1www.ncmd.co.uk

ISSUE 7All the latest news from the National Council for Metal Detecting

P1-6 NCMD NewsP7-8 Review of the

Treasure Act Code of Practice – Part 4

P8 Viking silver coinshoard

P9 Crosby GarrettHelmet – why itcannot be treasure

P12-15 Regional NewsP16 Book Reviews

C O N T E N T SOn First Chairing theTreasure ValuationCommittee (2nd June 2011)

The Ministerial letter, from EdVaizey MP, Minister for CultureCommunications and CreativeIndustries, had duly beenreceived, and so here I wasarriving at the decidedly grandHartwell Room (in the directorialand administrative wing at theBritish Museum) to take the Chairfor the first time at the TreasureValuation Committee. I hadalready attended, by invitation, thelast meeting of the retiringchairman, Professor NormanPalmer, and so had then met themembers of the Committee as wellas its staff. On that occasion I hadbeen impressed at the largenumber of items – prehistoric,Roman, Saxon and mediaevalantiquities, and numerous smallcoin hoards – which came beforethe Committee for scrutiny.Amazing how many finds aremade in just a couple of months!

On this occasion the agendaseemed a full one (although I was

told it was lighter than usual), with36 separate finds for considerationand valuation. The aim is to givean accurate estimate of the marketvalue of each find (or group offinds) at the time of discovery, forthe Minister to use to determinethe reward payable. This isnormally shared between thefinder and the land owner when‘treasure’ is discovered andreported. It is important not tounder-value the finds, sincefinders should be properlyrewarded and there must be nopossible financial benefit in failingto report finds.

My first impression is that theCommittee members definitelyknow their stuff – not just aboutthe antiquities and coins, but alsoabout their values! Not only theexperienced metal-detectorist onthe Committee (Trevor Austin) andthe professional dealer, but alsothe museum professionals andnumismatists were able to debate

3 issues for £8.75 only by Direct Debit

Call 01778 392036 Email: subscriptions@

warnersgroup.co.uk

NCMD Newsletter Manager: Trevor AustinPublisher: Editor, Design & Layout: Harry Bain, Searcher Publications LtdTypesetting, Production and Repro: Tradeset LtdPrinted and Distributed by: Warners Midlands PLC, West Street, Bourne, Lincs, PE10 9PH.

prices, quoting recent auctioncatalogues and dealers’ lists. Allmajor finds before us had priorwritten estimates fromprofessional dealers (not on theCommittee) – in cases of doubtmore than one.

Since finders are themselvesinformed of the full range ofestimates put before theCommittee, it is natural that theyshould prefer the highest figure! Sothere can be disappointment whenthat highest figure is not chosen.But the Committee officials haverecords of recent sales. On thisoccasion a compromise wasachieved in each case –sometimes after careful discussion- and to my relief consensus wasreached with every item. I see thatin the years ahead I am going tolearn a good deal about Englishantiquities, and a good deal moreabout their monetary value!

Colin Renfrew

Colin Renfrew

2 www.ncmd.co.uk

English Heritage Corporate plan 2011/2015On the 23 May English Heritage(EH) launched its corporate planat Apsley House in London,speakers included Simon Thurley,Baroness Andrews and MP JohnPenrose minister for Tourism andHeritage.

It is no secret that EnglishHeritage, along with other GrantAid funded bodies, suffered a32% cut in real terms funding atthe beginning of this year, thistranslates into a reduction in theirresources of £51m and has notonly resulted in a reduction in staffbut also the restructuring ofcertain resources. EnglishHeritage will be looking towardsworking more closely with localvolunteer groups, clubs and other

organisations, who it has to besaid already play a large part inlooking after some of our finestbuildings and monuments.

However a number of initiativesand new online facilities wereannounced, the National HeritageProtection Plan (NHPP) which isdesigned to prioritise resourcesthat are put into new designation,improving existing list descriptionsand protecting heritage at risk.Portico, an online portal to someof our most historical sites; thefirst phase of which includes 12detailed Portico entries as well asa brief historical overview for afurther 220 lesser-known butnevertheless fascinating free sitesin English Heritage's care, such as

Dunster Yarn Market in Somerset,Carn Euny an ancient ruinedvillage in Cornwall, Castle AcreCastle in Norfolk and theSandbach Crosses dating from the9th century in Cheshire.

Also online is the NationalHeritage list for England, this is anonline database which bringstogether information on allnationally designated heritageassets in one place for the firsttime. This database is searchableby name, place or map.

How does English Heritage planeffect metal detecting? Well EHwill still be concentrating onheritage crime of which illegalmetal detecting is only a small

part, however one can be forgivenfor thinking that illegal metaldetecting was the only heritagecrime of concern in light ofprevious media attention.

I would also hope that any fundingfor projects such as ‘TheNighthawk Survey’, which was aproject purely designed to gatherinformation and had no realisticlong-term objectives, will in futurebe targeted at minimising the lossof information through consulta-tion and collaboration with theNCMD, something EH has nevercountenanced.

Trevor Austin

New Delegate for NCMD Individual and Associate MembersAt the AGM on the 26th June 2011John Maloney was confirmed as therepresentative for NCMD Individualand Associate Members.

John Writes:

I am an NHS Employee, living inLeicester who discovereddetecting in early 2005 which hasled to many exciting avenuesranging from filming with TimeTeam to running an East MidlandsMD club. I am also themembership secretary of theLeicestershire Fieldworkers Groupand a University of Leicester

Archaeology student The Devilfinds work for volunteers and assuch I was co-opted intorepresenting the Individual andAssociate members of the NCMD.

Any such members are welcometo raise any detecting relatedissues or queries with me forinclusion on the subsequent OGMagenda, my contact details are;

John Maloney2 Margam Close, Heathley Park,Leicester, LE3 9EUjcmaloney@btinternet.comMob: 07766 885581

NCMD Central Register ClubsFor a number of years thesubscription paid by the NCMDClubs on the Central Register hasbeen set at the nominal fee of£6.00 per member. This has been

at variance with the membershipfee paid by both the IndividualMembers and Regional Members.The NCMD have been able toabsorb this shortfall for a number

of years, however in times of risingcosts, it is unfortunate that theNCMD can no longer justify thispractice therefore from the 1stApril 2012 the membership fee

for Central Register Club memberswill be the same as Individual andAssociate Members on the CentralRegister.NCMD Executive Committee

3www.ncmd.co.uk

The Legal Aspect of Ownership

Parker v British AirwaysBoard 1981: On 15 November 1978 AlanParker was waiting to catch aplane in the internationalexecutive lounge at terminal one,Heathrow Airport. The premiseswere owned by the British AirportsAuthority (BAA) and leased toBritish Airways who limited use ofthe lounge to holders of first classtickets or boarding passes ormembers of their Executive Club.Parker found a gold bracelet lyingon the floor. He did not hand thebracelet to the airport police,probably because the timeinvolved could have caused him tomiss his flight. He handed thebracelet to a member of BritishAirways staff together with a noteof his name and address askingfor the bracelet to be returned tohim if it was not claimed by itsowner. Some time later Parkercontacted British Airways (BA)and discovered that they had soldthe bracelet for £850 and kept theproceeds. Parker sued BA inBrentford County Court and wasawarded the £850, £50 ininterest and his legal expenses. BAappealed but lost the appeal.

Waverley BC v Fletcher1995: On 28 August 1992 Ian Fletcherwent detecting in Farnham Park,

owned by Waverley BC. He founda medieval gold brooch buriedabout nine inches below thesurface. He reported his find anda coroner’s inquest was held todetermine whether it was TreasureTrove (this was in the pre TreasureAct era). The jury decided it wasnot Treasure Trove and the coronerreturned the brooch to Fletcher.

Waverley BC then instigatedproceedings against Fletcherclaiming the brooch as its property.Judge Fawcus, in the High Court,found for Fletcher; in his view thelandowner could only claimownership of objects that werenaturally in or buried beneath theland, not to lost or abandonedobjects such as the brooch.

Waverley BC appealed and thistime won the case. Fletcher finallytook the case to the House ofLords, who again decided infavour of Waverley BC.

Judge Fawcus’s initial decisionraised a few eyebrows in legalcircles. Previous similar cases hadresulted in different outcomes.Elwes v Brigg Gas Company1886 was about a prehistoric boatburied about 5’ down on Elwes’sland. Gas company workmenfound the boat but Elwes refusedto allow them to take it away. Thecourt held for Elwes the landownereven stating that the landownerowned everything that lay beneath

the surface right down to thecentre of the Earth. A similarjudgement was reached in SouthStaffordshire Water Company vSharman 1896, where Sharmanwas cleaning out a pool onSSWC’s land. He found two goldrings embedded in mud at thebottom and handed them in to thepolice who eventually returned therings to him. SSWC sued for therecovery of the rings. They won.The judge ruled that thelandowner had a manifestintention to exercise control overthe land and any objects whichmay be upon it or in it.

Precedent for the judgement inParker v BA can be seen inBridges v Hawkesworth 1851.

Bridges found a bundle ofbanknotes on the floor of thepublic area of Hawkesworth’sshop. He handed the notes toHawkesworth. The person whohad lost the notes never cameforward but Hawkesworth did notreturn the money to Bridges untillater ordered to by the court. InHannah v Peel 1945 Peel owneda house before WW2 but neverlived there. The empty house wasrequisitioned by the army. LanceCorporal Hannah was adjustingthe curtains in the sickroom whenhe found a brooch on top of thewindow frame. On the advice ofhis commanding officer hehanded it to the police. A yearlater the police returned thebrooch to Peel, the house ownerwho sold it to a jeweller. With helpfrom the army Hannah sued andwon the case. Peel was forced tohandover the sale proceeds.

It would now appear that finder’shave better title than landownersover items, most likely recentlylost and then found on the surface

of land in a public area. Thelandowner would have a bettertitle than the finder over itemsmost likely lost in antiquity laterfound buried in the land.

This would also likely apply toancient object found ‘eyes only’ on the surface of a ploughed field, where they clearly had been buried previously. Thelandowner’s title to objects buriedin his land based on thejudgement in Waverley BC vFletcher has been incorporatedinto the Treasure Act.

The original owner, the person wholost the item would still, however,most likely have a better title thaneither finder or landowner. Themost recent case whichdemonstrates this is Moffat vKazana 1969. In the late 1950san elderly man, Mr. Russell owneda house. He hid his life savings of£1987 (banknotes contained in abiscuit tin) in a disused chimney.£1987 was a considerable sum inthose days. Russell sold his houseto Kazana in 1961 but being oldand forgetful had forgotten aboutthe money in the chimney. In1964 Kazana had the propertyrenovated and workmen found thehidden money. Mr. Russell hadrecently died and Moffat had beenappointed his executor. Moffatfound out about the hidden moneyand sued Kazana for its return. Hewon the case. The court decidedthat Russell had never intended to‘sell’ the biscuit tin and its contentsto Kazana and thus it remainedRussell’s property and on his deathpassed to his executor.

A more recent case, this timedetermined by a coroner, reflectsthe same legal principle.

In 1939 Martin Sulzbacher a

Hackney Hoard –Gold Double Eagle © PAS

Following on from the earlier article ‘Who’s Find is it anyway’ from Issue2 of Digging Deep, and the subsequent talk by Professor NormanPalmer at the NCMD Executive Committee meeting outlined in Issue 4.Roger Mintey wrote this interesting account of some of the notabledecisions made over the years which have contributed to our legalinterpretation of the law on lost or ownerless goods. It should beremembered that any item of Treasure or earlier Treasure Trove was onlyacknowledged as such provided that its heirs or owners are unknown.

4 www.ncmd.co.uk

German Jew, fled to Britain withother family members to escapefrom the Nazis. He brought overhis life savings of 80 gold doubleeagle dollar coins and stored themin a bank safety deposit box. Afterwar broke out his family wereinterned. Martin was sent toCanada on the Arandora Star andwas one of the few people tosurvive when it was torpedoed.Meanwhile his brother, fearing aGerman invasion, buried the coinsin two jars in the back garden oftheir house in Stoke Newington. In1940 Martin’s brother and fourother family members (everyonewho knew about the burial of thecoins) were killed in an air raid.

When Martin Sulzbacher returnedto London he found the depositboxes empty. Searches of thegarden in Stoke Newington provedfruitless. But in 1952 a landscapegardener dug up one of the jarsand a coroner ruled that the coinsshould be returned to Mr.Sulzbacher. The second jar did not

turn up until 2007 when it wasgiven to the Museum of London byan unnamed person. After a localhistorian came forward with anarticle from The Times reportingthe 1952 find the coins wereidentified as belonging to theSulzbacher family. MartinSulbacher had died in 1981 so thesecond batch of coins werereturned to his 81 year old sonMax, who plans to donate one cointo Hackney Museum. Roger Blandcommented (Times 19 April2011) “The case was one of themost compelling he had everencountered with an incrediblehuman element to the story that isabsent from many archaeologicalfinds.” The coins were eventuallyhanded over to Mr Sulzbacher, 81,a retired chartered accountant wholives in Jerusalem. He said that hewould be using the proceeds of thesale to give the finders of the coinsa reward and to restore his family'sgravestones at Enfield Cemetery,north London.

The Robin & Karolyn Hatt Competition 2010Looking back over the manyhistoric and diverse finds made in2010, I am very excited over thisyear's competition.

Last year we had many wonderfulentries, making it hard to choose awinner, and I am sure this yearwill be the same.

With many finds reported in themedia, the NCMD has had aninflux of new members, who wehope will take part in a

competition which showcases thefact that our hobby enriches thiscountries historical knowledge,with museums and scholarsbenefiting.

Two years ago, the NCMD realisedit was difficult for some to takepart, so provided a facility on ourfriendly Forum for both enteringfinds, and voting on them.

This is now in it's third year, and Iam hoping many more of you will

take advantage of this by postingdetails and photographs of thefinds you feel worthy of entry.

This is open to ‘Individual’members and clubs on the centralregister, so please look for detailsfrom late August 2010. The finaljudging round is held inNovember.

All finds must have been foundbetween January 1st and 31stDecember 2010 inclusive.

We appreciate some things maybe either in museums or goingthrough the treasure process, sogood clear photographs areacceptable.

Please feel free to contact me with any queries on either Tel. 01253 312176 oralex182sa@blueyonder.co.uk

Hilary FagenCompetition Manager

Competition Rules1. The National finals of the

competition will take place atthe November Meeting of theExecutive Committee.

2. The items entered should havebeen recovered by their findersduring the previous calendaryear (1st January to 31stDecember).

3. Entries will be accepted fromeach NCMD Region, from theCentral Register and IndividualMembers.

a) The method of selection ofthe entries is at thediscretion of the Region.

b) Each entry should beaccompanied by a formalidentification and brief noteson the finder and thecircumstances of the find.(no find spot details to berevealed)

c) In the event of Treasurefinds where the material isbeing held by the coroner orhis agent, and is nottherefore available, entriesmay be submitted in theform of photographs andappropriate literature.

4. The owners of all submittedentries may attend the

competitions, but must beaware that no expenses can beclaimed from NCMD funds.

5. The owners of entries, whetherbrought by themselves or by aagent should be made awarethat no insurance cover isprovided by NCMD.

6. The winners will be selected bysecret ballot, with the onlyeligible voters being officersand delegates present in theroom. No proxy votes and noabsentee or postal votes are tobe allowed.

7 a) Each winner will bepresented with a trophy

which is returnable to theNCMD at the end of 12months, or in time for thefinal judging, whichevercomes sooner.

During that time they mayhave their name and year ofsuccess engraved in theappropriate place on thetrophy, and submit a claimfor the engraving costs tothe NCMD.

b) Upon the return of thetrophy, the holder will beawarded with a permanentkeepsake in the form of anengraved plaque.

Extract from The Times16/5/2009A coroner is appealing fordescendants of the owners of ahoard of Civil War silverware tocome forward and stake theirclaim. The collection, whichincludes a goblet, four spoons andsalt and pepper holder(sic), werefound by Arthur Haig 70, with ametal detector as he searched afriend’s garden for her lostbracelet. Michael Rose adjourned

Hoard of Civil War silverwareNether Stowey © PAS

an inquest in Taunton, WestSomerset for six months to allowtime for a claim to be made. Theitems bear the letters CGA, whichmay stand for the initials of AngelGrey then owner of Stowey Court,near by, and his wife Catherine.The Coroner later called a halt tothe search as no claimants hadcome forward. The items will bepurchased by Somerset CountyMuseum.

Roger Mintey

5www.ncmd.co.uk

Agreements or DisagreementsHaving seen numerous caseswhere there has beendisagreement between finders,landowners, clubs and sometimestenant farmers, I thought it wouldbe a good idea to look at searchagreements and some of theproblems that can arise betweeninterested parties when items ofvalue are discovered.

Most detector users that gosearching on their own (and Iinclude myself) rarely enter into aformal written agreement betweenthemselves and the landowner,unless it is a condition of thelandowner or tenant farmer. Butwhat is a formal agreement orcontract? To begin let us define theterm Verbal Contract and WrittenContract. A Verbal Contract is acontract expressed in words eitherwritten or spoken. By contrast anOral Contract is a contract inwhich the terms have been agreedby spoken communication. In lawthe usual Oral Contract betweentwo parties carries as muchweight as a written or spoken one.

So why enter into awritten contract? There are certainly circumstanceswhere a written search agreementwould not only simplify thedisbursement of any reward ormonies which may arise from thediscovery of detector finds, butwould also serve to protect theinterests of third parties should adisagreement arise. An examplewould be where one persondetecting alone makes thediscovery of a small number of

coins and then invites a secondparty to assist him in searching formore, subsequently a significantnumber, or hoard, is then locatedand recovered by them both. Atthis point there may well bedisagreement as to how anyreward is disbursed; Commonsense would suggest that bothfinders are entitled to an equalshare of any reward, excluding ofcourse the small number found bythe detectorist while he wassearching alone. In this scenario itwould clearly have been of benefitto have has some sort ofagreement, possibly in writing.

Clubs too may wish to draw up asearch agreement for use on cluboutings, where there may be alarge number of people searchingthe same area. The discovery of alarge number of coins in thissituation may well result indisagreement between longstanding club members as to whofound what and the disbursementof any reward. But there is no ‘onesize fits all’ here, where someclubs may wish to share anyreward between all the clubmembers, others may limit it tothe person or persons who madethe discovery, but whatever thepolicy of the club, having it inwriting would negate any futuredisagreements.

There may also be the situationwhereby the finder/s wishes toreward the tenant farmer, atpresent where an item of treasureis found, and a reward paid, thereis no mechanism for rewarding

anyone other than the finder/s andlandowner. A situation some clubsor individuals may wish to correctthrough a written agreement.

In some instances the landownermay wish to forego any reward,this may either be waived or hemay wish his share to go to thefinders in such cases thelandowner would have to write to

So far we have concentrated onfinds of treasure, but anagreement, whether written or oralis a good idea when you considerthat non-treasure finds belong tothe landowner. Most landownersare quite happy for non-treasurefinds to remain in the possessionof the finder and as we knowmany take only a casual interest

East Riding Weapons Cache excavation

The finders of the East Riding weapons Cache which was not Treasure (pre 2002) had anoral agreement and were still good freinds after a long conservation and aquisition.

These two young detector users found this hoard of Sestertii at the Robin Hood Rally

unless the finds have any financialworth. However I well rememberfinding a rather nice denarius on afield that had previously onlyproduced plated or contemporaryforgeries, on showing the farmerhe said “how nice, I’ll have that one” well I was rather gutted to say the least, but in theabsence of any agreement to thecontrary he was entitled to take it,clearly a lesson to be learnedthere.

the treasure registrar stating hiswishes, a prior agreement wouldnegate this.

The detector user or club mustalso consider a search agreementwhen asked to participate in anyexcavation or site investigation,although unless it is an amateurexcavation, it is usual for theexcavation director to askparticipants to sign a waiver toany reward or their interest in anyfinds they may discover.

6 www.ncmd.co.uk

Some of the coins from Creslow. The Creslow Hoard found on a rally had numerous finders and who found what wasdifficult to assertain.

A good friend of mine found arather nice Bronze Age flat axe; hewas over the moon as he hadnever found one before, again thelandowner exercised his right tokeep the axe and decided that hewas going to donate it to the localmuseum. While the finder agreed,he would have liked the

opportunity to have a copy madebeforehand.

So agreements can take manyforms, whether it agrees how toshare any reward paid from thefinding of treasure, who will beeligible for any reward and in whatproportions, to who will own non-

treasure finds or disclaimed itemsof treasure and it really depends onthe club or individuals situation andindeed if the landowner actuallywants to enter into an agreement,which some are reluctant to do. But it is well worth considering,even if you only discuss the matter with the landowner and

agree an oral contract.

For those who wish, there is amodel search agreement availableon the NCMD website, memberscan adapt or modify the wordingto suit their own particularcircumstances.

Trevor Austin

Detecting trip to the Isle of Wight

For a number of years I have runa metal detecting trip to the Isleof Wight by coach. It has provedto be very popular with my clubfor the last three years. So I have

decided to open it up to otherdetectorists. My next trip will beon 3-7th October 2011 followedby a further trip early next yearon the 20-24th February 2012.

It is a 5 day trip, with three daysdetecting and the remaining twodays free to do as you wish, thereis lots to visit on the islandincluding Brading Roman Villawhich houses some of the bestmosaics in the country, NewportRoman Villa is also worth visiting,with its under floor heating andbath house, or you can have aleisurely day at the Needles Park.

The cost for the trip is £160.00per person, per trip, and the priceis inclusive of coach, ferry, hoteland meals. If you are interestedand would like to go, or have anyenquiries, please contact Frank onTel: 01924 830138 and I will behappy to answer any questions.

Anybody interested must beNCMD paid up members. Pick up

points for the coach will be:Ferrybridge services, A1, M62Junction. Woodlands Doncaster,Hoyland Barnsley, BarlboroughJunction 30 M1, Trowel servicessouth bound M1 and LeicesterForest East Services south boundM1.

There will be a further charge of£6.00 per person, per day fordetecting. Deposit of £50.00 to bepaid at time of booking, andbalance to be paid on the coach.The deadline for bookings will beSunday 31 July 2011 for theOctober trip and Wednesday 30thNovember 2011 for the Februarytrip. Places are limited so bequick!

Frank Tanner

7www.ncmd.co.uk

Review of the Treasure Act Code of Practice – Part 4When I began writing this series ofarticles I had expected that at thispoint in the proceedings we wouldbe well into the consultation,however that is not the case andthe enforced delay in the review,brought about by the decisionwhether or not to implement arecommendation made under theprevious Government to adoptamong other proposals a singleCoroner for Treasure, has meantthat at present there is no definitetimescale for either the review orthe public consultation.

While the single Coroner forTreasure is universally accepted asbeing the best way forward inspeeding up the treasure process(see flow chart), due to financialconstraints the presentgovernment decided not to goahead with the Coroners andJustice Bill in which the Coronerfor Treasure was a part, however

the minister did agree in May lastyear to look again at the Coronerfor Treasure. So what is holding upthe review? Well it would appearthat although there is generalagreement from both the Ministryof Justice (MOJ) and the DCMS onthe need for a single coroner, anagreement cannot be reached onthe administration and funding.

Firstly, who will fund the newsingle coroner? Funding cuts havemeant that the MOJ are not in aposition to provide extra fundingand the DCMS are also reluctantto do so although it has not beenruled out. The NCMD agrees withDr Roger Bland that there will be anet saving in the cost ofadministration to the coronialsystem, this saving howeverwould not be directly apportionedand would require additionalfunding to any single coroner fortreasure which would be

How the current system should operate Treasure team assisting Coroner for Treasure

administered by the BritishMuseum Treasure Team, and therelies the second problem.

Does a perceived conflictof interest arise from thesingle coroner beingadministered by theTreasure Team? The treasury solicitors obviouslythink that it does, or are beingcautious in giving their approvalfor such a scheme, and haveadvised the DCMS that aconsultation be undertaken withcoroners to assess this issue. TheDCMS have now received aresponse from the CoronersSociety, however we must awaitevaluation by DCMS. The NCMD,among others, have advised theDCMS that it does not perceiveany conflict of interest, ProfessorNorman Palmer also stated “The

British Museum already providessubstantial support for the work ofcoroners in their exercise of thetreasure jurisdiction, not least bysupplying much of the evidenceas to the history and compositionof finds in terms that help thecoroner to identify whether theyare treasure. The British Museumalso acts as the secretariat andseat of the Treasure ValuationCommittee. There has been norealistic suggestion that theinvolvement of the Museum inthis manner vitiates the credibilityor propriety of those bodies. Iwould respectfully suggest thatthe new working pattern proposedby Dr Bland can also, if prudentlymanaged, be effectively distancedfrom the spectre of actual orperceived bias. By encouragingefficiency and reducing cost, thisproposal should also enhance thepublic appreciation of the treasure

8 www.ncmd.co.uk

system and the benefits that itbrings to museums, archaeologyand the public at large.” At themoment it is difficult to see how away forward can be found, but itwould be a shame not to proceedwith the single coroner for treasureafter so much was promised fromthe system.

So what are the benefits of asingle coroner for treasure. I wouldsuggest the main benefit to findersis obviously the speed of handlingcases, while other less obviousadvantages such as clear anduniform verdicts will speed up thevaluation process.

See the flow chart, produced bythe Treasure Team, of how theproposed coroner for treasuresystem would work outlining someof the advantages. It must beremembered however that underpresent legislation it is the duty ofthe finder to report any potentialtreasure to the coroner.

Treasure Team Offer ofServices:It has been suggested that theBritish Museum Treasure Teamcould assist the Coroner withadministrative services. Thiswould entail:

• Sending official notification toFinders that their item(s) hasbeen reported under theTreasure Act.

• Preparing a case file for thecoroner to Review prior toinquest. In addition to thematerial already contained inBM Treasure Case files, it wouldalso be necessary to collectofficial statements from theinterested parties (Finder/Landowner/Occupier).

• Working with coroner to ensureall relevant information hasbeen assembled before inquestis conducted.

• Notifying Finder/Landowner/Occupier/Museum of Inquestresult.

NB. Specific practicalities will needto be discussed in more detail.

Processes that can bestreamlined:FLOs and the Treasure Teamalready do considerable researchinto details of landowners inTreasure cases. It could be afunction of our role that whensending acknowledgement of thefind, the Treasure Team instructsthe Finder to complete anymissing details from the TreasureReceipt, with the stipulation that

the case will not advance untilhe/she has done so.

Currently we insist on a short reportbeing produced by or verified by aBM curator for every reportedTreasure find. This can causeconsiderable delay in a findreaching the inquest stage.Working with the coroner, it is likelythat reports on finds that are to bedisclaimed or ‘Not Treasure’ couldbe limited to short descriptions byFLOs and checking by Finds’Advisors.

The Treasure Team already sendsletters to Coroner/FLO/Finderinforming them of a case being‘Disclaimed’ by the Crown. Byworking with the coroner, this lettercould in theory be combined with anotification to the Finder/Landownerof the Disclaim with a request to theLandowner to submit objections ofa return of the find to finder. The neteffect on the workload of theTreasure Team should be minimal.

The interested parties can beinformed of the result of theinquest by the Treasure Team. Thiswould require an additional seriesof letters to be sent, however, itwould be benieficial in providingan early clarification to thoseparties on the valuation stage of

the process, and hopefully wouldresult in fewer inquiries (to FLOsand Treasure Team) at this stage.

Large Scale Benefits:The administrative staff in the BMTreasure Team spend a significantamount of time communicatingwith the administrators of coroners(or the coroners themselves)throughout the country. There is agreat deal of time misspent insimply trying to pass on pertinentinformation to the coroner in orderthat he or she may hold an inquestconfidently and in good time.

Further, experience has shown thatthe current standard with whichinquests are conducted and theinformation gathered therein ispassed to the BM Treasure team (inits role as the TVC Secretariat) arenot uniformly efficient. Details of acase which have a bearing on theultimate allocation of rewards bythe Secretary of State, and whichcould be clarified or resolved by thecoroner, are not always done so.

Both of these inefficiences couldbe corrected if the BM TreasureTeam were given a more directrole in providing administrativesupport to the Coroner.

Trevor Austin

Hoard of Viking silver coins unearthed in FurnessA metal detectorist uncovered aViking hoard of silver coins andartefacts in the Cumbriancountryside.

The collection, which has beenprovisionally valued at tens ofthousands of pounds, was foundin an undisclosed site in Furness.

It is being examined by experts atthe British Museum and is expectedto be declared as treasure.

Experts at Barrow's Dock Museumhope to acquire the hoard andsaid it was an exciting find for thearea.

It consists of 92 silver coins andartefacts including ingots and asilver bracelet. Among the coins isa pair of Arabic dirhams.

Experts believe it is significantevidence of material culture of the9th and 10th Century Vikings inthe peninsula.

‘Exciting find’ Dock Museum curator SabineSkae said: “This is a very excitingfind for Furness.

“It has national significancebecause hoards from this periodare rare and also nothing hasbeen found in such quantity inthis area before.

“While it is difficult, at this stage,to place a precise value on thefind, it is likely to be worth tens ofthousands of pounds.”

The British Museum academicswill give their verdict on the coinsto the coroner who is expected toconfirm it as treasure.

If it is, it will be valued by anindependent committee and theDock Museum hopes to acquire it.

British Museum Viking expert DrGareth Williams said: “On the

basis of the information andphotographs that I have seen sofar, this is a fascinating hoard.

“By the mid-950s, most of Englandhad become integrated into a single

kingdom, with a regulated coinage,but this part of the north-west wasnot integrated into the Englishkingdom until much later, and thehoard reflects that.”

© PAS

9www.ncmd.co.uk

The Crosby Garrett Helmet and why it cannot be treasureThe discovery and subsequentsale of the Crosby Garrett helmetcertainly caused a stir in bothmetal detecting and archaeologicalcircles, not merely for its rarity andbeauty, but also for the fact that itended up being purchased atauction by a private anonymousbuyer.

Without exception, everyone I havespoken to believes that the helmet,being of national importance,belongs in a museum and nothidden away in some privatecollection and both the internetforums and emails have been fullof comments on the subject. Therehave also been questions askedfrom both the metal detectingfraternity and bloggers as to whythe minister did not make thehelmet treasure on the grounds ofit being of “outstanding nationalimportance”.

This is not the first time that I haveheard such comments; the uniqueCoenwulf gold penny produced asimilar reaction when it wasfound. So let us have a look atwhat has caused many people tomisunderstand the way theTreasure Act and Code of Practicework.

Section 2 of the Treasure Act is theoffending section here and hasobviously been misinterpreted ornot fully understood, so to set therecord straight I will explain whatthe section means and how thissection works in practice.

If you look at Section 2 below, youwill see that section 2- (1) seemsto indicate that the Secretary ofState has the power to designateany object or class of object asTreasure. However a closerscrutiny of the wording will revealthat the important words insection 2-(1) are “by order”. Itshould also be read in conjunctionwith the rest of Section 2 whichgoes on to explain, albeit in arather convoluted way how thesecretary of State wouldimplement such an order. So I willtry to explain the section insimpler terms.

There are two main reasons whyboth the helmet and the Coenwulfpenny could not have been

designated as treasure. Firstly; it isa statutory requirement that theTreasure Act and Code of Practiceare reviewed “when appropriate”five years after the publication ofthe revised Code of Practice and itis during this review (which isconducted with interested parties)that any changes to the Act orCode of Practice are proposed; asis the case with the present reviewwhich is currently under way. Atthe end of the review the Secretaryof State has the power to laybefore parliament a draft outliningany changes to either the act orthe code of practice which may bemade by a “Designation Order”.This must be approved byresolution in both Houses. Wehave an example of thishappening with the “DesignationOrder 2002” whereby prehistoricbase metal assemblages wereadded to the definition of Treasure.But there is no fast track methodor magic wand that the Secretaryof State can use to circumvent thisprocedure and furthermore thereis no statutory instrument fordesignating individual objects orcoins as Treasure.

Secondly, and perhaps moreimportantly, any order to designateany class of objects that wouldinclude the Crosby Garrett helmetor the Coenwulf gold penny couldnot be retrospective and any orderwould only include subsequentfinds of this type made after theorder was implemented.

The upshot of all this is that thehelmet was not Treasure andcould not have been madeTreasure retrospectively once ithad been discovered, no matterhow valuable or important to thenation.

There is however one further pointI would like to make; the currentreview of the Treasure Act andCode of Practice has a proposalthat all Roman base metalassemblages, of which there hasonly been half a dozen discoveredsince the introduction of the Act,be designated as Treasure, asubject I recently covered in theNational Council for MetalDetecting newsletter Digging Deep,

and if the review had taken placewhen it was originally intended,with the proposal accepted, thenby virtue of the fact that the helmetwas reportedly discovered withanother bronze object, it wouldhave been Treasure.

2. – (1) The Secretary of Statemay by order, for the purposes ofsection1 (1) (b), designate anyclass of object which he considersto be of outstanding historical,archaeological or culturalimportance.

(2) The Secretary of State may byorder, for the purposes of section1(2), designate any class ofobject which (apart from theorder) would be treasure.

(3) An order under this sectionshall be made by statutoryinstrument.

(4) No order is to be made underthis section unless a draft of theorder has been laid beforeParliament and approved by aresolution of each House.

Trevor Austin

© Christies

10 www.ncmd.co.uk

A Wonderful ResponseSam Moorhead (National Finds Adviser for Iron Age and Roman coins)It is five years since I started asNational Finds Adviser for Iron Ageand Roman coins with thePortable Antiquities Scheme. Ithas been a very busy, butextremely enjoyable and reward-ing, time that has seen me venture

into almost every part of thecountry. When I started, therewere just over 30,000 Romancoins on the PAS Database(www.finds.org.uk). It becameclear very early on that the generalpolicy was to record the more

desirable earlier coins –Republican denarii, Imperialdenarii, sestertii, dupondii andasses – and the better preserved‘radiates’ and nummi. From apurely numismatic point of view,this practice was understandable;from an archaeological point ofview it was untenable. Romancoins make up the largest group ofRoman artefacts found bydetectorists, and also comprise thelargest group of artefact recordedon the PAS Database. Therefore,they provide the most immediateevidence for assessing the sizeand dating of particular sites. Fourdecades ago, Richard Reece andJohn Casey developed a systemfor using coin periods to provideprofiles for individual sites. Suchanalysis shows enormousvariation in sites across Britain.

However, to carry out suchanalysis, we must have access toall coins found. It is no good justanalysing desirable and well-preserved coins. A case in point isthe latest bronze nummi from theRoman period, the small pieces ofthe House of Theodosius (AD388-402). On several occasions Ihave found these coins missingfrom groups of well-preservedcoins, only to find a number in the‘grot’ pot which was at first notpresented for research. Thesecoins are crucial evidence fordetermining when sites ceased tofunction in the broader monetaryeconomy of Britain – there is no

doubt that many sites had no suchcoins, but the PAS had identifiedmany sites which do in fact havesuch coins.

With such considerations on mymind, I led a major campaign torecord all grots from the Autumnof 2007. This involved variouswritten pieces on the PAS websiteand in the detector press, but mostimportantly it entailed directcommunication with detectorists,either via the extensive FindsLiaison Officer network or throughlectures to Detector Clubs. FLOshave secured a large number ofassemblages from detectorists,some groups containing almost a1000 coins. I have given aroundover 150 talks in the last fewyears, of which 80 have been to

Roman coin finds recorded on the PASDatabase until the end of 2010. Each dot

can represent one coin to over 1000. © Dr. Philippa Walton

Silver Roman Republican denarius, struck around 205 BC at Rome. The oldest Romancoin on the PAS database – BERK-65D307 © Portable Antiquities Scheme

‘Lovely Grot’ from Wiltshire. 90% of these ‘radiates’ and nummi can be identified for usein future research. A large proportion of this batch is from the House of Valentinian (AD

364-78), many from the mint of Arles. © Portable Antiquities Scheme

Gold aureus of Claudius (AD 41-54), struck at Rome, found in Staffordshire – WMID-626B77 © Portable Antiquities Scheme

Copper alloy sestertius of Hadrian (AD 117-38), struck at Rome, found in Surrey – SUR-A600A3 © Portable Antiquities Scheme

Copper alloy as of Domitian (AD 81-96), struck at Rome, found in Suffolk – SF-5A1BE1 © Portable Antiquities Scheme

O T H E R N E W S

11www.ncmd.co.uk

Detector Clubs; almost every Clubvisit has resulted in another groupof coins being made available forcataloguing. I have been greatlyheartened by the responses I havehad at most Clubs and I extendmy deepest gratitude to al the Clubchairmen and members who havemade me so welcome and whohave provided coins for recordingon the PAS database – this isespecially gratifying in the caseswhere initial resistance torecording has given way to theopen-hearted delivery of objectsfor research. Giving lectures toclubs is a truly enjoyableexperience and I relish the chanceto show detectorists how their datais changing our understanding ofRoman Britain.

In 2006, I entered a bid for Artsand Humanities Research Councilmoney to fund a PhD student tocarry out research on the coinsrecorded by the PAS. As a result,Philippa Walton (a former FLO)spent three years at the BritishMuseum and Institute ofArchaeology (UCL) comparing thePAS data with existing data. Shehas completed her research and,as Dr Walton, is now acting as mydeputy for a year due to generousfunding from an Americanbenefactor. There is not the spacein this article to cover her findings,but suffice it to say that theleading academics in the fieldacknowledge that her work hasrevolutionised our understandingof Roman Britain. Because of herwork we can safely say that asignificant number of RomanRepublican denarii arrived beforeAD 43, that the commonly foundClaudian copies of asses wereused by civilians as well as themilitary, and that at least 30% ofSeveran period denarii are copies.She has also identified a North-South divide in coin-use whichchimes chillingly with similardevelopments today – she will bewriting about this soon in thedetector press. Furthermore, sheidentifies a gradual shrinkage incoin-use in the 4th century, from

its peak in the period 330-48down to the cessation of majorcoin importation in AD 402.However, her analysis of clippedsiliqua has helped to ascertainthat there was a monetaryeconomy in Britain after AD 410,possibly lasting until AD 430. Thiswas all determined from a datasetof 58,000 coins, her cut-off pointbeing in 2008.

Since 2008, we have doubled thistotal with about 116,000 Romancoins on the database. This is astaggering achievement andfinders, FLOs and volunteerrecorders involved with thescheme are to be congratulated.The PAS has been in existencesince 1997; to double the numberof Roman coins in the last threeyears is quite simply remarkable.Furthermore, Dan Pett hasincorporated all of the Welsh datafor 52,000 Roman coins compiledby Peter Guest and Nick Wells. So,at almost 160,000 coins, the PASdatabase has now overtaken thesummary listing of Richard Reecein 1991 which covered 150,000coins (50,000 of which camefrom Richborough). Furthermore,initial analysis of the coin datasuggests that detectorists havelocated around 900 new Romansites across the country – astaggering total!

This new material is giving us agreat deal of information aboutRoman coins. Many new varietieshave been identified and we arevery grateful to all of thosedetectorists who have donatedcoins to the British Museum.Some coins might be in very poorcondition, but they are often theonly specimen known.Furthermore, I am really touchedby the donations of Carausiancoins, one detectorist donatingfour wonderful examples of coinsnot in the National Collection. Ialways say at Detector Clubs that Ido not mind who owns material,as long as we can record it. Whenit comes to coins struck in Britain,however, I’m always keen to

acquire material which isunpublished or not in a publicmuseum. This includes Iron Agecoins, pieces struck by Carausiusand Allectus and coins from theLondon mint. It is our duty tomake sure that we maintain anddevelop as full a collection of suchcoins in the British Museum forfuture generations to enjoy andresearch. It has been a pleasure tohost detectorists at the museum,some who come in with newmaterial, others who come to seetheir donations sitting amongsttheir new brothers and sisters, andothers who come as club groupsto see coins from their regions andsamples from the major hoardsheld in the Museum (such as theHoxne and Elveden hoards).

Life will continue to be very busy.We now have a good number oflarge assemblages arriving at theBritish Museum and Philippa andI, with assistance withenthusiastic university interns, aretrying to get the coins identifiedand on to the database. Now iscertainly the time to get majorgroups of coins to us as I am notthe only person working on thematerial. Quite simply, it is theduty of my generation to record asmuch of the material found bydetectorists over the last fortyyears. I am only too aware that asignificant number of detectoristsare now very elderly and thatsome have died without adequaterecords of their collections beingmade. I always say that we needto look forward a hundred yearsand to consider that any object notrecorded now will not be availablefor our grandchildren to study.

I do not want to sound a negativenote, but there are still issues thatwe need to resolve. Nearly all of theclubs and detectorists that I meetare united by a common resolve toseek and record our nationalheritage; this desire has certainlygrown stronger in the last ten yearsor so and I am sure it will bearamazing fruits in coming decades.However, there are still some clubs

who are not keen to record with thePAS and who restrict access toFLOs. I have visited some clubswhere this has not been the wish ofmany of the membership; inseveral cases this has led to theformation of new clubs whichrecord with the PAS. I hope that itwill not be that long before all clubsare recording with us. My othermain worry is the issue of ralliesand ‘detector tourism’. Both resultin an enormous number of findsbeing made. In somecircumstances, PAS is able torecord the material and I thank therally organisers and touristorganisers who enable us to recordfinds effectively. However, the PASis not always made aware of eventsand due to our very thin coverageof the country we quite simply donot have the resources to attend allthe events that we might want to.From a heritage point of view, then,such events are a real concern andwe need to find a way to ensurethat the material found on suchevents is recorded alongsideeveryday finds. I do believe that theNCMD and other metal-detectinggroups, PAS and otherorganisations need to work togetherto ensure that such large events arenot allowed to denude us all ofmajor parts of our heritage.

With such organisations as theNCMD, the future of detectingseems secure. There is no doubtthat the battles of the 1980s arenow a thing of the past and thatthere is an increasingly goodrapport between detectorists andthe archaeological fraternity. Thisis shown by how manydetectorists work onarchaeological sites and howmany of them have taken formalcourses in archaeology. We needto build on this foundation and Isee enormous scope fordetectorists at regional levels tohelp with a new tranche of localhistorical and archaeologicalresearch – many are already doingso. It is an exciting prospect and Ilook forward to working with manyof you in the future.

The Next NCMD Executive meeting will be on the 20th November 2011

The Next Treasure Valuation Meeting will be on the 20th July 2011

The Next Portable Antiquities Advisory Board meeting 14th September 2011

G E T I N T O U C HM E E T I N G D A T E SFor membership enquiriescontact the MembershipSecretary: John Rigby6 Arkholme AvenueBlackpool, Lancs, FY1 6QJ

Tel: 01253 692313jjrigby@sky.com

For all other enquiries pleasecontact the General Secretary:Trevor Austin51 Hilltop GardensDenaby, Doncaster, DN12 4SA

Tel: 01709 868521trevor.austin@ncmd.co.uk

12 www.ncmd.co.uk

M I D L A N D S R E G I O N

Detecting in January The Oxford Blues Metal Detecting ClubDavid Conner

It’s not everyone’s idea of a goodtime, is it? Let’s face it, when thealarm clock goes off early on aSunday morning, and thewindswept drizzle is drumming onyour bedroom window, straightaway you’ve been given two goodreasons to stay right where youare; all tucked up and cosy underyour quilt with the potential foranother couple of hours in theland of nod! But us detectoristsare made of sterner stuff, andlaugh in the face of alarm clockswe thought we had given the dayoff. And as for wet windows beingthe first thing we see when wedraw our bedroom curtains? We’renot going to be denied our day outdetecting, are we? After all, that’swhat we bought all that wetweather clothing for, isn’t it!

And this is the scenario for thisparticular story - typical mid-January damp, cold conditions,sandwiches and flasks made up,cars packed with all the necessarygear required to brave theelements for several hours…sounds like the Sunday morningritual for detectorists everywhere Isuppose. In this instance, it’s theritual of the Oxford Blues MDCmembers, on their way to a farmthey gained permission on lessthan two years ago.

The site in question sits near thebottom of a hill, with most of itsland running up the hill to theback of the village, (whichhappens to have started out as aSaxon linear settlement). Sadly, asyet, no Saxon finds have come tolight, but we continue to live inhope! Having said that, we havehad a good showing of hammeredcoins from later periods, as well assome Medieval buckles, tradetokens and the likes, right up topre-decimal coins. It just goes toshow that fields that have beenpasture for many years, can, witha little perseverance, be veryrewarding places to detect. Theycan also have the potential tothrow up some totally unexpectedfinds…read on!

So, 09:30 and time for our SitesOfficer, Ken, to blow the startwhistle. The attendance sheet onlyhas 34 names signed on it today.The grim weather conditions playhavoc with many a club’sattendance sheets I shouldn’twonder.

Long time club member DavidBarton decided to head off downthe hill, away from the village,down to where a public footpathcomes across the lower field froma lane that leads to some old half-timbered thatched cottages. Asignal here, a signal there; lead,foil, bottle caps, the usual stuffyou have to contend with whendetecting near public footpaths.But you know how it is, you’realways hoping that in amongst allthe junk you might pull out a coin

or two, accidentally dropped byone of the thousands of peoplewho must have passed that wayover the years.

David found himself on the rightend of a good two-way signal,which he pinpointed andproceeded to dig. David takes upthe story in his own words here. “Idug down about six inches or so,and recovered something that wasobviously a medal, but I wasn’tsure what it was. I swept over thehole again, and was surprised tohear there was another targetdown there. I dug that one, whichturned out to be another medal.Just a few inches forward, and Ihad another good signal, andwhen I dug this one, out cameanother four medals!” David’s firstsignal turned out to be an O.B.E.,

followed by the DistinguishedService Medal, a WW1 AlliedVictory Medal, the 1937Coronation Medal, a WW2Defence Medal and the WW1British War Medal. A little whilelater, club member Allan Cookfound himself detecting about tenmetres from David’s find-spot. Hetoo found a medal, The Order ofSt.John (serving Brother’s Badge),and swiftly followed this up withthe Police Long Service and GoodConduct Medal. This brought thetotal to eight medals. The whole ofthat area was given a thoroughsearch, before it was concludedthat all the medals had now beenrecovered.

We were now faced with thequestion: who owned thesemedals, and how on earth did

13www.ncmd.co.uk

they end up where we foundthem. Surely no-one would havejust dumped them there onpurpose? Back at the cars, themedals were looked at in moredetail, and the edges of somerevealed the name - RalphSheldon. Now we had somethingto go on, and both finders wereadamant that we should try toreunite the medals with therightful owners. It’s very fortuitousfor us that club members BobAshby and Alan Ross happen tobe keen genealogists, and newmember Dave Morris, an expert inmedals. The research they carriedout follows. It makes for someinteresting reading, and reallybrings home the fact that thesearen’t just medals, they aremilestones in the life of afascinating character, a certain MrRalph Sheldon, O.B.E., K.P.F.S.M.

‘Ralph Sheldon was born in 1898,and was brought up in Shropshire.On leaving school he trained as abutcher, but at the outbreak ofWW1 he enlisted aged just 17years and 11 months. He joinedthe Grenadier Guards, and 9months later transferred toMachine Gun Guards. Withinmonths, he was appointed Lance

We were all amazed at what thisman had achieved in his lifetime,and the long service that he gaveto his country. I think it’s fair to saythat none of us should ever look atanyone’s medals again, withoutthinking about the deeds ofbravery and service that must havebeen performed to gain them.

The next job was to try and findthe members of his family. And asluck would have it, the first phonecall we made was to a KatrinaSheldon, who lived in the villagewhere the medals were found.Katrina turned out to be thedaughter-in-law of the late RalphSheldon. After introducingourselves, we asked her if sheknew a Ralph Sheldon, as we hadfound a group of his medals.Katrina was surprised to say theleast, and explained that themedals had been stolen during aburglary back in 1999. As no onewas ever caught, the family hadresigned themselves to the factthat they would probably neversee them again. We were allamazed when we realized that themedals had been found in a fieldjust yards from the family home,twelve years after they had beenstolen! It would seem the thief had

Corporal in the Machine GunRegiment, seeing active service inFrance in 1918. At the end ofWW1, Ralph had earned himselfthe WW1 British War Medal,along with the WW1 Allied Medal.He then joined the MetropolitanPolice in 1919, and it would havebeen there that he gained hisWW2 Defence Medal, as theMetropolitan Police were anapproved unit.

1937 saw the Coronation of KingGeorge VI. Ralph, having takenpart in the procession, receivedthe 1937 Coronation Medal. Weunderstand that by this time, hewas head of security atBuckingham Palace. 1946 sawRalph, (now Commander of theMetropolitan Police) beingawarded the King’s Police and FireService Medal for distinguishedservice. 1950 saw Ralph beingawarded an O.B.E.

In 1951 he was awarded thePolice Long Service and GoodConduct Medal for 22 years fulltime service. In 1952, RalphSheldon, O.B.E., K.P.F.S.M. wasawarded The Order of St.John(serving Brother’s Badge). Laterthat same year, he died, aged just 54.’

made his getaway across thefootpath that runs through thefield, discarding the emptyjewellery boxes and medals as hefled the scene. The jewelleryboxes were found by the familysoon after, but the medals werelost in the grass, and were thentrampled into the ground bygrazing cattle.

We then arranged a suitable dateand time to hand back the medals,and all met up at the familycottage. It was a gorgeous sunnyafternoon, with coffee and biscuitsserved on the patio - wonderful!Sadly, Ralph’s son, (also calledRalph) a double Bafta awardwinning film editor, was too ill toattend, but Katrina did us proud,and said that Ralph and the rest ofthe family were delighted to havethe medals back.

It was great to have a reporter andphotographer from the localnewspaper there, too. They tookplenty of photographs, andinterviewed Katrina and thefinders. We were thrilled to seetheir article in The Oxford Mail justa few days later. Some verywelcome press for our greathobby!

14 www.ncmd.co.uk

M I D L A N D S R E G I O N

The Midland Federation ofMetal Detector ClubsThe Midlands Region of theNCMD are pleased to announcethat, as part of Coventry’s HeritageWeekend held every year, whereplaces of historic interest are onlyopened to the public for a verylimited time, it has been invited todisplay an exhibition of metaldetector finds in the historicDraper’s Hall in Coventry. Thishistoric building is in the verycentre of Coventry, 30 yards fromthe old Coventry Cathedral and 70yards from both the new CoventryCathedral and the Herbert ArtGallery and Museum.

This exhibition will be held over twodays on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11September. This will give the hobbya great opportunity to display hithertounseen collections amassed by ourmembers over the past years and willenable enthusiastic detectorists totalk to and demonstrate our hobby topossibly thousands of people.

Many Midlands clubs will be inattendance and it is hoped thatIndividuals and Associates willjoin us on the day to display theircollections. All aspects of ourhobby are welcome to attend butthis is not a commercial venture.Admission is FREE and there willbe refreshments laid on forExhibitors and Volunteers. Therewill also be an opportunity to visitat no cost, the nearby Guildhallwhere Mary Queen of Scots wasimprisoned and many moreinteresting historic buildings andevents. Access to the Old CoventryCathedral Spire is also free on thisweekend, as are all the otherhistoric buildings included in theHeritage weekend.

We have a wonderful opportunityto showcase our hobby to thegeneral public at a venue thatmoney couldn’t buy. Pleasesupport your region as a club or as

an individual and make a date forSeptember. There may bemembers of Midlands clubs andIndividuals who would wish totake part and display in thisunique opportunity as individuals.If so contact John Wells,

Chairman, Midlands Region, atjwells2@hotmail.co.uk for detailsabout car parking facilities,refreshments etc.

John WellsChairman /Acting SecretaryMidlands Region, NCMD

N O R T H W E S T R E G I O N

Anne’s joy as lost keys are foundA pensioner has told of her joyafter being reunited with herhouse keys she feared would fallinto the hands of burglars.

Anne Vernon dislocated hershoulder and hit her head whenshe missed the step down fromher front door and ‘took a headlong dive’ into the hedge.

She managed to pull herself upand stagger to her neighbour’shome and raise the alarm.

But while Anne was spending twonights in hospital the one thing onher mind was the worry that whileshe was there someone may findthe house keys she dropped whenshe fell and break into her home.

She said: “I had my keys in myhand when I fell into the thick ivyhedge and I couldn’t find themagain. My neighbours were lookingto but to no avail.

“I kept telling myself if none of myneighbours can find them thenhopefully no one else will be able to.

“I contacted the police who said Iwould have to change the locks,but I knew they were theresomewhere.”

Anne posted an advert on theinternet appealing for the help ofanyone with a metal detector. Themessage was picked by theNational Council for Metal Detectingand referred to metal detectoristMike Butler from the NorthernSearchers Metal Detecting group.

Mike said: “The Membershipsecretary of the NCMD got intouch with me and put me incontact with Anne.

“She was very worried about herkeys, which had her car key on aswell as her house keys. It took themachine about 20 minutes tolocate them as they were about afoot deep in the bushes and Annewas cock-a-hoop when I pulledthem out.”

Anne added: “It was such a reliefwhen he found them I offered to

pay him for his time but hewouldn't take a penny – not evenpetrol money!”

Mike said: “A lot of people havethe wrong idea about metaldetectorists. Guys like us tend toget painted as treasure hunters,but we are in fact history finders.Everything we do is by the bookand legal, we arrange with

farmers to use the detectors ontheir land and record everythingwe find to archaeologists andwhatever we find we split 50/50with the farmer.

“I didn't do this for the money; thereward is in the finding and if youcan help someone along the waythen that is just great.”

By Stephanie O’Conner

Photo and story © Champion Media Group

15www.ncmd.co.uk

S C O T L A N D R E G I O N

SARG Club find lost ring for Strathclyde Police

Paisley Daily Express reports…

Members of the Scottish ArtefactRecovery Group (SARG) wererecently thanked by StrathclydePolice, for recovering a weddingring from the site of a fatalaccident involving one of theirofficers.

Earlier this year, Nigel Goldsmith,the SARG Secretary gave apresentation on detecting to ameeting of the Hamilton BurnsSociety. That meeting was attendedby a senior Police Inspector fromStrathclyde Police. He contactedSARG some weeks later to ask forhelp to recover a wedding ring. Thishad been lost in a fatal road trafficaccident involving SuperintendentNeil McCover. He had been cyclingwith colleagues in his lunch breaknear Strathclyde Police trainingcollege at Jackton, when he wastragically killed and died at thescene.

Officers had previously conductedseveral fingertip searches of the sitebut failed to find the ring. The seniorofficer remembered the BurnsSociety presentation and contactedSARG, who sent five members tothe accident site to detect for thering, accompanied by a policeconstable who briefed them on thecircumstances of the accident. Thearea was not a good detecting site -a roadside culvert full of empty cansand bottles - despite this clubmember George McMenamin foundthe ring after 20 minutes, Georgehas been detecting for over 20 yearsand used his experience and expertsurvey of the area to recover thering.

The ring was returned to the policeofficer's widow and thanks weregreatly received from her to theclub. She was amazed that peoplewere willing to give up their own

time to try and recover the lost ring.

Club Chair Lesley Sleithcommented, "We generally offer afree recovery service to creategoodwill in the community andpromote the club, but this wasone request we were only too

happy to get involved and were alldelighted to find the missing ring"the recovery team conductedthemselves very professionally invery difficult circumstances.

By Nigel GoldsmithSecretary SARG

AN AMATEUR treasure hunter lastnight revealed how he camewithin inches of a being blown up– by a live hand grenade.

Darren Leitch, 26, stumbled uponthe unexploded World War II devicewhile scouring the banks of theBlack Cart Water near Inchinnan.

But bookies shop manager Darrendidn’t realise that he could havebeen killed if he had trodden on it.

He only discovered his goodfortune when a Royal Navy bombsquad checked the 70-year-oldexplosive and found it was stillprimed to go off.

Cops immediately set-up a 100-metre cordon round the scene onSaturday afternoon and a safetyorder prevented planes fromlanding and taking off at near-byGlasgow Airport while bombdisposal experts carried out acontrolled explosion.

Metal detector buff Darrenadmitted he breathed a huge sighof relief after being told he hadbeen been just one step away fromdeath after his find on Thursday.

“It could have been curtains for

me if I had taken one more step,”said Darren, from Linwood.

“After I found out that the grenadewas still live after all these years, Ijust thought that I was lucky to bealive.

“I was told it was too dangerouseven to touch. The salt watercorrosion had made it unstableand the bomb squad guys said itcould have gone off at any time.

“If I had not seen this rusty oldlump poking through the mud Icould have trod on it and then I’dhave been a goner. It’s scary tothink.”

Darren uncovered the grenade ashe walked along the banks of theriver while searching with his£600 metal detector.

But he admitted he thoughtnothing of his discovery untilconcerned workmates told him tocall him cops.

He said: “I’m down near the BlackCart Water quite a lot looking forstuff.

“I had a spare couple of hours onThursday and popped down to theriver. As I was walking along I

could see this shape that lookedlike a grenade but I wasn’t sure.

“It was all rusty and as I got closer,I could see that it was a grenade.I ran my detector over it and itcame up as iron, so that confirmedit for me.

“I walked round it but thought tomyself that it would probably be adud by now and thought nothingmore of it. I mentioned it to somepeople at work on Friday and theysaid it was probably wise that Icalled the police.”

By Saturday, a massive searchmission was underway as worriedcops raced to find the devicebefore it was swept downstreamby rising tides.

Streets round the scene wereclosed off and aircraft were barredfrom approaching Glasgow Airport.

The coastguard was called out tostop boats sailing up the river,while bomb squad technicianscarried out a controlled explosion.

Darren was taken to a safedistance while the grenade wasdisposed of but said its deadlyforce was still clear to see.

He said: “The police took me to theArriva bus garage a few hundredyards away while the bomb squadworked on the grenade.

“But even from back there youcould feel the power of the blasthitting your chest. There was ahuge bang as well.

“I knew then I’d had a real luckyescape.”

A police spokesman confirmedthat Darren’s find could haveended in tragedy.

“The thing was still live – and itwas only good luck that this didn’tend in tragedy,” he said.

The photo shows Darren at thescene near Inchinnan.

As reported by Andy Newport ofthe Paisley Daily Express.

Darren Leitch © Paisley Daily Express

16 www.ncmd.co.uk

The fourth volume of the fullyrevised and expanded generalcatalogue of Roman coins extendscoverage of the Imperial seriesfrom the accession of Diocletian inA.D. 284 down to the death ofConstantine the Great more thanhalf a century later. This was aperiod of great political,economic, and religious upheaval.It saw the establishment andcollapse of Diocletian’s tetrarchicsystem of government, a majorfinancial crisis in the closing yearsof Diocletian’s reign, and theadoption by Constantine ofChristianity as the new statereligion in the Roman Empire. Thecoinage itself underwentsignificant modifications at thistime, notably the introduction ofthe gold solidus by Constantine in

A.D. 310, the decline of theDiocletianic follis, and thecheckered history of silver issuesprior to Constantine’s reform inA.D. 325. The introductoryarticles are again included in thisvolume and, as with Volumes I-III,the Imperial biographies havebeen entirely rewritten andenlarged. There has been a majorexpansion of the catalogue listingsand special emphasis has beenplaced on the precise form of themint marks and the date of issueof each catalogue entry. Thismakes the book a much morevaluable resource for studentsand collectors than was the casein earlier editions (or, indeed, anyother general work on thesubject). The final issues of thelocal coinage of Roman Egypt,

struck at Alexandria, receivecomprehensive coverage down tothe termination of the series inA.D. 296-7. The number ofillustrations incorporated in thetext has been increased to over800 out of a total listing of morethan 4,400 types.

As the title suggests Vol 4 coversthe period of coinage which ismost often found on Britishdetector sites, covering the 3rdand 4th century coinage ofDiocletian to Constantine. As withthe previous three volumes it givesan excellent background to eachreign, reverse types and mints andis illustrated throughout with highquality black and white photos.Valuations are given in a range ofgrades in both GB Pounds and USDollars and bound in hardback

cover with jacket. The discovery ofdiffering issues and types from thisperiod has continue to expandover the years, as anyone who hasan original copy of Roman Coinsand Their Values will know, andthis volume brings together thosepreviously unpublished.

For those of you like myself whoalready have the first threevolumes, the long awaited Vol 4 tothis classic series is a ‘must have’and an excellent reference for clublibraries and anyone who collectsor has an interest in Roman coins.This series forms the mostcomprehensive publication ofroman coinage ever produced forthe collector. The series willconclude with Volume V.

Trevor Austin

Roman Coins and Their Values Volume 4David R Sear.

The Tetrarchies and the rise of theHouse of Constantine.The collapse of Paganism and the triumph of Christianity, Diocletianto Constantine I, AD 284 - 337.

Available from Spink.

For orders contact Rebecca Mason: Tel: +44 (0) 20 7563 4046.

Fax: +44 (0) 20 7563 4066 or E-mail: books@spink.com

Price £45.00 with free postage for Digging Deep Readers.

Disclaimer: “The views expressed in this Newsletter are those of its correspondents and contributors, views which are not necessarily agreed to by officers of the NCMD or the organisations as a whole. Such views orcomment cannot be taken in any way to represent NCMD policy on any particular issue or topic unless stated. It is deemed by the NCMD that the responsibility for the accuracy and content of any articles submitted,either by individual members or clubs remains with their authors. Where possible the Newsletter manager will check the accuracy of statements and their content and reserves the right to edit or amend content whichis deemed unsuitable for publication.”