July 2016 - Regton Metal Detectors

Roman hoard unearthed in a field in Peover Superior

13 July 201613 July 2016 Regton Detectors Leave a comment

METAL detecting enthusiast Ronald Lees unearthed the find of a lifetime in a field at Peover Superior. The 62-year-old initially found dozens of Roman coins, which became a hoard of almost 7,800 after archaeologists helped reveal the full extent of the amazing discovery. The bronze coins were produced in the third century, and the majority were found in a pot a few inches under the ground.

Mr Lees, from Altrincham, discovered the coins when he and friend Rick Parker made their fifth trawl of a field on a cold, wet winter’s day in January 2015. At an inquest into the find at Macclesfield Town Hall on Wednesday, Alan Moore, deputy coroner for Cheshire, declared the coin hoard to be treasure. Museums can express an interest in a find if it’s treasure, and if a museum wants the treasure the Treasure Valuation Committee will decide how much it is worth and how much will go to anyone entitled to a share of the find.

Mr Moore told Mr Lees at the inquest that It is an absolutely amazing find. Mr Moore read out a report by Richard Abdy from the British Museum. In his report Mr Abdy said the coins date from AD 251 to 274, and are similar to the many Romano-British coin hoards buried in the aftermath of the breakaway Gallic Empire. The empire was established in AD 260, he said, had held dominion over Britain and was reconquered by the legitimate ‘central’ Empire under Aurelian in AD 274. The coins include ones from the earliest years of Aurelian’s reign, and the latest are those of Tetricus I, AD 271-4 and his young son Tetricus II, the last of the Gallic Emperors. The greatest number, 1,902, are from the reign of Tetricus I, with 745 from his son’s reign. There are 1,670 coins from the reign of Victorinus, AD 269-71, 899 from Gallienus’ reign, AD 260-8, 599 from the reign of Claudius II, AD 268-70, and 354 from Posthumus’ reign, AD 260-9.

Speaking after the inquest, Mr Lees said he took up metal detecting again three years ago after being interested in it in his 20s.

Metal detectorist finds 700 year old gold ring in farmer’s field

6 July 20166 July 2016 Regton Detectors Leave a comment

Metal detecting enthusiast Patricia Richmond finds 700-year-old gold ring in farmer’s field.

A metal detectoris unearthed a 700-year-old gold ring during an early morning hunt in a farmer’s field in Houghton Green. Patricia Richmond found the medieval ring during a hunt in land near Peel Hall Farm in October.

A treasure trove inquest at Warrington Coroner’s Court concluded that the ring probably dated back to the 14th century.

The 59-year-old and her metal detecting partner Stuart Bibby arrived at the farmer’s field at around 6am on October 20 and after less than an hour Ms Richmond had made the astonishing find.

After Ms Richmond unearthed the ring it was sent to Stuart Noon, finds liaison officer at the Museum of Lancashire, who estimated that the ring dated back to between 1,300-1,400AD.

Its primary material is gold with an inset oval stone that could potentially be a sapphire.

The ring, which measures 15x20mm and weighs 3.26g, has seven convex settings in its bezel to hold the stone and a decorated flower inscribed into an integral square plate on either side of the hoop.

No makers mark was discovered on the ring.

The inquest was held to determine whether the item should be classified as treasure.

the assistant coroner for Cheshire Alan Moore concluded that the ring represented treasure as it was more than 300 years old and had a precious metal content exceeding 10 per cent.

As yet it is unknown what will happen next to the ring, but Warrington Museum has expressed an interest in housing it.

metal detectorist postaman Garrett AT Pro

Hero Postman Metal Detectorist

5 July 20165 July 2016 Regton Detectors Leave a comment

A postman with a metal detector has reunited a Calderdale pensioner with her soldier father’s war medal after more than 60 years.

Mick Wells, from Luddenden Foot, was looking for forgotten treasures in Rishworth when he stumbled across a silver campaign medal from the First World War belonging to Pte Joseph Hinchcliffe.

And after a bit of detective work with help from a friend he managed to track down the rightful owner, Pte Hinchcliffe’s daughter Mary Turner, who had since moved to Triangle.