My Metal Detectors » Archive
Metal Detecting and Finding Nothing or Just Junk
There are times when every metal detectorist spends hours walking across fields or on beaches in all kinds of weathers and finds nothing. Then again there may be signals a plenty but having dug...and dug.... and dug again the only 'treasure' you have to show for your efforts is a bag full of scrap metal. It's a bit like fishing in that respect. You can spend hours waiting for a bite and get none at all or just something that insults you with its size or importance. Do you ever ask yourself why you're out here in the wind and the rain for a few hours when you could be at home, in the pub, or in the cinema? Unless you're extremely lucky or you confine your detecting to sites that … Read entire article »
Filed under: General
New Pastures To Explore
I've had a bit of luck on the permission front lately. I know have about 50 acres of pasture to explore. A lot of it is flat land used for grazing for horses so the grass is short and in the current climate the digging is easy as long as I wait until the sun has been on the ground for a little while. Some of the land is slopped and that makes detecting less easy. I'm inclined (pun intended) to think that sloped ground is best tackled from the bottom of the slop up rather that along the incline or down it, but it depends on the angle. This area is quite steep so I'll leave it until last. One field's soil is very chalky while the field next door is … Read entire article »
Filed under: General
Out With A New Minelab X-Terra 705
After lots of letter writing and follow up phone calls I have at last got some new land on which to detect. Two land owners have given me the green light. It's all pasture as opposed to arable land, so on the one hand it's a lot easier on the legs and there's less mud in wet weather, but on the other hand the soil hasn't been turned for decades, if at all. Happily, last Saturday was a mild January day with sunny outbreaks so it was perfect weather with soft soil in which to dig. I didn't find anything of historic interest, just lots of evidence of those who have used the land in the most recent decades; an old badge, caps from containers, a lock, some drawer handles etc, … Read entire article »
Filed under: General
Mudlark Finds Roman Brothel Token By Thames
With a history of human habitation that dates back over two thousand years it's hardly surprising that the Thames riverbank continues to reveal interesting finds to mudlarks who have permission search its muddy shore. Now, someone described as an 'amateur archeologist armed with a metal detector' has found a brothel token in the Thameside mud. The story first appeared in the Daily Mail as is also covered in today's Daily Telegraph. It describes how the coin which depicts a couple engage in an 'intimate act' was probably used by Roman soldiers to pay for sex in a brothel. The token was found by near Putney Bridge by Regis Cursan, a pastry chef by trade. The token was preserved against corrosion by the mud of the Thames and it's the first of its kind … Read entire article »
Filed under: Finds
New Year, New Detector
I took the new X-Terra 705 out the other day for a quick test. The field I have access to contains a winter wheat crop so although the farmer had already agreed that I could detect there until March I rang him anyway to wish him a Happy New Year and to check that it was still OK to detect. He was still happy for me to detect as long as the holes were properly filled back in so as to do as little damage as possible to the roots of the new crop. However, when I arrived at the field it was obvious that the mild weather meant that the crop had grown more than expected and consequently I didn't want to disturb it all, so I spent a short … Read entire article »
Filed under: General
Christmas 2011 – X-Terra 705
Look what Father Christmas left for me on Christmas morning - a Minelab X-Terra 705, a book on British coins, and a new digging tool! The X-Terra 705 is of course two steps up from my first detector, the X-Terra 305. I have leap-frogged over the X-Terra 505 and gone straight to the third in this range. The features for the 705 speak for themselves. It's going to be interesting comparing the two and the first thing I will do is lay out a selection of the finds discovered with the 305 and run the 705 over them to compare the tones and target IDs. I can also sell my trusty X-Terra 305 and let someone new to MD start with a detector that I have found both easy to use and productive … Read entire article »
Filed under: General
The Dark Ages Weren’t So Dark After All
With the gradual decline and eventual collapse of the light of the Roman Empire our school books have taught us that Britain and the rest of Europe entered the Dark Ages around 600AD. We were taught that these gloomy decades of cultural, economic, and social deterioration continued until the Middle Ages when the light returned in the form of the Renaissance. However, is this an accurate depiction of these centuries? Were the historians of yesteryear so biased towards classical Greek and Roman civilisation that the saw no merit in the discoveries made by those that came after them? A navigational device used by the Vikings may be just one example of how these 'barbarians' had more tricks up their sleeves than raping, pillaging, and burning old Roman villas. A 'sunstone' made of … Read entire article »
Filed under: History
How Terry Herbert Found The Staffordshire Hoard With His Minelab Metal Detector
Terry Herbert, Finder of “The Staffordshire Hoard” and member of Bloxwich Research and Metal Detecting Club talks with Gordon Heritage about his spectacular golden finds.... that made him a millionaire! An enthralling story with fantastic photographs of a unique hoard, including Terry’s story on how his trusty Minelab Explorer II played its part in the process. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Finds
