I live in Scotland in an area where the landscape has been seriously altered as a result of a century of Coal Mining and because “good” finds are few and far between.
I am very passionate about history and metal detecting gives me a direct link with history. The machine I use for this is an E-TRAC and before that, for a number of years I have used a Safari – which I swear by!
I have searched a farm in my local area for a number of years. There are other farms I search where my trusty Safari and I have made some fantastic finds over the years, but anything good has always eluded me on this farm and has produced nothing but post 1850 items – yet I was firmly convinced that there just had to be older stuff somewhere, but despite methodical gridding and many, many hours it seemed my searches were in vain.
Not long back I upgraded to an E-TRAC and thought where better to test out the machine’s capability than on my “Victorian” farm. So, to this end I set off to the field I had done many times – with the expectation of finding at best, something Victorian.
Within minutes of starting to detect I got a very faint signal and thought I would dig it anyway. I dug down about 8 inches and pulled out what I thought was a small piece of junk, but when wiping away the mud I was surprised to see what looked like lettering, so I placed it my pouch for a closer look when I returned home.
On washing off the mud it became apparent to me that the “ junk” was what appeared to be Half a medieval seal matrix... WOW!
This was the first thing medieval I had ever found on this farm, and to say I was chuffed was an understatement! All those hours of persistence and my belief that there was more history to the farm than items I had previously found suggested, had paid off!
I have the E-TRAC to thank for this find, it must have just been out of range of the Safari.
The matrix is currently with the Treasure Trove Unit but from early indications it is a very significant find for this area and could be a direct link to the earliest recordings of religious activity in the area.
Though I have made many a good find from other farms over the years – this has to be my most satisfying find and is proof that if you put in the work, have belief in yourself and your machine the possibilities are endless.
Happy Hunting All!
Adrian - Fife, UK