Wednesday
Wednesday started early and so did the rain. The soil in the part of Croatia we were in isn’t the best to walk on when it’s wet, it turns very greasy. So our first call was the market, always worth a visit. It’s a traditional sort of market where you can buy anything from a jar of honey to a lorry load of wood and anything in between. Not exactly what we’re here for but a nice interlude. Whilst we were at the market we bought some flowers and a gooseberry bush to be planted at Steve Gaunts vikenica (vickenitsa) or weekend cottage. So we did that, grabbed some pastrys for lunch and headed for the cottage.There was another reason for going there: just beyond the cottage is a field with some nice black patches that show up on Google earth. That had to be worth a look, especially as the rain had stopped and the sun was drying the fields quickly.
Steve had secured permission from the land owner so we left him to his horticulture and made our way to the field. Even from the edge of the field we could see the patches plain and clear. All three of us opted for the CTX 11" coil, I opted for my favourite programme which is a two tone ferrous one, Gordon was in Tadpole 3. Boots on, coils fitted, off to the fields.
This was an easy feil and with the damp soil under the now dry top layer it was ideal for the CTX 3030 and once we got onto a productive area the finds came thick and fast. My first signal was typical of this area, a spent 7.62mm bullet. I was filling the hole back in when I heard a shout from Gordon, he had found a hammered silver coin. It didn’t take too long before I was onto my second signal, it was another bullet. Not long after Gordon called over that he’d had another silver hammered coin. I was unamused. Whilst my chosen search area went barren Gordon’s seemed to be alive with signals, every time I looked round he seemed to be digging. Then I got an unmistakeable signal. Not too deep and ringing in my ears. One dig and it was out, no need for a probe, just break the clod and check each piece. Find the piece with the signal in it and repeat the process…. And there it was, a complete 15th century bronze ring with a beautiful, rich green and intact patina. I was happy, I was in the lead. A decent artefact will always best a couple of common hammered coins.
Then It started. The hammered coins started falling to me, just as Gordon began to say his finds rate had dried. First a Quarterling, then a full penny. I was off! A few more broken artefacts, some roman coins and a forged Apollonian coin later and the afternoons detecting was done with. I had won the day …. Or had I?
When we met up back at the car Gordon showed me a strange find. I was almost certain that I knew what it was but I’m so adept at identifying finds and then being proved wrong that I didn’t want to say anything … especially as there was something unusual about this one. When we met back up wuith Steve he confirmed my thoughts. Gordon had absolutely trounced me with a Celtic double ended toggle fastener. What was unusual about it is that it was made of silver, so far I’ve been unable to find a parallel for it in the books.
Not the best picture but unfortunately the best picture I have. We thought today was a good day, we didn’t know what was to come!
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