DetectingWales.com

Courtesy of the Daily Record onlin Nov 5 2009  written by Craig Mcdonald


Treasure hunter David Booth yesterday told of his fabulous £1million find on his first ever outing with a metal detector. The 35-year-old safari park keeper unearthed four stunning gold necklaces just seven paces from where he'd parked his car as he set out with his new £240 detector!

The 2000-year-old jewellery he dug up from a Stirlingshire field is now officially Treasure Trove and David set to receive a huge reward based on its market value.

David, the assistant manager at Blair Drummond Safari Park near Stirling, said: "I drove my car to a field, parked in it, took my metal detector out, and started looking. I just had a feeling about where to park the car. "It flashed to indicate that I had found gold about seven paces away from the car and I started digging with a garden spade and trowel I'd brought.

"Six or eight inches down, I saw a glimpse of one of them, then uncovered the rest of the hoard.They were in a wee group. I was completely stunned - there was total disbelief."

David bought the detector online just five days before his discovery on September 29. He said he'd practised on knives, forks and watches on his carpet at home.

At the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh yesterday, he revealed: "I'd always fancied buying a metal detector and this was the first time I'd taken it outdoors. I knew the area I was looking in had some iron age history as I'd done some research online.

"But the reason I chose that particular field was simply because the landowner had given me permission. I took the items home, showed Carolyn and cleaned them under the tap. Her reaction was I couldn't be so lucky. I sent an email with photographs of the torcs to the National Museum of Scotland that day. They were at the house the next morning."

David added: "I've no clue how much this lot is worth. People are talking about a million pounds and that would be lovely.

"Carolyn is expecting our first child in February so any money will definitely come in handy - and it would be nice just to pay off the Ford Focus.

"People have said I might as well throw away the metal detector now, but I'll keep on going, there might be other stuff out there. It's a good hobby and it gets you out in the fresh air."

Experts said the hoard was of "international significance", showing the wealth and connections of people in Scotland at the time. The exact location of the find is being kept secret to stop it being swamped by other metal-detecting fans. The collection consists of two torcs, a local style of jewellery made from a twisted ribbon of gold, half an ornate torc of southern French origin and a unique braided gold wire torc which shows influences of Mediterranean craftsmanship. They are currently under lock and key at Scotland's Treasure Trove unit, an independent body based at the National Museum of Scotland.

The unit, along with a team from National Museums Scotland, are now continuing to excavate the site and analyse the find. Under Scots common law, treasure finds automatically belong to the Crown . Hoards are independently valued and the finder usually gets a sum based on their market value.

The Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel will value the hoard in February. A similar band found in Newark, Nottinghamshire, in 2005 sold for £350,000.

Dr David Caldwell of the Treasure Trove unit said the torcs would stay in Scotland. He said: "You couldn't make this story up. There hasn't been a find like this in Scotland for over 100 years. There are a lot of metal detector users in Scotland and, over the years, we've built up good relations with individuals. Most go out because they have a fascination with history. It's important they get good rewards for their finds. There's nothing written in law that says there has be a reward, but invariably it would be equal to the market value."

Dr Fraser Hunter, principal curator for Iron age and Roman collections at the National Museums of Scotland , said he "almost fell off my seat" when he saw the items. He said: "The archaeological value is indescribable. It's one of the most important hoards from Scotland ever and a find of international importance."
Dr Hunter supervised excavations at David's site and said the torcs had been buried under the floor of an iron age building.

The find was said to be the most significant in Scotland since 1857 when two gold torcs were found on farmland in Morayshire.

Jammy sod :) :)

 :o

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of people who make serious finds on their first outing! There was I guy I posted not long ago who discovered a huge stash of Roman coins on his first go. Beginers luck or divine destiny! Who knows?  ::)

The other answer could be that when you first start you dig every signal regardless of what it may be. Maybe thats the answer - to be less selective in what we dig.

Good luck to them all, as it hooks more people into our hobby!

Neil

Here he is!

Neil do you think that it is because a lot of detectorists depend on the control panel on their machine ie don't dig anything if its a minus number i say this because a lot of the finds that have been seem to be made with bottom to mid range detectors,

most finds this size are easily picked up the only thing you have to do is walk over them.
i walked over a good signal once that i did not dig  only because it emitted the size of a car wheel it turned out to be a axe head my mate dug it up , he had left it once before  but got bored on the beach oneday and dug it up .
more fol me for not checking it goes to show the better we get we dismiss to much if signals ARE TOO BIG DIG TO CHECK.
THESE PEOPLE MUST HAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think Neil it hit on the head.

After a while / experience we probably ignore to many loud signals as rubbish, the modern and expensive tectors may discriminate too much.

The old adage....he who digs the most...finds the most  is almost probably true. !

We all seem to want tectors to go deep, when most basic tectors under £300 will find the majority of targets.

Why do some people win the lottery not once but twice?

It's a lot to do with positive thinking and a big slice of luck!!!

I still haven't dug a gold coin or won big on the lottery...but I'm think I will...I just need the
big slice of luck ;D

and i tidy detector Bob ;) ;D

............aye............I could manage an E Trac for an hour.............or 8 with a Deus !!!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D !!!!!!!!!!!

Just to add to this - The finder, David is a very active member of www.DetectingScotland.com (http://www.DetectingScotland.com)

our sister site for the Scots and has just made his third Treasure find this year. It consists of a Medieval vessel with hammered coins and a ring brooch! He's doing something right!

Neil

Neil the chap with the pot of Roman coins is Peter Reavill the FLO for Shropshire and Herefordshire. I thought I had my finger on the pulse up here and do not recall a hoard being found up here.

Paul - You are soooo right mate!

Do you know what, I was thinking I recognised him - I thought he had attended a DW rally in the past, but we have had over 400 members attend rallies since we started, so sometimes my wine addled brain doesn't add faces to names! I curse you Bacchus and all you stand for!

You are spot on Paul it is indeed Peter -  a really nice chap as well. Not sure if he was the finder now, but its a HELL of a find!

See you Sunday
Neil

I had the same thought Neil, the face is familiar ???

going out this weekend on prime land with someone who hasnt detected before ....fingers xed

I believe the ground gives up what it wants, to who it wants and when it wants!
A lot of it is about a state of mind, dont throw that trash back in holes or in the hedge. Take it home and bin it and the Gods will reward you. Look after mother earth and she will look after you.
It works! 8)

I totally agree about the trash Ceri but I seriously think you have been visiting Glastonbury too much ;D

What do the Gods say about looking after mates ?   ;)  ;D

 ha ha,  i felt that i was led to my hoard, well untill the weather changed and the heavens opened, when i got home i seemed to be being attacked by fork lighteneing and thunder, it was coming down all round the house. lol

oooooh yeah baby thats what i like :o

I tend to agree, 18 months or so ago I got to one of my fields only to find two blokes detecting on it, I obviously went over and asked who they'd got permission off, they said they'd asked the farmer and he'd said it was Ok, I was a bit dubious as I know the farmer pretty well and am sure he would've told me about anyone else he'd given permission to, but I couldn't prove they hadn't spoken to him, typical I didn't have my phone on me ::) Anyway they stayed for a few hours, they seemed really intent on one bit of the field and said they'd google earthed it and it looked interesting, they really combed that area, but found nothing and they left when I did saying they might come back in the autumn, turns out they didn't have permission after all, they'd spoken to another farmer and assumed the field was his land >:(
The next day I went back to the field and decided to have ago in the area they'd been concentrating on, now I know this field really well and this particular area hadn't turned anything decent up at all, so I wasn't expecting to find anything............. how wrong was I!!!! Within the space of 2 hrs I'd found a solid gold roman earring, an extremely rare penny of Henry VI it being a mule with a York obverse & a London reverse, only 5 others known  :o and a missing piece of a medieval reliquary mount the Mrs had found a few weeks earlier!

                               You may have a very valid point there; I usually cary a bag for my scrap and take it home before checking it and sending some for recycling. On my last club outing I dug a mixed signal to recover what lookrd like a piece of an old drinks can pulltab. It turned out to be an Henry VIII, clipped half groat from the York mint. The outing before that I dug a mixed signal, only to recover what looked like a piece of zinc plate. Upon rescanning the spoil heap the EuroAce gave me a nice midpoint signal and I recovered a lovely hammered Elizabeth I sixpence.


                                                                 Chris   ;D