Welsh Neil
New member
It was my first days detecting of the New Year today thanks to an invitation from Phil. Cheers mate!
We headed off with Ron and Ray at 8.30am after Rob had spent the morning cleaning up "Puppy Poo"! I am not sure if the puppy was truly to blame judging by the smell in the Land Rover on our way over the bridge.
Anyway the rumours in South Wales had it that where we were going in deepest darkest England was going to be clear of snow and we all had visions of lush green pastures. Our joint visions was quickly brought back to a frozen Earth as we entered England to find it had received more snow than the whole of Wales combined. It was going to be a chilly day!
After a brief scenic walk and a debate over whether foxes could walk on water or not we were soon in the snow capped pastures.
The first find of the day fell to our host Phil (well its only polite to let him draw first blood). It was in the form of a silver hallmarked ring that had what looked like cubic zaconias set into it. Very Deco in style, but unfortunately modern. Phils first hopes were that it may have been white gold, until he saw the stamp. I know where hes coming from as its quite an intricate design and I am sure his daughter is going to love wearing it.
Not to be outdone the next find of note fell to me in the shape of a lovely hammered half penny that I hope to be one of Henry IV dated 1399-1413. If its not then its one of the following Henrys. It was literally only two inches down in the roots of the grass from a previous plough session I guess. Its my first hamster of the year and a welcome addition. Its a nice feeling getting that first one of the year out of the way - no pressure now for the rest of the year
Phil not to be outdone then quickly produced a silver trapezoid buckle dating 1660-1720 and a William III circa 1696 love token, made as they always seem to be out of a sixpence. Not to be outdone I then found a love token of my own. This one had belonged to someone a bit poorer than Phils find as it was a copper one from around the same date.
The snow was making the day hard going and the Explorers and DFX's were all struggling with iron discrimination. Whether that was down to frozen coils or just the snow I am not sure.
Into another field that could easily be mistaken for a white blanket and Rob uneathed a 50% silver two shilling in lovely condition. Ray joined Robs finds with a chaffing dish handle. It looks like its made out of iron which is unusual as I have only ever found bronze ones before dated to the Medieval period. A nice find though and quite a scarcity.
Rays also found a lovely tinned or pewter sub annular shoe or knee buckle that also dates to around 1660. A real beauty that I would be happy to have in my collection.
Between us we also had the usual smattering of buttons, musket balls and Georgian coins that turn up any hunt in the UK.
With frozen feet and hungry stomachs we headed home through what can only be described as the thickest fog I have ever driven through! It didn't help that I had left my driving glasses at home, so we relied on the Force to drive us home and more luck than judgement.
A great day out with great company in adverse conditions. Extreme detecting at its best.
Cheers
Neil
[attachment 150128 Philring3.JPG]
[attachment 150129 Neilshammeredinthemud.JPG]
[attachment 150131 Hammeredoutofthemud1.JPG]
[attachment 150132 Hammeredoutofthemud2.JPG]
[attachment 150133 Philssilverbuckle.JPG]
[attachment 150134 Explorerinthesnow.JPG]
We headed off with Ron and Ray at 8.30am after Rob had spent the morning cleaning up "Puppy Poo"! I am not sure if the puppy was truly to blame judging by the smell in the Land Rover on our way over the bridge.
Anyway the rumours in South Wales had it that where we were going in deepest darkest England was going to be clear of snow and we all had visions of lush green pastures. Our joint visions was quickly brought back to a frozen Earth as we entered England to find it had received more snow than the whole of Wales combined. It was going to be a chilly day!
After a brief scenic walk and a debate over whether foxes could walk on water or not we were soon in the snow capped pastures.
The first find of the day fell to our host Phil (well its only polite to let him draw first blood). It was in the form of a silver hallmarked ring that had what looked like cubic zaconias set into it. Very Deco in style, but unfortunately modern. Phils first hopes were that it may have been white gold, until he saw the stamp. I know where hes coming from as its quite an intricate design and I am sure his daughter is going to love wearing it.
Not to be outdone the next find of note fell to me in the shape of a lovely hammered half penny that I hope to be one of Henry IV dated 1399-1413. If its not then its one of the following Henrys. It was literally only two inches down in the roots of the grass from a previous plough session I guess. Its my first hamster of the year and a welcome addition. Its a nice feeling getting that first one of the year out of the way - no pressure now for the rest of the year
Phil not to be outdone then quickly produced a silver trapezoid buckle dating 1660-1720 and a William III circa 1696 love token, made as they always seem to be out of a sixpence. Not to be outdone I then found a love token of my own. This one had belonged to someone a bit poorer than Phils find as it was a copper one from around the same date.
The snow was making the day hard going and the Explorers and DFX's were all struggling with iron discrimination. Whether that was down to frozen coils or just the snow I am not sure.
Into another field that could easily be mistaken for a white blanket and Rob uneathed a 50% silver two shilling in lovely condition. Ray joined Robs finds with a chaffing dish handle. It looks like its made out of iron which is unusual as I have only ever found bronze ones before dated to the Medieval period. A nice find though and quite a scarcity.
Rays also found a lovely tinned or pewter sub annular shoe or knee buckle that also dates to around 1660. A real beauty that I would be happy to have in my collection.
Between us we also had the usual smattering of buttons, musket balls and Georgian coins that turn up any hunt in the UK.
With frozen feet and hungry stomachs we headed home through what can only be described as the thickest fog I have ever driven through! It didn't help that I had left my driving glasses at home, so we relied on the Force to drive us home and more luck than judgement.
A great day out with great company in adverse conditions. Extreme detecting at its best.
Cheers
Neil
[attachment 150128 Philring3.JPG]
[attachment 150129 Neilshammeredinthemud.JPG]
[attachment 150131 Hammeredoutofthemud1.JPG]
[attachment 150132 Hammeredoutofthemud2.JPG]
[attachment 150133 Philssilverbuckle.JPG]
[attachment 150134 Explorerinthesnow.JPG]
here in Maine USA we are totally frozen in and covered with a couple feet of snow so too see your finds is a treat thanks for sharing the pics Welsh Neil .
I suspect that you were hunting in farm fields by the size of your shovel. If we used that type of digging tool in say city and state parks here in the US we would be shot and banned forever at detecting. We have already lost thousands of acres to detect on and using that type of tool would put the final nail in the coffin of a wonderful hobby that we want to keep open for everyone. All you new-bee's out there I would ask that you please don't use that type of digging tool in our parks.