🥇 BANNER New Random Field - Day 4 - Hammered + ROMAN GOLD COIN (Wish List No.3)...

CRUSADER

Rhodium Member
Joined
May 25, 2007
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Golden Thread
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Location
ENGLAND
🥇 Banner finds
27
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
XP Deus II v0.6 with 11" Coil
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
We returned close to where we had marked off & I made a judgement call on the area Cru'dad could grid in a day (enough to finish up against our previous grid), so that I could grid right at my pace & Cru'dad could grid left at his slower pace. Saves me having to turn at the end of runs & finish his grid. (wastes time going back to the start, especially on large area grids)
As luck would have it the Roman Gold was half way on my 2nd run! It's pretty heavy clay & I picked up the lump with it in & saw the rim of a gold coin. Immediately thought Gold Coin but before giving it more thought, I cracked open the lump to see a bust I immediately recognised as either Magnetius/Decentius. I think there was then a lot of '''I've done it''. I turned around to Cru'dad & shouted ''Gold'', of course Roman Gold is furthest from our minds, but then I added ''Roman Gold'' & took it to him before taking off the reverse side of the lump, so we could see it together. We found no other signs of Roman activity & our best guess is they came off the nearby main road & rested on this hillock. This actually fitted my previous prediction that we won't find one on one of a 50 Roman Sites but on one of our ''Random Fields'' (ie. not a site, with no intel) with nothing else on it. (which funny enough is what I called this field in my posts!)
It's taken us 16,569 Roman Bronze Coins & 370 Roman Silver to get this 1 & to be honest I wasn't sure we ever would. (35 years of effort)The timing is perfect as they are trying to amend the Treasure Act to include single Gold Coins of this period, but the amendment has been held up by COVID.:icon_thumright: Otherwise I would hand it in & a local Museum would probably buy it. We phoned the landowner immediately & he saw the coin & the find-spot. (We will give him half the value to keep it)
No Silver before lunch but I then went on to get all the silver for the day, Cru'dad just getting some odds & ends...

5 Hours Gridding;

18th Light Dragoon's Officer Button (late 18th C) - First for me.
2 Unknown Pewter Buttons
Tudor Strap-end
2 small Leather Mounts - Kings Head & a 17th C type
Larger Horse Harness Mount - 18th-19th C
3 17th C Buckles
1944 Sixpence
1891 Shilling
1582 Lizzy Sixpence
(Funny thing was, we got no hammered in the big grid but as soon as I started heading off the the car I got it!)
1804 John Death London Silver Spoon
Gold Solidus of Mag. AD350-51 Trier Mint:headbang: (The condition is amazing)

Hard call but I think this beats our best day of 3 Celtic Gold (I had 2, Cru'dad 1) earlier this year.


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Update

UPDATE:
Sorry can't add to top post anymore, here is an XRF of the coin.
My mate who did this for me stated the actual smelt metal would be a higher %age of gold because the surface is contaminated by the ground.
View attachment 2028961
 

Last edited by a moderator:
Upvote 112
I see... I'm sorry to hear that...
It's not a big deal everything we dig has it.(Doesn't harm the gold, only the copper coins) The point was that its purer gold than the analysis because of the surface stuff.
 

It's not a big deal everything we dig has it.(Doesn't harm the gold, only the copper coins) The point was that its purer gold than the analysis because of the surface stuff.
Oh...then it wasn't too big of a deal...whew...
 

My good friend, I’ve been a ghost on this forum for several months now. I came on here today just to congratulate you at an important milestone. This is a find of a lifetime which I know you’ve been hoping for for decades now. You deserve it, with as hard as you work at this hobby. HUGE congrats my friend!
 

The gold percentage is irrelevant, its numismatic value is much greater than the gold content.
It's relevance to me was Historic, the %age interested me from that angle.
 

My good friend, I’ve been a ghost on this forum for several months now. I came on here today just to congratulate you at an important milestone. This is a find of a lifetime which I know you’ve been hoping for for decades now. You deserve it, with as hard as you work at this hobby. HUGE congrats my friend!
Yeap, it's been crossing my mind for years & was in many a conversation & joke. Now got to fill my head with something different.
 

We returned close to where we had marked off & I made a judgement call on the area Cru'dad could grid in a day (enough to finish up against our previous grid), so that I could grid right at my pace & Cru'dad could grid left at his slower pace. Saves me having to turn at the end of runs & finish his grid. (wastes time going back to the start, especially on large area grids)
As luck would have it the Roman Gold was half way on my 2nd run! It's pretty heavy clay & I picked up the lump with it in & saw the rim of a gold coin. Immediately thought Gold Coin but before giving it more thought, I cracked open the lump to see a bust I immediately recognised as either Magnetius/Decentius. I think there was then a lot of '''I've done it''. I turned around to Cru'dad & shouted ''Gold'', of course Roman Gold is furthest from our minds, but then I added ''Roman Gold'' & took it to him before taking off the reverse side of the lump, so we could see it together. We found no other signs of Roman activity & our best guess is they came off the nearby main road & rested on this hillock. This actually fitted my previous prediction that we won't find one on one of a 50 Roman Sites but on one of our ''Random Fields'' (ie. not a site, with no intel) with nothing else on it. (which funny enough is what I called this field in my posts!)
It's taken us 16,569 Roman Bronze Coins & 370 Roman Silver to get this 1 & to be honest I wasn't sure we ever would. (35 years of effort)The timing is perfect as they are trying to amend the Treasure Act to include single Gold Coins of this period, but the amendment has been held up by COVID.:icon_thumright: Otherwise I would hand it in & a local Museum would probably buy it. We phoned the landowner immediately & he saw the coin & the find-spot. (We will give him half the value to keep it)
No Silver before lunch but I then went on to get all the silver for the day, Cru'dad just getting some odds & ends...

5 Hours Gridding;

18th Light Dragoon's Officer Button (late 18th C) - First for me.
2 Unknown Pewter Buttons
Tudor Strap-end
2 small Leather Mounts - Kings Head & a 17th C type
Larger Horse Harness Mount - 18th-19th C
3 17th C Buckles
1944 Sixpence
1891 Shilling
1582 Lizzy Sixpence
(Funny thing was, we got no hammered in the big grid but as soon as I started heading off the the car I got it!)
1804 John Death London Silver Spoon
Gold Solidus of Mag. AD350-51 Trier Mint:headbang: (The condition is amazing)

Hard call but I think this beats our best day of 3 Celtic Gold (I had 2, Cru'dad 1) earlier this year.


View attachment 2024455View attachment 2024456View attachment 2024457View attachment 2024458View attachment 2024459View attachment 2024460View attachment 2024461View attachment 2024462View attachment 2024463View attachment 2024464View attachment 2024465

Update
Fantastic find.I wish I could did up Romans here in California like Graeme does up in Cumbria.
 

We returned close to where we had marked off & I made a judgement call on the area Cru'dad could grid in a day (enough to finish up against our previous grid), so that I could grid right at my pace & Cru'dad could grid left at his slower pace. Saves me having to turn at the end of runs & finish his grid. (wastes time going back to the start, especially on large area grids)
As luck would have it the Roman Gold was half way on my 2nd run! It's pretty heavy clay & I picked up the lump with it in & saw the rim of a gold coin. Immediately thought Gold Coin but before giving it more thought, I cracked open the lump to see a bust I immediately recognised as either Magnetius/Decentius. I think there was then a lot of '''I've done it''. I turned around to Cru'dad & shouted ''Gold'', of course Roman Gold is furthest from our minds, but then I added ''Roman Gold'' & took it to him before taking off the reverse side of the lump, so we could see it together. We found no other signs of Roman activity & our best guess is they came off the nearby main road & rested on this hillock. This actually fitted my previous prediction that we won't find one on one of a 50 Roman Sites but on one of our ''Random Fields'' (ie. not a site, with no intel) with nothing else on it. (which funny enough is what I called this field in my posts!)
It's taken us 16,569 Roman Bronze Coins & 370 Roman Silver to get this 1 & to be honest I wasn't sure we ever would. (35 years of effort)The timing is perfect as they are trying to amend the Treasure Act to include single Gold Coins of this period, but the amendment has been held up by COVID.:icon_thumright: Otherwise I would hand it in & a local Museum would probably buy it. We phoned the landowner immediately & he saw the coin & the find-spot. (We will give him half the value to keep it)
No Silver before lunch but I then went on to get all the silver for the day, Cru'dad just getting some odds & ends...

5 Hours Gridding;

18th Light Dragoon's Officer Button (late 18th C) - First for me.
2 Unknown Pewter Buttons
Tudor Strap-end
2 small Leather Mounts - Kings Head & a 17th C type
Larger Horse Harness Mount - 18th-19th C
3 17th C Buckles
1944 Sixpence
1891 Shilling
1582 Lizzy Sixpence
(Funny thing was, we got no hammered in the big grid but as soon as I started heading off the the car I got it!)
1804 John Death London Silver Spoon
Gold Solidus of Mag. AD350-51 Trier Mint:headbang: (The condition is amazing)

Hard call but I think this beats our best day of 3 Celtic Gold (I had 2, Cru'dad 1) earlier this year.


View attachment 2024455View attachment 2024456View attachment 2024457View attachment 2024458View attachment 2024459View attachment 2024460View attachment 2024461View attachment 2024462View attachment 2024463View attachment 2024464View attachment 2024465

Update
Outstanding!! That's one hell of a lump there
 

Congratulations! What a feeling it must be to bring something of that magnitude back to light!
 

We returned close to where we had marked off & I made a judgement call on the area Cru'dad could grid in a day (enough to finish up against our previous grid), so that I could grid right at my pace & Cru'dad could grid left at his slower pace. Saves me having to turn at the end of runs & finish his grid. (wastes time going back to the start, especially on large area grids)
As luck would have it the Roman Gold was half way on my 2nd run! It's pretty heavy clay & I picked up the lump with it in & saw the rim of a gold coin. Immediately thought Gold Coin but before giving it more thought, I cracked open the lump to see a bust I immediately recognised as either Magnetius/Decentius. I think there was then a lot of '''I've done it''. I turned around to Cru'dad & shouted ''Gold'', of course Roman Gold is furthest from our minds, but then I added ''Roman Gold'' & took it to him before taking off the reverse side of the lump, so we could see it together. We found no other signs of Roman activity & our best guess is they came off the nearby main road & rested on this hillock. This actually fitted my previous prediction that we won't find one on one of a 50 Roman Sites but on one of our ''Random Fields'' (ie. not a site, with no intel) with nothing else on it. (which funny enough is what I called this field in my posts!)
It's taken us 16,569 Roman Bronze Coins & 370 Roman Silver to get this 1 & to be honest I wasn't sure we ever would. (35 years of effort)The timing is perfect as they are trying to amend the Treasure Act to include single Gold Coins of this period, but the amendment has been held up by COVID.:icon_thumright: Otherwise I would hand it in & a local Museum would probably buy it. We phoned the landowner immediately & he saw the coin & the find-spot. (We will give him half the value to keep it)
No Silver before lunch but I then went on to get all the silver for the day, Cru'dad just getting some odds & ends...

5 Hours Gridding;

18th Light Dragoon's Officer Button (late 18th C) - First for me.
2 Unknown Pewter Buttons
Tudor Strap-end
2 small Leather Mounts - Kings Head & a 17th C type
Larger Horse Harness Mount - 18th-19th C
3 17th C Buckles
1944 Sixpence
1891 Shilling
1582 Lizzy Sixpence
(Funny thing was, we got no hammered in the big grid but as soon as I started heading off the the car I got it!)
1804 John Death London Silver Spoon
Gold Solidus of Mag. AD350-51 Trier Mint:headbang: (The condition is amazing)

Hard call but I think this beats our best day of 3 Celtic Gold (I had 2, Cru'dad 1) earlier this year.


View attachment 2024455View attachment 2024456View attachment 2024457View attachment 2024458View attachment 2024459View attachment 2024460View attachment 2024461View attachment 2024462View attachment 2024463View attachment 2024464View attachment 2024465

Update
What i wouldn't give to be an ancheaologist/detectorist in England
 

We returned close to where we had marked off & I made a judgement call on the area Cru'dad could grid in a day (enough to finish up against our previous grid), so that I could grid right at my pace & Cru'dad could grid left at his slower pace. Saves me having to turn at the end of runs & finish his grid. (wastes time going back to the start, especially on large area grids)
As luck would have it the Roman Gold was half way on my 2nd run! It's pretty heavy clay & I picked up the lump with it in & saw the rim of a gold coin. Immediately thought Gold Coin but before giving it more thought, I cracked open the lump to see a bust I immediately recognised as either Magnetius/Decentius. I think there was then a lot of '''I've done it''. I turned around to Cru'dad & shouted ''Gold'', of course Roman Gold is furthest from our minds, but then I added ''Roman Gold'' & took it to him before taking off the reverse side of the lump, so we could see it together. We found no other signs of Roman activity & our best guess is they came off the nearby main road & rested on this hillock. This actually fitted my previous prediction that we won't find one on one of a 50 Roman Sites but on one of our ''Random Fields'' (ie. not a site, with no intel) with nothing else on it. (which funny enough is what I called this field in my posts!)
It's taken us 16,569 Roman Bronze Coins & 370 Roman Silver to get this 1 & to be honest I wasn't sure we ever would. (35 years of effort)The timing is perfect as they are trying to amend the Treasure Act to include single Gold Coins of this period, but the amendment has been held up by COVID.:icon_thumright: Otherwise I would hand it in & a local Museum would probably buy it. We phoned the landowner immediately & he saw the coin & the find-spot. (We will give him half the value to keep it)
No Silver before lunch but I then went on to get all the silver for the day, Cru'dad just getting some odds & ends...

5 Hours Gridding;

18th Light Dragoon's Officer Button (late 18th C) - First for me.
2 Unknown Pewter Buttons
Tudor Strap-end
2 small Leather Mounts - Kings Head & a 17th C type
Larger Horse Harness Mount - 18th-19th C
3 17th C Buckles
1944 Sixpence
1891 Shilling
1582 Lizzy Sixpence
(Funny thing was, we got no hammered in the big grid but as soon as I started heading off the the car I got it!)
1804 John Death London Silver Spoon
Gold Solidus of Mag. AD350-51 Trier Mint:headbang: (The condition is amazing)

Hard call but I think this beats our best day of 3 Celtic Gold (I had 2, Cru'dad 1) earlier this year.


View attachment 2024455View attachment 2024456View attachment 2024457View attachment 2024458View attachment 2024459View attachment 2024460View attachment 2024461View attachment 2024462View attachment 2024463View attachment 2024464View attachment 2024465

Update
What's the story on that spoon? Hallmarks?
 

What's the story on that spoon? Hallmarks?
1804 - Assayed in London
Maker - John Death

In reply to being an archaeologist in the UK, it's something I thought I wanted to do at one stage.
However, because its been commercialised & Privatised it's a race to the bottom. Each unit trying to outbid the other for contracts, so it's poorly paid & they are in a rush to finish. I've worked for/Volunteered with most of the major Archaeological Units & although this is a big generalisation, they are not as happy as I would have expected. (at least the diggers at the coal face so to speak)
 

What i wouldn't give to be an ancheaologist/detectorist in England
Being a detectorist there isn't a big problem.....it just takes money to go there and stay a while.
 

1804 - Assayed in London
Maker - John Death

In reply to being an archaeologist in the UK, it's something I thought I wanted to do at one stage.
However, because its been commercialised & Privatised it's a race to the bottom. Each unit trying to outbid the other for contracts, so it's poorly paid & they are in a rush to finish. I've worked for/Volunteered with most of the major Archaeological Units & although this is a big generalisation, they are not as happy as I would have expected. (at least the diggers at the coal face so to speak)
Really? the guy's last name is Death? Probably pronounced Deeth, but, still.....that would be something I personally would change!
 

Really? the guy's last name is Death? Probably pronounced Deeth, but, still.....that would be something I personally would change!
I know some people with that surname but you guessed it, they pronounce it differently but more like Dee-ath.
 

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