4 Acre Horse Paddock...

[CRUSADER]

Last Sunday we were asked to do a Metal Detecting Display for one of our farmers open days. I enjoy sharing my finds with others but it was a bit of a heart attack watching the kids picking things up. (they loved the cannon ball) This kind of community minded activity often leads to new land without even trying & Sunday was one of those days, funny thing is the farm we were displaying at was offered to us at a display as well (3000 Acres). The field offered was a 4 acre horse paddock field & during our busy period we probably would have declined but it was a perfect gap filler & the recent rain made it more attractive.
It was a 25 minute drive which made all the difference in soil condition, this was sandy instead of heavy clay & it was a joy to dig.
4.5 Hours
Picture 1 - the Field
Picture 2 - the finds we gave the owner, includes the only silver of the day - very worn 1696 William III Shilling (10" deep)

Very pleased with the Cap Badge - 'Royal Marines Light Infantry' - Its one I don't have
1752 Halfpenny
1620-1690 Buckle At nearly 12" this is the oldest find I have had from a grass field that has never been ploughed. Stunning example & another new type to the collection

 

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[JW15]

Well done!!!

 

[worldtalker]

You limy's get all the good spots.Good show Mate,Cheers

 

[shaun7]

Well worth the drive How old's the buckle with the cap badge?

 

[prolab69]

I bet if I were to hunt there, my first signal would be a memorial cent,

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Beautiful Cap Badge Crusader. Very nice save.

 

[HISPAN]

To be honest is the best 17th century buckle to seen in my life,decorative filigree is very strange.
Very beautiful these English fields.
Congratulations!
H

 

[CRUSADER]

Well worth the drive How old's the buckle with the cap badge?

1620-90 Its in great condition & the field has never been ploughed, so found it where it was lost 12" deep

 

[CRUSADER]

To be honest is the best 17th century buckle to seen in my life,decorative filigree is very strange.
Very beautiful these English fields.
Congratulations!
H

Its one of my best 17th C examples & there is not an exact match in the books, just very similar

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Great finds today guys!

As other members have already commented . . . this buckle is by far my favourite too!

I like the picture you took of the field, looks like a storm was coming in.

Dave

 

[Generic_Lad]

Nice buckle! I also like the 1752 halfpenny, it looks excellent for being in the ground for so long.

 

[tuatara]

Just plain WOW buckle

 

[drgeorge]

Good job guys. I have a couple of questions though:
1. What kind of a share aggreement do you usually come to with the property owners? Are most of them greedy or what?
2. What are the laws like there in regards to the local archaeological trusts? Is there a dateline which defines which finds you should report? Is it mandatory to report certain types of artifacts (and not just those which an EOD team would be interested in!)?
Thanks in advance for your replies and answers!!! HH!!!

 

[CRUSADER]

Good job guys. I have a couple of questions though:
1. What kind of a share aggreement do you usually come to with the property owners? Are most of them greedy or what?
2. What are the laws like there in regards to the local archaeological trusts? Is there a dateline which defines which finds you should report? Is it mandatory to report certain types of artifacts (and not just those which an EOD team would be interested in!)?
Thanks in advance for your replies and answers!!! HH!!!

Here goes:

1996 Treasure Act - defines what we have to hand in by Law (this covers anything that is found by eye, by detector or any other recovery process). In short, its anything over 300 years old which has 10% or more Silver or Gold content, not including single coins. But does include 2 or more coins in close proximity. As well as the Gold & Silver it does also cover Bronze Age hoards of bronze axes etc.. You have to hand it in within 14 days of finding it. It goes through a long 2 year process & you either get the item back (if no Museum wishes to buy it), or a Museum pays the Market Value which was agreed by a Valuation Committee made up of lots of different experts. (you can challenge the valuation & have an independent valuation & argue your case)
One of the first questions you have to answer is who is the Land Owner, do you have permission, & what was the agreement. The agreement can be whatever the landowner & yourself agree, ie. I keep it all (100%), 60/40 or 50/50 which is the agreement we have with all our Farmers for Treasure. However, the 50/50 share is only for items that we have to declared by Law. 99.9% of my finds I can keep by Law with the owners permission. As a collector, I like to keep everything, specially if its the only 1 I have. Therefore we agree that I have first refusal on anything I find but if its a high value item we will give 50% of a reasonable sell value to the owner to keep that item (ie. half the cash value). We have built our reputation on showing every farmer EVERYTHING we find on their land. We make no money from it & it costs us a lot to keep rare items. However, every farm has different conditions for when & where we go, & some let us keep everything, but for most owners we give about 25% of the finds (mostly stuff I have several copies of). Some only want the money, but we only give cash for the rare valuable stuff & not everything. If you are fair with them, they respect the time & effort it took & I only have to make the odd sacrifice of a rare object to off set another rare object that I wish to keep (instead of giving out lots of money).
Also we GPS every significant find & give the owners maps of the fields with the finds plotted. We also ID everything for them & give printed descriptions of coins in folders for them to keep. We spent more time logging & IDing/Researching than metal detecting, so the farmers have to factor this in when we trade off who is keeping what. Lastly we provide them with several services: Bird scaring whilst detecting, policing there land for people that shouldn't be there, & the clearing of lots of large pieces of iron etc. which may damage there farming equipment. Also finding any lost tools or tractor parts etc.

So in answer to your question, none of the 30(ish) farmers are greedy, a couple are slightly cheeky, but we have never hidden anything from them & have never fallen out with anyone.

This is our honest approach, very few people are like this & if they were they wouldn't be providing all the maps & IDs as well, so Dad & I (plus a couple of others we detect with) are a rare breed

 

[Silver Searcher]

Great day again during a difficult time and a very nice buckle made the day . On another note regarding your last post :P I have seen it work in a totally different way when showing everything you find,

I can recall on three different occasions of detectorists losing land for showing what they have found, I'm not trying to say you shouldn't do it it, mealy it can go against you.
Some farmers are aware that certain findings can put a spanner in the works, and restrict what they might have to do, regarding what they farm. My mane Farm where I get most of the Roman, the Farmer exprest on us from the start, that he didn't want to know what we had found I was quite OK with that ...One of my good friends showed the Farmer three Gold Staters he found, and explained to him that they would have to be reported, the farmer told him on the next visit that he could not detect on the land again ...it can work against you, I hope it doesn't

SS

 

[drgeorge]

Thanks Crusader for the detailed reply!!!!!!!

 

[CRUSADER]

Great day again during a difficult time and a very nice buckle made the day . On another note regarding your last post :P I have seen it work in a totally different way when showing everything you find,

I can recall on three different occasions of detectorists losing land for showing what they have found, I'm not trying to say you shouldn't do it it, mealy it can go against you.
Some farmers are aware that certain findings can put a spanner in the works, and restrict what they might have to do, regarding what they farm. My mane Farm where I get most of the Roman, the Farmer exprest on us from the start, that he didn't want to know what we had found I was quite OK with that ...One of my good friends showed the Farmer three Gold Staters he found, and explained to him that they would have to be reported, the farmer told him on the next visit that he could not detect on the land again ...it can work against you, I hope it doesn't

SS

THANKS

Hasn't yet, because we explain all this at the start, we make it very clear that we will report everthing we are required to by Law. Its not their call, I as the finder have that responsibility, so if they don't agree we don't detect (never happened). We are aware of the sensitivity around recording too much voluntarily (ie. on the PAS), as this could change what they might be able to do with the land or added expense of Archie Digs, if selling for development. We only share what they agree to & its one of the plus points of our maps. We have our own logs, & share them with the Archies if they are happy. Most farmers like us not to share everything, so we don't (but any Archie saying we robbed the fields of its history can think again). As you know I like to record all Saxon & Celtic Coins which only needs nearest town or whatever I & the owners willing to share.

I do understand what you mean buts its mainly due to misinformed farmers, strange characters or strained relationships, not based on common sense or the true understanding of the Laws or impacts of detecting. Of course, if someone were to say I don't want to see anything (never happened other than when I pay), I would reply 'Are you sure'? & what happens to any Treasure because we will be reporting it. If they were insistant on me not showing, I too would be willing to agree but sad they they had no interest of the history of their land, & sad I couldn't share that with them.
Of course anytime I pay to detect, I take this as a contract to keep everything (other than Treasure). When Shaun7 & I went to a farm where the farmer charges £3, I asked if they wanted to see what I found. He said 'No', I said are your sure, I may get something valuable or interesting, he laughed a little & said he wasn't bothered. I got a Gold Guinea Normally he would be given a payment of at least £50 plus other finds, instead of his £3, but it was his choice.

 

[Bavaria Mike]

Nice finds Crusader, you find the good stuff no matter where you detect, LOL! HH, Mike

 

[CRUSADER]

Nice finds Crusader, you find the good stuff no matter where you detect, LOL! HH, Mike

The buckle wasn't what I was expecting, I said to the owner 'I might get a cap badge' & found a cap badge as my first keeper She was pretty impressed The buckle I told her was 17th C but couldn't quite believe it myself, until I checked.