In 2014 a good friend suggested I head out with him to one of his permissions using his spare detector. It took a bit of persuading, but he finally got the better of me and we arranged to meet. A few bits of tin, and a fair bit of iron later that day, I then managed to pull out a Georgian buckle and a 6ft long chain.
This definitely caught my ineterest and I made it my mission to have my own detector. It took me 7yrs to finally be in the position to buy one, and with a quick chat with the same friend I was steered towards the Minelab Vanquish 540 pro.
Without hesitation it took me all of 10 minutes to order it, and a further two days for it to arrive. The pro pack consists of both 9 and 12 inch coils, along with bluetooth headphones and recharchable batteries and charger. I had already viewed video posts that instruct buyers on how to put the machine together, so I was a little ahead of the game there. With that said, the 540 is very easy to set up and poses no difficulty - even for a newbie like me
My permission to detect local farmland of 211 acres was already in the bag. The farmhouse itself held 400yrs of history within its' own right. Armed with the Vanquish, a new spade, a pointer, and the feeling of slight hesitation - I was good to go!
Being farmland it posed the usual obstacles where finds are concerned. The many bits of 'fodder' from farm machinery became very tiring and somewhat boring after a while, but I was still learning the signals as they came. Along the way there were a few Tombac and 4 hole metal buttons, these never fail to put a smile on my face.
After the farmer had mentioned that he had planted a vast amount of one side of his land, I headed towards an area at the bottom end of a field where the harvested straw met the a thin strip of land and a small stream within the hedgerow. I quickly realised that this area was fairly sterile and free from farming and the products used within the land over the many years.
As the Vanquish swung across in front of me, I heard a mixed tone of highs and lows. Switching angles again and again, yet nothing had changed. The Vanquish was indicating that the depth wasn't paricularly deep, so, baffled by the beeps I committed to digging the plug. As it came out in one whole piece I prized the plug apart, bit by bit. A thin glint of silver caught my eye and as I moved towards it I could it was simply a slither of something on its side. My thoughts turned to a ring pull. "Not another one" I thought.
Then, as I pulled the last clump of mud away from it I could see it was a silver hammered coin. It didn't take much brushing off with my glove to see that the coin was in very good condition. I'd seen quite a few of my friends coins to understand that this one had a few hundred years under its belt. A quick photograph and a call to my friend and seasoned detectorist and it was quickly announced that this was actually a Richard 1st silver short cross hammered coin dating 1194-1200 and was struck by moneyer Fulke in London.
I'm sure that many of you have experienced this feeling, but for those of you that haven't, it's a feeling of elation and disbelief. To think that I was potentially the first to have touched that coin for around 800yrs just blew my mind, and still does! And with only 2 weeks experience with the Vanquish it was me that had found it. The fodder, the ring-pulls, the tin cans, they were all suddenly a vague vision of the past, and the hammered coin a stark reminder that with determination comes great finds - as if from out of nowhere!
