DetectingWales.com

Detecting Wales Rally 78 – The Fake and the Real Silver

The Detecting Wales faithful met once again for a return visit to a farm we had not visited in a number of years nestled deep in the glorious Vale of Glamorgan.

A great turn out of long standing members and a sprinkling of newbies (welcome on board chaps) joined us for a day of searching on large stubble fields. Following the normal formalities we were off, and onto what once again proved to be still very productive fields.

Shortly after the start a local farmer arrived on a quad bike and was trying to locate a wooden block he had lost whilst helping the landowner harvest the fields. He was zipping up and down with no success for sometime, until a clever Melonhead reset his Explorer to ‘Wood Mode’ and promptly uncovered the block to the delight of a very happy farmer. Well done Mark.

First find of the day fell to Val who is a regular on the forum to say the least, and had made the journey down with her helicopter flying husband and dogs. She had uncovered a pigeon ring that still had the poor pigeons leg attached. It was the first I saw of I think six discovered throughout the day, at what should have been dubbed the ‘pigeons graveyard’! Its worth noting that the earlier smaller and silver tone ones go for surprising prices on eBay. An odd thing to collect, but I suppose most people find us an odd bunch for doing what we do.

The day was only 10 minutes old when a shout went up and in his first hole of the day, Pull Tab Paul had pulled out a groat speculatively of Henry VII with a right facing bust. It was in great condition apart from a chunk missing from the top right hand corner. Seemed like there was still plenty here to discover, and we weren’t disappointed as the hammered count soared quickly into double figures as the day progressed.

The next find was a curious one, as it purported to be a hammered groat of Henry VIII, but when I first saw it I thought that ‘Old Copper Nose’ was looking a tad to healthy, and that it had to be the thickest hammered coin I had ever seen! I returned to the finder Kernel Custer a bit later to have a second look, and ask if I could remove some of the mud. Poor Kernel Custer. As soon as I removed the mud to one side, his first hammered coin changed before our eyes into a decent WRL (Westair Reproductions Limited) replica coin, made probably in the last five years. This was obviously a trick played by someone, and its not the first time we have experienced it as I recall Ben Watergent finding one a few years ago at a rally. Oh well at least Paul now had a decent quality replica for his collection.

Next up was young Nobby with a jetton that was unceremoniously rattling around in his find pouch. Alongside him was Justin, with what I think is his first milled silver coin and a beaut in the shape of an early Vicky florin.

John Talbot, who always finds on DW Rallies, appeared on my horizon with a hammered coin that I think turned out to be a clipped half groat of Charles, a lead bag seal and a chewed bomper of a musket ball. Hopefully it had been chewed by a cow and not a soldier, as a chewed musket ball used to cause horrendous damage when it impacted on its target. The theory is that a chewed musket ball acts like a dumdum bullet, and would splatter on impact causing maximum damage.

A couple of decent coppers from George II onwards were in most people’s pockets – I even had four in mine! One of the more unusual coins was a silver sixpence of George III that you don’t see every day.

Melonhead had the only short cross I saw on the day, although I did hear about a cut half short cross also coming up. I personally love the coins of the Plantagenet period, but I am absolutely dire at deciphering them. This one needs a bit of TLC to shed some light on the monarch and the mintage, but it looks to be a prime example.  On the other end of the spectrum for quality of hammered coins stood John Sheeley, with a virtually blank scrap of a coin, but it was a hammered and they all count – just!

Willowtree passed by shortly after with what he had been told was a car bonnet emblem, but he wasn’t too disappointed when I told him that it was in fact a Sterling Silver US Air Force World War II officers badge. A very collectible item in fantastic condition. His other find was also silver and a great engraved man’s silver ring with letters to the bezel and design to the arms. Should be interesting to see it once its been cleaned up, and Willowtree promised to pop a photo of it onto DW.

A Lizzy groat (thats a fourpence for newbies) for a new member called Penny Magnet was a great reward as a first hammered find, and there was certainly no doubt that this one was real. Well done a quality first!

Mike the Afro also got in on the hammered finds with a brace of what I think were an early Edward and a Charles II. Well found Mike and keep growing the ‘fro’ mate – it suits you sir.

I know there were quite a few finds I missed including three hammered coins for The Doc, and as I was driving off the field I could see someone in my rear view mirror giving a hammered signal, so please feel free to add your finds to this post.

With four rally dates already in the side calendar, and another three farms we are struggling to find time to fit in, it going to be a busy Autumn at Wales’ Premier Metal Detecting Forum.

Keep checking in as we have a few unusual rallies coming up, including one on a World War One training campsite. Lets just hope we don’t find the rifle range!

Keep the faith

Neil  

Photos

Photos

Photos

Photos

this is my henry vii groat from yesterday i think the mintmark is pheon 1505 - 09 . and what i think is a part of a earring

penny magnet is a sixpence,thank for a great rally
 ;)

PulltabPaul  that looks very Tudor to me. Very much like the cloths fasteners that have been found and posted here.

Of course I might be wrong but fingers crossed. It's a beautiful little find.

Val

Well done everyone and a big thanks to ME for detecting all the rubbish so you lot didn't have to bother digging it up ;D ;D
Neil I'm afraid the chewed musket ball idea is an urban myth that just won't die....1 because after you had put all those lumps on it you wouldn't be able to get it down the barrel and 2 try sticking some random lumps on a football then kicking it in a straight line ???
Just looked up the USAF badge and it belonged to an aerial gunner ;)

Graet report Neil and thanks to the DW team for a great day.

Sorry I missed you to get photos - I was the last off the field and almost everyone had gone.

Here are my silver finds. 1938 sixpence, Lizzie penny, Lizzie threepence 1574 and an Edward IV penny that only just survived straightening in one piece!

some great finds peeps well done to you all gesza :)

Once again Neil an excellent report on the days happenings.  Nice to be part of this one, even if my find of the day was only a Pigeon ring. Thanks for the pici,  first smile of the day from John, he's crackered  ::)

Some really nice finds came up despite the stubble hampering the swinging. (Can't pick up the kettle this morning !!! )

Well done everyone.

Val

Thanks all for a cracking day

Well done all, some nice items was found ;) shame about the WRL :-\

That's a fine show Peter, your on a roll ;)

Nice write up as usual Neil, glad you all had a good day out great pictures ;)

some very nice finds there guys well done and I'm sorry I missed it

thats a really good report Neil......proud of my protoge JCB with his gothic florin.......even if it has taken him 6 detectors to find it ;D
myself didnt do to well on the finds front.....my best was a bristol token (your face was a picture when i was rumaging through my scrap to show you it ;D )
cant wait for the next one ;)
nobby

Well done on the finds and the rally report.

Due to a commitment to another rally I was unable to attend.

penny magnets lizzie sixpence nice and clean and peterh that's just plain greedy lol great finds mate  ;)

good report and photos ( even the afro ) , lots more to be found there if the stubble gets disced up , well done to all thosethat made finds  :)

It was a lovely day. But I wish the farmer could have rolled the fields.cos as far as I'm concerned. Some of it was impossible. To get the detector near the ground.

Many thanks to all involed ;)

could anyone give a possible id /  age for the ring in photo jpg315  as found at DW rally on sunday.  As a newcomer to DW rallies I would like to thank one and all for the welcome I was given.

Another great rally and report, It was a bit hard going in the long stubble but a thoroughly enjoyable day. I came away with 2 Queen Elizabeth coins [  2 x £1 coins ] and a 1d Roll on next rally.

I was shocked, after a gust of wind, to find out exactly why Mike is growing his hair :o

cracking report neil ,thanks to all at dw for another great rally , it was nice to come away with a  1860 gothic florin my best find so far 

Awesome day yesterday, very nice place to be in some cracking finds. I didnt find anything other than iron and bits of foil but did pick up a nice arrow head and what i think is one thanks for organizing a great day! ;D p.s i didnt have chance to show people the arrowhead my lift turned up and i had to shoot :P

Wow! not too certain on the second but the barbed and tanged is a beauty and yet another Bronze Age artefact from that site ;)

great picture of friar mike ,i always thought there was more to the fro lol

your just jealous mate , not to worry when I get a trim I will send you a handful  ;) :D :D

Enjoyed the day , some nice finds love the the henry hammy and the usa airforce badge

I'm sorry to hear that the chewed musket ball is a myth :(
Another story I've heard is that during field surgery the patient was told to chew on the musket ball to manage the pain?? Hence the saying.... "Just bite the bullet"
Is this a myth?... Sounds good!! :)

My word that arrowhead is stunning! The way you wrote about finding it almost suggests you have found some before? For once I failed to see a single piece of flint so well done to you!

That one's a possible as it's mentioned historically but surgeons did have a leather strap for that purpose ;)

I havent found any before :) my dad spotted it, i found the other bit later on in the day  ;D

Fair play a lot more found than I thought. Good day but the stubble was way to much for my Garrett, snapped the arm cup before 12 o clock. Only two penny's and a two pound coin for me.  Good work to any one who found something tidy.  :)

Sounds like a good day was had by all.

I like seeing the arrowheads too - that's (at least) one arrowhead from the last two rallies - I always keep my eyes open for them, haven't found one in a long time - just something special about them really :)

Another great report, Neil. It's a shame I wasn't able to get to this one but it looks as though it was another productive rally. Well done to all the finders.

Geoff

Wow, some amazing finds. Well done everyone  :)
The arrow head is a real stunner !

Hey Hey  Svaipa.  Where you been ??   Haven't heard from you in ages.  Nice to see you back. ;D


Val

The two flint arrowheads are as follows: Top one is Barbed and Tanged Conygar Hill type.  Second is Oblique Type. Both from the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age 2500 BC - 1500 BC. Lovely finds. AJ

Hi Val. Just been very busy with work, been to Denmark a couple of times and had a couple of new farms to get out on. Still alive and kicking  ;) xx

Thanks for the info ;D

Good coz my chewed musket ball was my first exciting finds! and is still a favourite!
Great teeth marks! ;D

The more common reason for them to have lots of marks, outside of mowing machines, is that they are canister shot ;)

Nice se ;)lection of finds, well done guys and girls

here are some more photos i took of the day with nobbys pet mouse lol

more picture