard (denarii are not that rare at national level) and, under the procedure laid out in the Treasure Act, the coins were then offered to other museums in the country.

Swindon Museum indicated that it wished to acquire the hoard. It took nearly two years from the discovery of the hoard to compensation being paid to the landowner and to Pete Hyams, since it took this long for the museum to raise the £4,000 at which the Government Valuation Committee had valued it.

In accordance with the contractual arrangement, this sum was divided equally between the landowner and Pete, who in turn followed the arrangement that many detecting buddies have by splitting his share fifty-fifty with Ken James.

The detector with which Pete found the hoard was a Spectrum Eagle made by White’s of Inverness. News of the find was posted on the company’s website and Pete received a new White’s XLT detector from the company as a reward for all the positive publicity.

The Saxon Warrior at Wroughton

A few months later, on 11 November 2000, Pete Hyams also discovered the next find – ‘why couldn’t it be me’, said most of the club – on land that he had received permission to detect on following a chance conversation with a friend of the farmer. He was invited to search the land right away, and over the following two years he found artefacts ranging from Roman finds to Victorian coins. The search map that he made shows a good spread of finds in that particular field and those around.

The field is next to a lay-by and rubbish thrown over the wall led to a large amount of junk showing up in the area but very few finds. Late in the day he started working through the junk, hoping to clear it in case there were some finds beneath. Eventually he heard a more interesting non-ferrous signal. Easing the soil away from the item, it appeared to be a damaged tasting cup or brooch. With time running out he tidied the site, marked the find and went home

Soaking the find in warm distilled water revealed that, although the ‘brooch’ had suffered plough damage, it was made of bronze and partly gilded, and certainly a significant find of considerable beauty.

The following morning he returned to the site, found the marker and commenced a search, starting with a gridiron pattern on an area of 5m square. Further junk was removed from the site but there were no more significant finds. He then started a double gridiron search pattern (see Chapter 4) and on this second search the detector indicated a good solid signal. He dug around the area of the signal before raking the soil away by hand, using a pinpoint detector to locate the target. There in the hole was the undamaged twin of the brooch he had already found, in original condition and of Saxon style.

Map of the field where the Saxon warrior was buried, showing the spread of finds. (Peter Hyams)

Nearby there were some small bones that possibly appeared to be human. Following the correct procedure, as it is illegal to remove anything from a gravesite, he informed the farmer of the finds and the rules concerning discoveries of this possible importance, particularly if a body could be buried there. Pete was just in time, since the following morning the field was scheduled to be deep ploughed, which would have destroyed the site. His only option was to rope off the area around the finds and stay there until the tractor had finished ploughing.

The next day he took the brooches and bones to the Swindon Museum. They advised him to report the discovery to the police. After a few days the police reported that the forensic department considered the bones to be from animals and were of no interest. Unwilling to let things go, he decided to contact Wiltshire Archaeology so that they could look more closely at the site.

Bernard Phillips, a respected local independent archaeologist, undertook an emergency excavation of the site with the permission of the landowner. His official report (reproduced in full, with his kind permission, in Appendix One) is both clear and concise.

The then County Archaeologist for Wiltshire, Roy Canham, described the find as significant and exciting, and complimented Pete on the responsible way in which he had acted and told the museum and archaeologists about the find so quickly.

Excavation revealed two bodies. Many friends and detectorists visited the site to observe the work and help where they could. When the sword was ready to be lifted from the grave, Bernard Phillips turned to Pete and said, ‘Peter, I think you should have the honour of lifting the sword’.

The warrior’s sword, photographed early in 2009 before being placed in the exciting ‘virtual museum’ being created at Swindon Museum. (Swindon Museum and Art Gallery)

As he nervously took hold of the sword’s hilt in order to lift it, Pete experienced a curious feeling. Gently trying to ease up the sword, he found that some of the leather scabbard material near the tip of the blade was not totally free and the blade flexed, as though the warrior was holding on to his sword.

The artefacts removed from the grave were donated to Swindon Museum where they are on display, although you should check with the museum before you plan a visit as the displays are changed periodically.

The whole episode is a fine example of how all the interested parties can work together in a correct and constructive manner towards a successful outcome. It brings together many of the themes discussed throughout this book: