Detectorists and 'amateur' historians have made incalculable contributions to our discovery and understanding of the past. Volunteers - coastguards, food kitchens, homes-for-the-night, food banks, meals-on-wheels, mountain rescue personnel, hospice workers, charity shop workers, litter collectors, Canal and River Trust volunteers, National Trust volunteers, the folks who protect and keep our footpaths open, repair them and protect them, work with children in Scouts, Brownies, D of E, sports clubs... the list is endless, are the backbone of Britain. Some nefarious people hide among the pure of heart. Yet, the vast majority remain bloody brilliant and we must never let the b*****ds win!
I hope the two men have managed to keep the balance of the find and sell it when they are released. Cases like this will only encourage finders to melt down gold or silver to make it easier to sell .
my hobbies are varied, detectorist, motorcyclist, fishing, leisure boating, drone pilot. "a few bad eggs" - they, are everywhere, in every hobby, they give everyone a bad name, rule no'1 - DON'T LET THE SIDE DOWN !!! 🙂🙂🙂🙂
The archeologists used to break into all the tumulus around the late 1800s early 1900s and take all the gold torcs etc. The guy from the british museum pulling out jewels with pliars , selling the gold on ebay etc (nothing happened to him). Theres bad people in every group unfortunately.
@@Ck-zk3weThe guy at the british museum was last year , and many other cases of people doing the right thing handing in hoards and expensive artifacts going missing . If you asked for the archeologists to give you the data from archi analysis in the 70s 80s and 90s , they wouldnt be able to produce it or show you what they found , its all been lost or put into a few expensive textbooks that have been lost. Its not nice to be universally condemned .
So metal detectors aren't hoping to make money? Do you really think that the authorities who issue any kind of licence make a profit? No one wants to be told what to do, but it's surprising how many people go running to the police or other enforcement agencies when other people break the rules!
@@george5590 Pottery is not metal. You're being charged a fee to administer a system designed to protect important finds from being destroyed by greedy idiots.
@@conradharcourt8263 Oh my - The ignorance! Not one penny of any of the taxes etc you pay pays for anything. You are being the good little slave that you have been brainwashed into as per the video The Democracy Illusion on my channel - happy to be robbed and shafted since the day you were born.
I am in the United States and there is a thing called trespassing. It seems this from a place you can just walk on someone elses land but expected to not take the stuff. The stuff is stolen to begin with so it doesn't make since to expect any different.
I've discussed this subject with many professional archaeologists over the years and licensing the hobby won't stop night hawks or anyone with a criminal mind-set, as much as licensing gun ownership stops criminals getting hold of and using them, or someone without a car license getting behind the wheel of a vehicle. There is a "us and them" mentallity among both detectorists and professional archaeologists, archaeologists tend to think that all metal detectorists are purely in it to discover treasure, which of course is far from the truth with only a minority of those who detect that actually sell their finds. Detectorists seem to think that the museum, Portable Antiquities Scheme and archaeologists want to take over their sites, the few who don't report their finds have a mistrust of the PAS and museums process as it takes such a long time for an artefact to be logged, identified, declared as treasure or not and then sold at auction, this causes impatience and mistrust among the detecting community. More understanding and educating of people wanting to detect is required, more involvement with the professional and amateur working side by side is the answer. Although criminals will be criminals no matter what.
Gun licenses and car licenses aren't *supposed* to stop criminals using guns or people unlawfully driving cars. It just makes it *more difficult* for them to do it. That's how licenses work.
@@patavinity1262 I'm not sure how its a bad point, its a fact that criminals will find a way to comit crime whether something is licensed or not. Introducing a license to metal detecting will just price out those on low incomes who enjoy the hobby it won't deter criminals one bit.
No way a license is going to stop a criminal. All that can be done is prosecution after the fact. Japan, where I live, has drone licenses, and in the past month, there have been several instances of unlicensed drones flying over military sites and ships. They were only discovered because the video was found on line. The license requirement stops no criminal. A license only serves as a barrier to people getting into the hobby.
well even laws dont stop everyone but i dont know if that is an argument against them . hobby lol, you can call anything a hobby , that doesnt make it legitimate
Not only was this video interesting, but it also represents the detecting community in a positive way. The night hawks are not part of that community - they’re just thieves who use detectors. Cheers Paul - another top upload.
As a detectorist myself I totally agree with how they were treated,I have had a 2 hoards myself but unlike them followed the code of conduct.Glad to say one of my hoards is now in a museum after archeologists excavated it for all to enjoy (and it's significant academic value will be learnt about).I've never been in it for the money and never sold anything.Great informative video as ever.
If they'd done everything legally then they may have had a reward of half the value (the other half to the land owner) after the sale (hopefully to a museum).
@@Gainn Not sure of your rationale there. The sale of these "treasure" items is NOT a closed auction. Thus anyone who has an interest in amassing collections of same (and there are a LOT of very wealthy business types looking for ways to sock away their loot into appreciating assets) can put their hand up - not only the Museums and their "Experts" that I assume you are referring to.
Thank you, as a very keen metal detectorist, with many amazing finds under his belt. I can't help but agree with you on this video. It should never be about cashing in. It should always be about the history.
Don’t be so silly it’s all about the money lol you tell me now if you find something for 5-10-20k your just goin put in a cabinet and look at it! Your goin sell it! Every metal detectorist wants the recognition of finding something great!!
@@Chickenben897thank you for making the case that metal detection should be made illegal as it is in other countries. Spoil it for everyone, just to keep people like you away from it.
The more I hear about being jailed for finding historical treasures, the more I think it just might be easier to just melt everything down into bullion. You'll lose a lot of value, but easier to sell
@@watcher24601 how’s it wrong selling what you find??? I’ve found loads of gold silver and all sorts over the years of doin! I study it and research what I find and then sell! Iam not a collector but the things I sold have gone into private collections to be admired for the rest of time! What’s wrong with that??
Thank Paul for pointing out what we, as detectorist, strive to be most detectorist are responsible and do the right things. Crazy that greed got the better of the 2 guys. History is so important, and detecting is a major part. I pride myself as a responsible detectorist and record all of my worthy finds with the PAS and always have the landowners' permission. Great video, as always 👍
You had me until the end. Licenses and such like just make the freedom to get into a hobby like metal detecting all the more difficult. There’s already legislation. By adding more rules you just “punish” the people who are doing things right in the first place., because the “baddies “ don’t follow the rules, that’s why they’re “baddies”.
The problem is there's always a few bad eggs - Detectorists' finds have enabled a HUGE increase in archaeologists' understanding of history in recent years. Organised digs usually require NCMD membership, which includes insurance and the rules are clear to see on their website.
I'm conflicted by the severity of the punishment for those lads. On the one hand, 18 years is an incredibly long time to lock someone up for what essentially amounts to the theft of something no-one even knew existed. No lives were endangered and no harm done to anyone. On the other hand, a crime like this does irreparable damage to our ability to investigate history, and it seems that it would be very easy to get away with (if you're smart about how you sell it). From this point of view, harsh punishment makes sense, especially in high profile cases, as a deterrence to other prospective treasure hunters.
@@bobjackson4720 They weren't punished for finding the treasure. They were punished for failing to declare it, which they did very deliberately for what it's worth!
@@zak3744 They also stole from the land owner as the profits from any finds are split 50/50 between the detectorist and the land owner. So if the hoard was worth £1,000,000 they stole £500,000.
If you mean who polices the archaeologists, they are generally working for institutions with their own disciplinary procedures and which are themselves bound by the law. Institutions can indeed become corrupt, as can people within them, but this is not an argument for abandoning all controls and regulations.
It’s great to find gold and coins, but when you find buckles, brooches etc. you can imagine a person going back 100s of years walking on the very spot.
@@miss_detectorist I wholeheartedly agree. One of my favourite items in Reading Museum comes from Roman Silchester, and it is a child's small silver spoon, engraved with the name of its owner (IIRC something like "Priya"). When I first saw it I just stared at it for ages, wondering about this Roman child and what their life would have been like!
I remember Time Team touched on this in several episodes. They used metal detectorists several times, and I think it was at the Codnor Castle dig that a detectorist found a large gold coin. I like Paul's idea.
Very interesting and thoughtful video! Thank you! Our history is not someone's private property: it belongs to each and every one of us, and that includes buried historical artefacts.
Problem is it doesn't belong to everyone it ends up in government hands why should the government benefit from someone else Yes I'm with people for saving our history, but pedophiles get a lesser sentence if not at all But anything to do with money in this country the court system is designed to make the punishment much harsher than most Long story short the UK is a joke
Than you for another informative and well produced video. I would personally say the biggest issue to face British Archaeology is the gravel extraction companies who often do not report large finds to local authorities - many now famous sites were once under the axe for gravel extraction, such as the Thornborough Henges, but fortunately the local community already seeing so much pre history disappear from other other quarry sites they heroically stood their ground and saved these monuments. I have even heard tales and local legends of things uncovered during the building of local airports which were swept under the carpet to stop the protest into their construction and expansion - some of which have actually been published on certain sites but the majority is now lost to greed and who knows the true extent of these finds?.
Thanks Paul and hello Ellie. Thank you both for making the points about being responsible when detecting, the importance of context and sharing those finds with the rest of the community. Great video. 😊😊😊😊😊
Hello Pauline! It was such a treat to spend the day working with Paul and Rebecca. 😊 Lovely to make a silver find too, on a very interesting piece of land 😊
Great video as always Paul. Really hate when people like this give us detectorist a bad name. Great collaboration with Ellie. Will watch her video with you soon
Hi Paul, Very interesting story and very well presented. It looks like you had a good time making it too. Lovely to see Rebecca as well. I'm guessing that you used to read viz, or still do, you wont find one of their comics in a hedge!! From what you say and in the comments I understand that the find would be split between land owner and the finder. I would have guessed the crown got in there too, or the state. The case is still rumbling on from what I can see, they could have made a tidy sum and been well respected. All the best
I have been a detectorist for many years and have always reported anything I thing is even vaguely significant to my local FLO. I know exactly how Ellie feels when she says these people make her blood boil!! Yet another example of the few, spoiling it for the many.
Very interesting, Paul. Ben has a cheap metal detector that he likes using on the beach but I can see how it can become addictive. Even I know the rules about “treasure”. The local finds officer sounds like an interesting job.
I don't do metal detecting myself but like most (all?) groups the vast majority will just go about their hobby legally, safely and with respect for others but there (seemingly inevitably) will be some bad apples that don't that others will use to paint the entire group in a bad light.
Bad people use all sort of things to act badly, be it cars, hammers, 'phones, knives or what have you, we don't ban these. Just make the law known and enforce it. 👍
Absolutely they should be licensed. When you're an archaeology student the one thng you want is do find the truth about the past. Metal Detectorists are untrained and have no respect for history or it's context and they undermine what we have been trained to do and achieve. There was an entire episode of Time Team spent on a dig that had been deliberately placed; the finds were exquisite but worthless, because they were buried on top of barbed wire and lacking any context. I hope those men have learned their lesson and I hope their sentencing will be a deterent to others. When amateurs find anything, even if they think it's insignificant, they should call it in, every time. Because they might not be aware of other finds in that area. A horde can easily be scattered by ploughing and other earth movement. Every detail is important.
18 years for that 😮 Talk about a cursed treasure! Rather than licencing, however, I think we'd be better off incentivising reporting finds more/better rewards. Even then, the lustre of gold has a strange effect on people
Ahh, the good old days when porno mags in hedges were a blessed relief. Better than Nintendo for the health. I metal detect, and of course report anything interesting that I find. There is a good argument for detecting. The number of broken artifacts I find is extraordinary. Modern heavy farming methods destroy so much, so it's a battle against time to save these things. Keep detecting, but responsibly!
It has long worried me how much of our shared heritage has been spirited away and lost to all for the inconspicuous cash value of base metals … or simply traded to some random unconscionable private buyer for cash … again … that item unable to contribute any cultural value to society as a whole. But then the other side of the coin … pun intended … is in the amazing finds and knowledge we gain through responsible detectorists. At the end of the day … I guess … somes you win and somes you lose … and whatever restrictions one might impose, you can’t uninvent the technology or the skills to find stuff.
I think you may have found the reason why they did not register the find. A 50/50 split between the Landowner and the Finder is, apparently, normal. The hoard was valued at 3 million pounds. You said the finders would receive half a million. Assuming the Landowner would receive the same.................where did the other two million go?
That is not what the treasures act says. It is up to the Secretary of State to determine whether a reward will be given and what this reward will be. He could have decided to give them 50p if he wanted to. If you have even the most basic knowledge of government I am pretty sure you can figure out what would have happened to the rest of the revenue, it is the same thing that happens with a large proportion of your paycheck.
You're more generous spirited than I am. Metal detecting as an activity in its own right can only ever really be about the intrinsic value (financial or otherwise) of the artefacts found. That's not always bad, but virtually all context is lost, even when done totally legally. My heart sinks when I hear detectorists speak of 'productive permissions' because it always sounds to me like disturbed archaeology.
@@Osmiculture IF it came out of the plough layer, IF it was properly recorded and reported and IF any other non-metallic artefacts that were also dug up were also treated similarly then we've pretty much learnt all we can, so in that very specific case no we haven't lost context. Nor have we learnt very much other than about the artefact itself though.
@@thelandscapologistI was being implicit about the object being in the plough layer. I also didn't state that this find would be outside of protected sites. I also agree that any Roman or otherwise unidentifiable artefacts should be declared IF they are within an apparently linked and reasonable distance. The majority of detectorists I have met or seen (on YT) are amateurs of history and are proud of what they contribute in their discussions with, and presentations to a FLO. Indeed over 1,500,000 artefacts - some actually in isolated positions - that have been now been recorded with the PAS by detectorists. The head of the PAS even stated publicly that this has led to a significant number of studies, research and benefits to British archaeology. However, I do think you are being wilfully naive in your stance of not being "generous". I have no idea if you have gone out with anyone metal detecting (I venture you haven't), but many people spend hours cleaning up green waste pollution such as foil, plastic litter, digging up cans, moo tubes, screws, shotgun shell head stamps, cartridges, tools and items from modern agriculture, lengths of iron that could foul up the workings of machinery, rarely finding items of 'value' to archaeology or to a coin collection, for weeks, even months. They are often putting in days of work, scanning places where no amount of funding would have brought an archaeologist, let alone a team of them.
@@Osmiculture How about this then: the broach might have been still attached to its cloak which was just below the area affected by “deep plowing” and despite the modern chemicals that might have leached through it was still intact and surrounding a bunch of other soft elements. But since this cloak had all but transformed into a soft layer of dust, indistinguishable by the detectorist as anything other than muck, it was dug through and subsequently lost because the only metal bit was a broach. This is only one hypothetical (and if considered singly, improbable) scenario among thousands of other possible ones. There is every chance that someone simply dropped it while out walking and no other artifact exists within a thousand meters, but we would never know.
In the vast majority of cases the 'context' is simply unremarkable farmland or other open space, with nothing of archaeological interest. If there was some buried structure there how would one find out? Excavate a wide area around the spot where every single find was made? I don't think so.
Nighthawking is a big problem for archaeology. I know a few detectorists local who do record and do everything to the letter of the law, and they have found loads of great things. No hoards, though , but if they did, they would do the correct thing.
We absolutely do not need a licensing system. It would achieve nothing at all. We had all this nonsense back in the 70's when I started detecting. The only people it benefits are the people collecting licence revenue and those who want to close down the hobby. The legislation is already in place. Organizations such as the NCMD exist to guide people new to the hobby to detect responsibly. There is a whole framework already out there to help people understand their responsibilities. Most of the detecting community are good, honest people with a deep interest and care for our history. There will always be bad apples and a license is not going to do anything at all about that.
Who said many a year ago..those bastard machines( metal detectors). Today there’s just a very few who have nothing whatsoever to do with us legal, law abiding citizens/detectorists.
You should make a video about Danish legislation and practices in this field. We have no 'finder's keeper', detecting in public places and near historic monuments is banned, any found object of a certain age, rarity or of precious metals is property of the state (=museums). Finders are rewarded. Detectorist clubs work closely with museums and all finds are marked with GPS coordinates. Danish detectorists can take the credit for many of the most spectacular discoveries made in recent decades.
As I understand it, in the UK the system of reporting these types of finds and the practice of rewarding the detectorist who makes them is a really good one. It would also be kind of nice to know that you contributed to an archeological discovery, and on top of that, the government gives you a reward for it at a substantial portion of the value of the treasure. I would really like to see something like this in North America. One day I would like the opportunity to detect in the UK, and to spend some time there and get out and see some fantastic historical locations. I was there once for 24 hours a long time ago - it wasn't long enough!
Relics will be lost forever at some point in time. Some landowners have amazing finds after being curious for decades. Every little piece counts when putting the pieces of history together. It does need proper research and permission. Poaching is theft of history.
Another excellent production, and an interesting topic... However I did spot the deliberate "mistake" you put in to the video at 8:53... Combine harvester running in reverse and planting the wheat rather than cutting it 🙂 Joking apart, I love the content and production quality of your videos.. just wish they could be a little longer please
I think it's tragic that laws have been made that incentivize people to hide artifacts they may have found because if they go public and are open about their findings the are in danger of losing their property rights. I'm not in the UK but think it's even odder that the Crown can claim property found on anyone's private land. Do you really have the ownership of things that you don't know exists? This all gives the property owner incentive to keep quiet and tell no one. When I say tragic I mean in the classic sense because there is no simple answer that will satisfy everyone. I think property owners should have compensation for any loss of use of their property and for anything removed from their property.
Same as everything in life. Some people will want to cause carnage, problems or purely profit from anything they can get their hands on. Motorbikes and cars driven at extreme speeds, guns and knives used for harm and 100 other examples, making a bad name for any legitimate users and giving the government ammunition to legislate against these things.
People should be rewarded financially relative to the value of the items found. Then people would be more inclined to declare the treasure they have found. Prison for finding and selling something they found is mind boggling.
"Sorry mate, I lost them"; now what are you going to do? In reality they have probably sold them or have a firm buyer and reckon it's worth serving the time for the cash they'll get when they're out.
@@patrickcolclough2423 It sounded more like it is either still in the ground at or near its original location, or taken off site and hidden somewhere else. If so, when they get out they'll likely go back after it to sell off more.
@@rodneyhull9764 Except the land owner who is entitled under law to half the profits from the sale of any found items -- estimated at 3 million pounds, so.... 1.5 million to them, any private buyer that was denied the opportunity to legally buy some and will have to surrender whatever they are found in possession of, and society in general that is denied the chance to ever see any of it that legitimate museums would have bought and exhibited.
The French coin ; was there an old Napoleonic prison camp in the area? The prisoners made models etc whilst incarcerated and sometimes worked in the surrounding area.
A lot has been found because of metal detectors. But a lot has disappeared because of them. Very hard to police. For the few that get caught, there are many more that don't. We get the same thing in Oz on the gold fields. People rock up at night and pinch gold off other's leases. Even bigger area and hard to track. A stiff sentence helps. But you have to catch them.
I am against government interference into private life and I think they should just let people live their lives. But I know compromises need to be made. And I think this is a good one. "For the greater good" are words that have motivated some of the biggest atrocities in history, but preserving history so that we can learn more about our past, I think that is worth doing for the greater good.
It doesn’t fall under the Treasure Act, as it’s a single coin. But if it had been found in a multiple of more than two, then yes it would be reported. ‘Two or more coins from the same find provided they are at least 300 years old when found and contain 10 per cent gold or silver’ is the rule.
im dobbing you in for not reporting finding historical documents, porno mags were very sought after when i was a kid, ,lol gee never thought about it but are they obsolete now,lol?
Isn't there a plan where the country rewards the treasure finders? I know nothing about ancient treasure hoards, but from the rarity of just the one coin, these men would have been free to find more someday and still have a little money in the bank. I'm an American, and I think we let our history get destroyed all the time by property developers. We don't need another Dollar General store, but we do need to know our own history. As you Brits say, "Good on you" for trying to do the right thing. History belongs to all of us.
My uncle found a leather bag of gold nuggets and green emeralds in his field in Kent back in 1993. He bought a John Player Lotus Esprit and used to drive me around when I was a kid.
Snoop around TH-cam a bit, and you'll find the charming Mackenzie Crook series, "The Detectorists," in which he and Toby Jones play a pair so there with their gear and determination and the English countryside that sometimes, just now and then, yields a bit of history.
Greetings Paul and greetings to your charming wife Rebecca well I just finished watching the episode. You did on the metal detectors finding coins and stuff like that. enjoy your series. Specially all the Railway stuff but even lately on canals and Hill forts Roads I come from a nation it is only approximately come from a nation that Tony about 124 years old our capital city was only founded in the 1830s so we don’t have any kings or queens or treasures to dig up and all type of stuff we do get people going around in our state looking for gold with their metal detectors and they found a lot of good stuff and a lot of people got very rich and your situation for those who did the wrong food they probably got very greedy and made a mistake now they ended up in jail and they got nothing anyway Paul once again absolutely brilliant your channel. I look forward to every tie on Monday yours, Jeff Melbourne Australia
Just a suggestion, Jeff. If you do strike it rich with your metal detector up around Ballarat or Bendigo, you might put some of the windfall into a few night classes in English writing. 😉😊
Unwritten rule should be if you don't know who to contact advise a local museum as they should know the right person to advise. If it's something they are aware of previously good but if it's new then they will be able to get the wheels in motion to investigate and properly record.
Too bad those two gave in to temptation and greed, it also seems the flo's have problems with important finds going " missing" after they are handed in ( also the British museum !). ☹️
Thank you. Interesting stuff -- as ever. Pity you didn't have better weather. Dry, the pornographic magazines would probably have been worth a few bob and wold not have come under the jurisdiction the Finds Liaison Officer.
Completely understand the need for responsible detectoring, but those prison sentences suggest that the two peasants banged hard into our nation's feudal establishment. I wonder what the result would be if they'd found the same in an urban, council-owned park. I fear that it's not about the preservation of history, but everything about denying the 'landowner' of their cut. Fascinating video nonetheless.
After watching many of the Scottish Detectorist's videos, I'm wondering because of the 'S' shape that the silver coin was made into with the wearing down of the faces so that it is hard to be used as a coin that it had been made into a love token for some young lady and maybe she didn't feel the same way and threw it away?
Detectorists and 'amateur' historians have made incalculable contributions to our discovery and understanding of the past.
Volunteers - coastguards, food kitchens, homes-for-the-night, food banks, meals-on-wheels, mountain rescue personnel, hospice workers, charity shop workers, litter collectors, Canal and River Trust volunteers, National Trust volunteers, the folks who protect and keep our footpaths open, repair them and protect them, work with children in Scouts, Brownies, D of E, sports clubs... the list is endless, are the backbone of Britain.
Some nefarious people hide among the pure of heart.
Yet, the vast majority remain bloody brilliant and we must never let the b*****ds win!
Yes, but unfortunately they have destroyed and pillaged many sites as well…
As an amateur archaeologist I am delighted when we can work with a metal detectoist. We both have so much to contribute to each other. 😊😊😊😊😊
I hope the two men have managed to keep the balance of the find and sell it when they are released.
Cases like this will only encourage finders to melt down gold or silver to make it easier to sell .
my hobbies are varied, detectorist, motorcyclist, fishing, leisure boating, drone pilot.
"a few bad eggs" - they, are everywhere, in every hobby, they give everyone a bad name,
rule no'1 - DON'T LET THE SIDE DOWN !!! 🙂🙂🙂🙂
The archeologists used to break into all the tumulus around the late 1800s early 1900s and take all the gold torcs etc.
The guy from the british museum pulling out jewels with pliars , selling the gold on ebay etc (nothing happened to him). Theres bad people in every group unfortunately.
key words "used to"
@@Ck-zk3weThe guy at the british museum was last year , and many other cases of people doing the right thing handing in hoards and expensive artifacts going missing . If you asked for the archeologists to give you the data from archi analysis in the 70s 80s and 90s , they wouldnt be able to produce it or show you what they found , its all been lost or put into a few expensive textbooks that have been lost. Its not nice to be universally condemned .
No licence thankyou just another hobby being monetized.
So metal detectors aren't hoping to make money?
Do you really think that the authorities who issue any kind of licence make a profit?
No one wants to be told what to do, but it's surprising how many people go running to the police or other enforcement agencies when other people break the rules!
@@conradharcourt8263 your been charged for walking on the river Thames picking up broken pottery?
@@george5590 Pottery is not metal. You're being charged a fee to administer a system designed to protect important finds from being destroyed by greedy idiots.
@@conradharcourt8263 Oh my - The ignorance! Not one penny of any of the taxes etc you pay pays for anything. You are being the good little slave that you have been brainwashed into as per the video The Democracy Illusion on my channel - happy to be robbed and shafted since the day you were born.
I am in the United States and there is a thing called trespassing. It seems this from a place you can just walk on someone elses land but expected to not take the stuff. The stuff is stolen to begin with so it doesn't make since to expect any different.
I've discussed this subject with many professional archaeologists over the years and licensing the hobby won't stop night hawks or anyone with a criminal mind-set, as much as licensing gun ownership stops criminals getting hold of and using them, or someone without a car license getting behind the wheel of a vehicle. There is a "us and them" mentallity among both detectorists and professional archaeologists, archaeologists tend to think that all metal detectorists are purely in it to discover treasure, which of course is far from the truth with only a minority of those who detect that actually sell their finds. Detectorists seem to think that the museum, Portable Antiquities Scheme and archaeologists want to take over their sites, the few who don't report their finds have a mistrust of the PAS and museums process as it takes such a long time for an artefact to be logged, identified, declared as treasure or not and then sold at auction, this causes impatience and mistrust among the detecting community. More understanding and educating of people wanting to detect is required, more involvement with the professional and amateur working side by side is the answer. Although criminals will be criminals no matter what.
Gun licenses and car licenses aren't *supposed* to stop criminals using guns or people unlawfully driving cars. It just makes it *more difficult* for them to do it. That's how licenses work.
@@patavinity1262 my point was even if you license something, criminals will find a way.
@@definitiveverse Yeah, and my point is that your point is a bad one.
@@patavinity1262 I'm not sure how its a bad point, its a fact that criminals will find a way to comit crime whether something is licensed or not. Introducing a license to metal detecting will just price out those on low incomes who enjoy the hobby it won't deter criminals one bit.
@@definitiveverse I explained how in my original response. Have a read and get back to me.
No way a license is going to stop a criminal. All that can be done is prosecution after the fact.
Japan, where I live, has drone licenses, and in the past month, there have been several instances of unlicensed drones flying over military sites and ships. They were only discovered because the video was found on line. The license requirement stops no criminal.
A license only serves as a barrier to people getting into the hobby.
well even laws dont stop everyone but i dont know if that is an argument against them . hobby lol, you can call anything a hobby , that doesnt make it legitimate
Not only was this video interesting, but it also represents the detecting community in a positive way. The night hawks are not part of that community - they’re just thieves who use detectors. Cheers Paul - another top upload.
Cheers Boss.
As a detectorist myself I totally agree with how they were treated,I have had a 2 hoards myself but unlike them followed the code of conduct.Glad to say one of my hoards is now in a museum after archeologists excavated it for all to enjoy (and it's significant academic value will be learnt about).I've never been in it for the money and never sold anything.Great informative video as ever.
I hope you reported all that treasure you pulled out of the bongo bushes!
If they'd done everything legally then they may have had a reward of half the value (the other half to the land owner) after the sale (hopefully to a museum).
Absolutely yep
And they had already turned in items dozens of times before so they couldn't claim ignorance.
Driven by greed!
when you realise that the people most likely to buy the stuff get to determine the value.. you can see why a lot of people don't.
@@Gainn Not sure of your rationale there. The sale of these "treasure" items is NOT a closed auction. Thus anyone who has an interest in amassing collections of same (and there are a LOT of very wealthy business types looking for ways to sock away their loot into appreciating assets) can put their hand up - not only the Museums and their "Experts" that I assume you are referring to.
Thank you, as a very keen metal detectorist, with many amazing finds under his belt. I can't help but agree with you on this video. It should never be about cashing in. It should always be about the history.
Thanks 👍
Don’t be so silly it’s all about the money lol you tell me now if you find something for 5-10-20k your just goin put in a cabinet and look at it! Your goin sell it! Every metal detectorist wants the recognition of finding something great!!
@@Chickenben897thank you for making the case that metal detection should be made illegal as it is in other countries. Spoil it for everyone, just to keep people like you away from it.
The more I hear about being jailed for finding historical treasures, the more I think it just might be easier to just melt everything down into bullion. You'll lose a lot of value, but easier to sell
@@watcher24601 how’s it wrong selling what you find??? I’ve found loads of gold silver and all sorts over the years of doin! I study it and research what I find and then sell! Iam not a collector but the things I sold have gone into private collections to be admired for the rest of time! What’s wrong with that??
Thank Paul for pointing out what we, as detectorist, strive to be most detectorist are responsible and do the right things. Crazy that greed got the better of the 2 guys. History is so important, and detecting is a major part. I pride myself as a responsible detectorist and record all of my worthy finds with the PAS and always have the landowners' permission. Great video, as always 👍
Thank you Paul for this video. Metal detecting is an addictive hobby, finding and learning about our history, if done legally.
I can definitely see it becoming an addiction!!
You had me until the end. Licenses and such like just make the freedom to get into a hobby like metal detecting all the more difficult. There’s already legislation. By adding more rules you just “punish” the people who are doing things right in the first place., because the “baddies “ don’t follow the rules, that’s why they’re “baddies”.
Well said.
Me too. Ridiculous idea imo and his list of things they would be punished for are already covered by existing statute.
Great holes in the land you say .most of the stuff is getting smashed by the ploughs in the top 4 inches
Ploughing!! whats that?.....finished years ago on my neck of the woods.....
Sad to think but of course there are people like this. I loved the Detectorists series and loved that they finally won the day.
The problem is there's always a few bad eggs - Detectorists' finds have enabled a HUGE increase in archaeologists' understanding of history in recent years. Organised digs usually require NCMD membership, which includes insurance and the rules are clear to see on their website.
Yup, absolutely agree
The fact that I live in America and I know of the rules. The new hoops to jump through (new rules) would not matter to those types of people.
As an American it may work akin to scared straight programs lol.
I'm conflicted by the severity of the punishment for those lads.
On the one hand, 18 years is an incredibly long time to lock someone up for what essentially amounts to the theft of something no-one even knew existed. No lives were endangered and no harm done to anyone.
On the other hand, a crime like this does irreparable damage to our ability to investigate history, and it seems that it would be very easy to get away with (if you're smart about how you sell it). From this point of view, harsh punishment makes sense, especially in high profile cases, as a deterrence to other prospective treasure hunters.
So for digging a hole and finding treasure you are punished in a way comparable with a rather grisly murder, where is the sense in that?
@@bobjackson4720 They weren't punished for finding the treasure. They were punished for failing to declare it, which they did very deliberately for what it's worth!
@@zak3744 They also stole from the land owner as the profits from any finds are split 50/50 between the detectorist and the land owner. So if the hoard was worth £1,000,000 they stole £500,000.
Compared to recent cases about sharing pornographic images of children which only received suspended sentences, it seems incredibly harsh.
@@bobjackson4720yet they let child predators out in a couple years… laws and punishments are backwards in this country
The most recent significant historical finds have been made by detectorists not by archaeologists...and who policies the archaeologists????
Only if your definition of historical finds is "interesting old trinkets"
If you mean who polices the archaeologists, they are generally working for institutions with their own disciplinary procedures and which are themselves bound by the law. Institutions can indeed become corrupt, as can people within them, but this is not an argument for abandoning all controls and regulations.
It’s great to find gold and coins, but when you find buckles, brooches etc. you can imagine a person going back 100s of years walking on the very spot.
You’re spot on - it’s all about the human stories for me 😊
I'm from the US. I agree with you 100%. Coins are great but they change hands. a button or a buckle was one persons.
@@miss_detectorist I wholeheartedly agree. One of my favourite items in Reading Museum comes from Roman Silchester, and it is a child's small silver spoon, engraved with the name of its owner (IIRC something like "Priya"). When I first saw it I just stared at it for ages, wondering about this Roman child and what their life would have been like!
I remember Time Team touched on this in several episodes. They used metal detectorists several times, and I think it was at the Codnor Castle dig that a detectorist found a large gold coin. I like Paul's idea.
Very interesting and thoughtful video! Thank you! Our history is not someone's private property: it belongs to each and every one of us, and that includes buried historical artefacts.
Problem is it doesn't belong to everyone it ends up in government hands why should the government benefit from someone else
Yes I'm with people for saving our history, but pedophiles get a lesser sentence if not at all
But anything to do with money in this country the court system is designed to make the punishment much harsher than most
Long story short the UK is a joke
Licensing would not work because the unscrupulous would carry on as before
Of course. But as sumerised it would stop some really silly cases I've seen of late with uneducated amateurs atht e least.
Oi! Do you have a loicense for that metal detector?
By that logic car licences don't work either.
@@DonHavjuan does everyone with a car license obey the rules? Are there still people driving around without licenses?
@@mickdavis8521false equivalency
Than you for another informative and well produced video.
I would personally say the biggest issue to face British Archaeology is the gravel extraction companies who often do not report large finds to local authorities - many now famous sites were once under the axe for gravel extraction, such as the Thornborough Henges, but fortunately the local community already seeing so much pre history disappear from other other quarry sites they heroically stood their ground and saved these monuments.
I have even heard tales and local legends of things uncovered during the building of local airports which were swept under the carpet to stop the protest into their construction and expansion - some of which have actually been published on certain sites but the majority is now lost to greed and who knows the true extent of these finds?.
Thanks Paul and hello Ellie. Thank you both for making the points about being responsible when detecting, the importance of context and sharing those finds with the rest of the community. Great video.
😊😊😊😊😊
Thanks Pauline. Had hoped you'd approve of this one!
Hello Pauline! It was such a treat to spend the day working with Paul and Rebecca. 😊 Lovely to make a silver find too, on a very interesting piece of land 😊
Great video as always Paul. Really hate when people like this give us detectorist a bad name.
Great collaboration with Ellie. Will watch her video with you soon
😊
Hi Paul, Very interesting story and very well presented. It looks like you had a good time making it too. Lovely to see Rebecca as well.
I'm guessing that you used to read viz, or still do, you wont find one of their comics in a hedge!!
From what you say and in the comments I understand that the find would be split between land owner and the finder. I would have guessed the crown got in there too, or the state. The case is still rumbling on from what I can see, they could have made a tidy sum and been well respected.
All the best
I have been a detectorist for many years and have always reported anything I thing is even vaguely significant to my local FLO. I know exactly how Ellie feels when she says these people make her blood boil!! Yet another example of the few, spoiling it for the many.
Doing this at night shows that they were criminals intent on looting ancient treasures.
Very interesting, Paul. Ben has a cheap metal detector that he likes using on the beach but I can see how it can become addictive. Even I know the rules about “treasure”. The local finds officer sounds like an interesting job.
Yup, never considered that. Must be hugely enlightening every day
Like Indiana Jones said it belongs in a Museum
I don't do metal detecting myself but like most (all?) groups the vast majority will just go about their hobby legally, safely and with respect for others but there (seemingly inevitably) will be some bad apples that don't that others will use to paint the entire group in a bad light.
Absolutely yep
What an educational video I never knew that 🤔🏴
Thanks Jack
Bad people use all sort of things to act badly, be it cars, hammers, 'phones, knives or what have you, we don't ban these. Just make the law known and enforce it. 👍
Very much the point, yep. In fact this was what i was trying to mumble at the end.
Thank you Paul another informative video, the few bad apples always ruin things for the honest majority.
Absolutely yep. Cheers
the 'honest majority' probably dont have to work their arses off in a warehouse all their life. the morality of the wealthy on full show here
Absolutely they should be licensed. When you're an archaeology student the one thng you want is do find the truth about the past. Metal Detectorists are untrained and have no respect for history or it's context and they undermine what we have been trained to do and achieve. There was an entire episode of Time Team spent on a dig that had been deliberately placed; the finds were exquisite but worthless, because they were buried on top of barbed wire and lacking any context. I hope those men have learned their lesson and I hope their sentencing will be a deterent to others. When amateurs find anything, even if they think it's insignificant, they should call it in, every time. Because they might not be aware of other finds in that area. A horde can easily be scattered by ploughing and other earth movement. Every detail is important.
18 years for that 😮 Talk about a cursed treasure! Rather than licencing, however, I think we'd be better off incentivising reporting finds more/better rewards. Even then, the lustre of gold has a strange effect on people
The lustre really does doesn't it. Had the reported and gone halves with the landowner, they would have gained maybe half a million each.
Ahh, the good old days when porno mags in hedges were a blessed relief. Better than Nintendo for the health.
I metal detect, and of course report anything interesting that I find. There is a good argument for detecting. The number of broken artifacts I find is extraordinary. Modern heavy farming methods destroy so much, so it's a battle against time to save these things. Keep detecting, but responsibly!
It has long worried me how much of our shared heritage has been spirited away and lost to all for the inconspicuous cash value of base metals … or simply traded to some random unconscionable private buyer for cash … again … that item unable to contribute any cultural value to society as a whole.
But then the other side of the coin … pun intended … is in the amazing finds and knowledge we gain through responsible detectorists.
At the end of the day … I guess … somes you win and somes you lose … and whatever restrictions one might impose, you can’t uninvent the technology or the skills to find stuff.
Fantastic video thanks Paul. Really enjoy the history detections bring out. Really enjoyed that. Please take care
Next week “When Ordinance Survey maps attack”.
But seriously, an interesting and informative video.
This one is a wow - very well done in making the video - I shared this with a friend who is a detectorist in the USA and is well-connected
Thank you. It took a while!
I think you may have found the reason why they did not register the find.
A 50/50 split between the Landowner and the Finder is, apparently, normal.
The hoard was valued at 3 million pounds.
You said the finders would receive half a million.
Assuming the Landowner would receive the same.................where did the other two million go?
That is not what the treasures act says. It is up to the Secretary of State to determine whether a reward will be given and what this reward will be. He could have decided to give them 50p if he wanted to. If you have even the most basic knowledge of government I am pretty sure you can figure out what would have happened to the rest of the revenue, it is the same thing that happens with a large proportion of your paycheck.
@@streuthmonkey1 I think we have the same point of view.
A hundred grand not worth getting out of bed for?
Not a broach @7:36, rather a Hampshire regiment cap badge before the PWRR amalgamation.
Cheers Dude.
You're more generous spirited than I am. Metal detecting as an activity in its own right can only ever really be about the intrinsic value (financial or otherwise) of the artefacts found. That's not always bad, but virtually all context is lost, even when done totally legally. My heart sinks when I hear detectorists speak of 'productive permissions' because it always sounds to me like disturbed archaeology.
@@Osmiculture IF it came out of the plough layer, IF it was properly recorded and reported and IF any other non-metallic artefacts that were also dug up were also treated similarly then we've pretty much learnt all we can, so in that very specific case no we haven't lost context. Nor have we learnt very much other than about the artefact itself though.
@@OsmicultureYes.
@@thelandscapologistI was being implicit about the object being in the plough layer. I also didn't state that this find would be outside of protected sites. I also agree that any Roman or otherwise unidentifiable artefacts should be declared IF they are within an apparently linked and reasonable distance. The majority of detectorists I have met or seen (on YT) are amateurs of history and are proud of what they contribute in their discussions with, and presentations to a FLO. Indeed over 1,500,000 artefacts - some actually in isolated positions - that have been now been recorded with the PAS by detectorists. The head of the PAS even stated publicly that this has led to a significant number of studies, research and benefits to British archaeology.
However, I do think you are being wilfully naive in your stance of not being "generous". I have no idea if you have gone out with anyone metal detecting (I venture you haven't), but many people spend hours cleaning up green waste pollution such as foil, plastic litter, digging up cans, moo tubes, screws, shotgun shell head stamps, cartridges, tools and items from modern agriculture, lengths of iron that could foul up the workings of machinery, rarely finding items of 'value' to archaeology or to a coin collection, for weeks, even months. They are often putting in days of work, scanning places where no amount of funding would have brought an archaeologist, let alone a team of them.
@@Osmiculture How about this then: the broach might have been still attached to its cloak which was just below the area affected by “deep plowing” and despite the modern chemicals that might have leached through it was still intact and surrounding a bunch of other soft elements. But since this cloak had all but transformed into a soft layer of dust, indistinguishable by the detectorist as anything other than muck, it was dug through and subsequently lost because the only metal bit was a broach. This is only one hypothetical (and if considered singly, improbable) scenario among thousands of other possible ones. There is every chance that someone simply dropped it while out walking and no other artifact exists within a thousand meters, but we would never know.
In the vast majority of cases the 'context' is simply unremarkable farmland or other open space, with nothing of archaeological interest. If there was some buried structure there how would one find out? Excavate a wide area around the spot where every single find was made? I don't think so.
Screw that! Finders keepers
I'm waiting for the series "Jeremy Clarkson - metal detectorist". Hours of cock ups and dodgy dealings.
By documenting their dig, they incriminated themselves. The should have disclosed what they found.
hello again Paul, this was really interesting , greed always gets people , not all people i might add , well done and thank you 😊
This was really a very interesting story. I think I should check how the laws are in Germany.
Thank you. I'd be keen to know!
Good afternoon Paul, landed at 5pm today. Good to see you again.
Nighthawking is a big problem for archaeology. I know a few detectorists local who do record and do everything to the letter of the law, and they have found loads of great things. No hoards, though , but if they did, they would do the correct thing.
We absolutely do not need a licensing system. It would achieve nothing at all. We had all this nonsense back in the 70's when I started detecting. The only people it benefits are the people collecting licence revenue and those who want to close down the hobby. The legislation is already in place. Organizations such as the NCMD exist to guide people new to the hobby to detect responsibly. There is a whole framework already out there to help people understand their responsibilities. Most of the detecting community are good, honest people with a deep interest and care for our history. There will always be bad apples and a license is not going to do anything at all about that.
Detectorists>treasure hunters
Yup
Great Great 🔥🔥 love Ellie’s channel 👍👍👍 soooo good Paul 🤩🇬🇧🇺🇸
Who said many a year ago..those bastard machines( metal detectors).
Today there’s just a very few who have nothing whatsoever to do with us legal, law abiding citizens/detectorists.
You should make a video about Danish legislation and practices in this field. We have no 'finder's keeper', detecting in public places and near historic monuments is banned, any found object of a certain age, rarity or of precious metals is property of the state (=museums). Finders are rewarded. Detectorist clubs work closely with museums and all finds are marked with GPS coordinates. Danish detectorists can take the credit for many of the most spectacular discoveries made in recent decades.
You could make this into a lighthearted and whimsical TV series.
@@AndyJarman 😂
Nah! it would never be popular.
Legislating against the genuine participants only deters & restricts honest people and never works to stop the dodgy ones. We see this in many areas.
As I understand it, in the UK the system of reporting these types of finds and the practice of rewarding the detectorist who makes them is a really good one. It would also be kind of nice to know that you contributed to an archeological discovery, and on top of that, the government gives you a reward for it at a substantial portion of the value of the treasure. I would really like to see something like this in North America. One day I would like the opportunity to detect in the UK, and to spend some time there and get out and see some fantastic historical locations. I was there once for 24 hours a long time ago - it wasn't long enough!
Really enjoyed this Paul and team! Thank you!
Cheers Nic.
Relics will be lost forever at some point in time. Some landowners have amazing finds after being curious for decades. Every little piece counts when putting the pieces of history together. It does need proper research and permission. Poaching is theft of history.
Another excellent production, and an interesting topic... However I did spot the deliberate "mistake" you put in to the video at 8:53... Combine harvester running in reverse and planting the wheat rather than cutting it 🙂
Joking apart, I love the content and production quality of your videos.. just wish they could be a little longer please
Thanks Malcolm. Appreciated
Who else is fed up with the overuse of the word "countless" when referring to a moderate number of people? In this case, there were not many at all.
I do wonder what real detectorists thought of the BBC program of the same name. (Still available on iPlayer).
Ellie was a fan, and we are half was through season 1!
There’s a podcast I was involved in which does exactly that - ‘Detectorists on Detectorists’ (part of Detecting History podcast)
Sometimes you don't need to use a metal detector there are sun bathers just look at the ground the plough brings them up and usually smashes them up
I think it's tragic that laws have been made that incentivize people to hide artifacts they may have found because if they go public and are open about their findings the are in danger of losing their property rights. I'm not in the UK but think it's even odder that the Crown can claim property found on anyone's private land. Do you really have the ownership of things that you don't know exists? This all gives the property owner incentive to keep quiet and tell no one. When I say tragic I mean in the classic sense because there is no simple answer that will satisfy everyone. I think property owners should have compensation for any loss of use of their property and for anything removed from their property.
What would Andy and Lance do?
No spoilers I'm still on season 1
@@pwhitewick❤ yes Paul!!! How are you enjoying it x
Same as everything in life. Some people will want to cause carnage, problems or purely profit from anything they can get their hands on. Motorbikes and cars driven at extreme speeds, guns and knives used for harm and 100 other examples, making a bad name for any legitimate users and giving the government ammunition to legislate against these things.
Great to always see a new video by Paul . I know it's gona be good so I shall sit down here and watch. Thank you Paul. You make great videos man.
Hope you enjoy
People should be rewarded financially relative to the value of the items found. Then people would be more inclined to declare the treasure they have found. Prison for finding and selling something they found is mind boggling.
Good to see you Paul for a great video
Cheers
Simple solution... don't let the two of them out of jail until they say where the rest of it is & it gets recovered.
"Sorry mate, I lost them"; now what are you going to do? In reality they have probably sold them or have a firm buyer and reckon it's worth serving the time for the cash they'll get when they're out.
they broke a rule,nobody was hurt,ridiculous opinion
@@patrickcolclough2423 It sounded more like it is either still in the ground at or near its original location, or taken off site and hidden somewhere else. If so, when they get out they'll likely go back after it to sell off more.
Yep. No body, no parole seems to work sometimes. And if not, it certainly stops recidivism! 😱🙄
@@rodneyhull9764 Except the land owner who is entitled under law to half the profits from the sale of any found items -- estimated at 3 million pounds, so.... 1.5 million to them, any private buyer that was denied the opportunity to legally buy some and will have to surrender whatever they are found in possession of, and society in general that is denied the chance to ever see any of it that legitimate museums would have bought and exhibited.
The French coin ; was there an old Napoleonic prison camp in the area? The prisoners made models etc whilst incarcerated and sometimes worked in the surrounding area.
A lot has been found because of metal detectors. But a lot has disappeared because of them. Very hard to police. For the few that get caught, there are many more that don't. We get the same thing in Oz on the gold fields. People rock up at night and pinch gold off other's leases. Even bigger area and hard to track. A stiff sentence helps. But you have to catch them.
I am against government interference into private life and I think they should just let people live their lives. But I know compromises need to be made. And I think this is a good one. "For the greater good" are words that have motivated some of the biggest atrocities in history, but preserving history so that we can learn more about our past, I think that is worth doing for the greater good.
Very interesting. Great hobby as long as we apply the rules. Well presented . Thank you.
It's such a shame that you can't even keep treasure that you find :(
I take it miss detectorist declared the silver coin she found
It doesn’t fall under the Treasure Act, as it’s a single coin. But if it had been found in a multiple of more than two, then yes it would be reported. ‘Two or more coins from the same find provided they are at least 300 years old when found and contain 10 per cent gold or silver’ is the rule.
@@miss_detectorist Now, now! Don't try to confuse all us keyboard warriors with all that legalese Mumbo-Jumbo! 😱😜😊
im dobbing you in for not reporting finding historical documents, porno mags were very sought after when i was a kid, ,lol gee never thought about it but are they obsolete now,lol?
Well done
Isn't there a plan where the country rewards the treasure finders? I know nothing about ancient treasure hoards, but from the rarity of just the one coin, these men would have been free to find more someday and still have a little money in the bank. I'm an American, and I think we let our history get destroyed all the time by property developers. We don't need another Dollar General store, but we do need to know our own history. As you Brits say, "Good on you" for trying to do the right thing. History belongs to all of us.
Very interesting Paul.
As gradually each hobby requires a licence to pursue, we grow closer and closer to the day when nothing is legal without government permission.
Good video nice diversion from the normal. If u haven’t look out the series The Detectorites. Real good series and funny.
My uncle found a leather bag of gold nuggets and green emeralds in his field in Kent back in 1993. He bought a John Player Lotus Esprit and used to drive me around when I was a kid.
@@horyzengaming3935 the stuff of dreams!
Snoop around TH-cam a bit, and you'll find the charming Mackenzie Crook series, "The Detectorists," in which he and Toby Jones play a pair so there with their gear and determination and the English countryside that sometimes, just now and then, yields a bit of history.
Greetings Paul and greetings to your charming wife Rebecca well I just finished watching the episode. You did on the metal detectors finding coins and stuff like that. enjoy your series. Specially all the Railway stuff but even lately on canals and Hill forts Roads I come from a nation it is only approximately come from a nation that Tony about 124 years old our capital city was only founded in the 1830s so we don’t have any kings or queens or treasures to dig up and all type of stuff we do get people going around in our state looking for gold with their metal detectors and they found a lot of good stuff and a lot of people got very rich and your situation for those who did the wrong food they probably got very greedy and made a mistake now they ended up in jail and they got nothing anyway Paul once again absolutely brilliant your channel. I look forward to every tie on Monday yours, Jeff Melbourne Australia
Just a suggestion, Jeff. If you do strike it rich with your metal detector up around Ballarat or Bendigo, you might put some of the windfall into a few night classes in English writing. 😉😊
Unwritten rule should be if you don't know who to contact advise a local museum as they should know the right person to advise. If it's something they are aware of previously good but if it's new then they will be able to get the wheels in motion to investigate and properly record.
Too bad those two gave in to temptation and greed, it also seems the flo's have problems with important finds going " missing" after they are handed in ( also the British museum !). ☹️
Thank you. Interesting stuff -- as ever.
Pity you didn't have better weather. Dry, the pornographic magazines would probably have been worth a few bob and wold not have come under the jurisdiction the Finds Liaison Officer.
😂
Or just make it illegal to detect after dark … as that’s when these criminals operate ..
I like this.
It's only a crime when the government doesn't get first dibs🤣
Completely understand the need for responsible detectoring, but those prison sentences suggest that the two peasants banged hard into our nation's feudal establishment. I wonder what the result would be if they'd found the same in an urban, council-owned park. I fear that it's not about the preservation of history, but everything about denying the 'landowner' of their cut. Fascinating video nonetheless.
carnt have working class lads getting one over the toffs can we?
Excellent Paul … more of these 👏👏👍👋⚔️🙏
Thanks Andrew. Working hard at it
That was interesting
Sounds fun / exciting & interesting!!! 😉😊🚂🚂🚂
After watching many of the Scottish Detectorist's videos, I'm wondering because of the 'S' shape that the silver coin was made into with the wearing down of the faces so that it is hard to be used as a coin that it had been made into a love token for some young lady and maybe she didn't feel the same way and threw it away?