It all stared in the summer of 88 when I went to my sons school summer fete. Around the back of the main stalls where the normal plant sales and tombola’s where taking place there was a table set up with a few people standing around and looking at the objects on the table. As I walked over to see what had attracted these people I noticed a sand pit just behind the table where a couple and a child seemed to be digging something up and holding some devices which I had no idea about at the time. When I saw the magnificent items on the table I was just drawn in and talking to the two guys called Tim and John they explained to me that they had found all these items on the table using metal detectors and showed me a couple they had near the sand pit. They asked me if I would like to have a go at finding some buried coins in the sand as they were collecting money for the school and drumming up business at the same time for their local metal detecting club and from that moment on I was hooked in the hobby. There was no internet back then so every spare moment I had I would be reading metal detecting magazines and going to the library to research maps and history in the local area. The club used to meet once a month to discuss members finds and then meet up on the first Sunday of the month to do a club dig as there were no rallies to go to back then. I met someone called Bob at the club and he had joined about the same time as me and lived in the country as opposed to me living in a town so he knew a lot of farmers who had lots of land. The hobby wasn’t as popular as it is today and the club only had about 25 members and was the only one in the area. So using a cheap basic switch on and go detector I was lucky to find a few nice bits and pieces nothing special or that old but digging something up that’s been in the ground for a long time gives you a nice feeling. We gradually got more farms to visit and eventually upgraded my detector over the next couple of years finding older and nice items. But then around 1997 my friend changed jobs which meant working long shift patterns and didn’t have the time for detecting at weekends and also my young sons were growing up and were doing more and more activities so I decided to give up the detecting and donated all my finds to the local museum. So some twenty years on with my sons now grown up, my youngest son was showing signs of being interested in history after watching a TV program called ‘’Detectorists’’ and asking about the finds I had made during the time I used to go out detecting and suggested buying a couple of detectors to go out together . Well that was it my interested was regained and started to look back into it things couldn’t have changed that much could they, how wrong I was. We took the plunge after reading and watching reviews of detectors we bought two midrange machines. I tried to locate my long lost detecting buddy but he must have moved away from the area and all the farms we used to detect on were being searched by other people. So I sat down at my computer and searched all the farms within an hour of our home and sent out 50 letters asking for permission, we got two replies granting permission but had already had people there before. I also called in at our local farm just down the road to ask permission and to my surprise said ok. After a short time I changed my detector to another make as I didn’t feel I was getting the best from it and within the next nine months I had bought and sold about six different detectors trying to get the right feel and one that felt right to me. Then enter the Minelab Equinox 800 that had been out for about a year before I decided to buy one and right away I just knew this was the one for me. We have now managed to get some more farms and really starting to find some really nice older items. Some say if it’s there you will find it and it’s the location not the detector, but believe me I have found things on fields that I have been over with using five or six detectors and not found much, but went over the ground again with the equinox 800 and found stuff that I had missed before. Even on club digs my find rate was a lot higher than others using different machines. I have now bought the 15 inch coil and in my opinion make the perfect match for the Equinox 800 finding small hammered coins at great depths with some as small as a little finger nail so it’s very sensitive and very stable to use. Back last summer it was scoring hat day and was the first time we had been to this farm, we had limited time and had to choose between 10 different fields, so started detecting a stubble field that showed some crop marking on an aerial photograph and after an hour had not found very much just a few buttons and Victorian pennies and 15th Century clothes fastener. There was an Iron age fort a few miles away and could see some old villages in the distance which were in the doomsday book when we checked later so were hopeful of finding historical items there. Then my son shouted over as he was about 10 metres away from me ‘’ I’ve found a roman coin ‘’ I went over and it was in great condition. We carried on hoping to find more, then I got a solid two way signal on the Equinox , turned over the soil and immediately saw a Roman disc brooch then a few steps on another signal this time a small Roman finger ring. My son then signalled to me he was moving into the next field as there was an opening in the hedge and I started to make my way towards him then bang another good signal this time a bit deeper. I dug down about 5 inches and saw a blueish roundish item with an iron stem attached. The Equinox had no problem detecting this even with the iron. Later I discovered from the local finds liaison officer it was an Iron Age Linch Pin from a Chariot in great condition considering its been in the ground for around 2000 years and is now waiting validation and recording and will be going to a Museum. We moved on to a field where two old footpaths cross and is next to a river, but nothing much of interest was found apart from a broken Roman brooch. I think the river floods this field as its quite low compared to the surrounding fields. Next we walked through some old wood land and then had to crawl through a hedge to get back towards the farm, crossing a field that was perfect for detecting on it has just been rolled ready for seeding. About half way across the field my son finds two more Roman coins, then another, then I find one and next a brooch. We found eighteen coins, two brooches and other Roman items in a small patch of around 10 meters square and were in the field right opposite from where we had started in the morning. So next year when we go back this is where we will be starting. We now have permission on the neighbouring farm after showing the farmers what we had found they we very interested. Since using the 15 inch coil on the Equinox in the last couple of weeks I have found a Richard 1st Penny, a Henry 3rd Penny, two Edward 1st pennies, a James 1st halfpenny, and a Silver Victoria sixpence all in an old ridge and furrow pasture that I have searched and missed before with other makes of detector. The Equinox is a great machine the best of the best well done Minelab for making a great detector.
Mike - United Kingdom
