BS: British Metal Detecting !

Subject: BS: British Metal Detecting !
From: olddude
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 08:13 AM

What the heck, just heard on the news here that one of your 3 year old's found a 500 year old 4 million dollar necklace while his dad was teaching him how to do it .. Now here in the States, I will do metal detecting for fun. I find quite a lot of old beer cans, pop tops and the occasional 1944 penny. What the heck .. every time on TV I hear you guys finding Roman gold and every other thing. I say quit your job, buy a detector and go on a mission. That works ... holy cow

Subject: RE: BS: British Metal Detecting !
From: Beer
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 08:40 AM

Great hobby. I have a Garrett Ace 250 which I purchased about three years ago and only have used it about two times. I keep promising myself to start again but the time just slips by. I use to do it on a frequent basis and have found wrings coins and other trinkets.
Ad.

Subject: RE: BS: British Metal Detecting !
From: Stu
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 09:12 AM

Used in conjunction with modern archeological techniques metal detectors are a useful tool., and are great fun on the beach coinshooting. The chap who found the Staffordshire hoard collected useful data and informed the portable antiquities scheme too - a credit to the hobby. Unfortunately in the wrong hands they have the potential to do real damage; nighthawking and other illegal metal detectorist activity is the scourge of British archeology. If finds are simply dug up without recording their location and context then they are rendered worthless.

I dread to think how much of our shared heritage goes straight to eBay.

Subject: RE: BS: British Metal Detecting !
From: olddude
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 09:25 AM

Never thought of that Jack, I suspect you are right sadly ... I really like ebay stopping the sale now of ancient Indian artifacts here in the US. The arrow heads and other points were selling at pretty high prices so people would go out in the woods, find a site and ebay everything .. like you folks history was lost. Especially my area were the Erie Indians lived and we know little about the "cat people"

Subject: RE: BS: British Metal Detecting !
From: Stu
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 10:45 AM

It's a real problem olddude, not helped by the somewhat nonsensical laws of treasure trove the UK has. Recently we lost the Crosby Garrett helmet due to the fact it was not made of precious metal. The fact that it effectively makes no difference to the value of the helmet doesn't matter; it's been purchased by an undisclosed buyer and will not be on display at the museum in Cumbria where it belongs, so the public can view it and it's accessible to researchers. That it might have disappeared into the private collection of some rich individual or corporate buyer is too awful to bear thinking about. Le4t's hope the buyer is a person of substance and donates it back to the museum in Cumbria it was being displayed at.

Don't get me started on palaeontological specimens being sold too . . . I get really angry about that.

Subject: RE: BS: British Metal Detecting !
From: Van
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 12:26 PM

Here in Margate in summer the beach is crawling with people with metal detectors after the day trippers are gone. I doubt very much that the rings etc that they find ever find their way to a lost property office!

But they're probably not worth as much as a Roman helmet.

Subject: RE: BS: British Metal Detecting !
From: olddude
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 02:12 PM

Jack
what a disgrace, that helmet is a national treasure. No one should own it, yea compensate the guy that found it but selling it !!!   My God is nothing safe from the dollar anymore ..

Good Grief .. I am shocked

Subject: RE: BS: British Metal Detecting !
From: GUEST,erbert
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 02:29 PM

About 15 years ago I detected a few members of "Iron Maiden"
drinking in a pub in East Ham !

Subject: RE: BS: British Metal Detecting !
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 02:35 PM

It was a reliquary (kind of locket thing to hold religious artefact in). In Billericay.. not too far from us. Makes me want to dig up the back garden. If we weren't in flats, I would.

too lazy to make blue clicky

http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2010/11/18/three-year-old-finds-%C2%A32-5m-treasure-with-metal-detector/

pic of the reliquary

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=518383&in_page_id=2

Subject: RE: BS: British Metal Detecting !
From: olddude
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 02:52 PM

Can I visit ya Tam, I bring me detector LOL

Subject: RE: BS: British Metal Detecting !
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 02:58 PM

you should try my Mom's back yard... I younger brother took her (rather extensive) coin collection and rolled the coins off the roof.