While walking in the country yesterday I spotted an insignificant-looking round flat thing on the path in the middle of a field. I thought it was probably a bit of scrap metal but I picked it up anyway to check. In fact it is a hammered silver half groat (= two pence) coin from the reign of Charles the First, 1625-1649. Not worth an enormous sum but I was absolutely made up to find it and didn't even mind getting soaked.

I do like it when life gives you these little presents from nowhere. Pictures of said coin, plus one of my trusty Watchco at the end of the walk.

 

Pennies from heaven.

 

Lucky you got to it first.

 

What an amazing find! To think that’s probably been in the field for centuries and something unearthed it. If you find a second one you can make a pair of cuff links from them

 

It will have been turned up by ploughing. On my walks I've found fossils, bits of medieval pot, fragments of Samian ware, a pewter button, brass cartridge cases, half a medieval jetton and the occasional coin, usually modern apart from one old one worn to illegibility. All this stuff was lying on the surface. Then there's the usual agricultural crap such as corroded horsehoes, snapped-off plough ends, shotgun brasses etc.

It's been said that every field in England contains hammered silver if you only knew where to find it and I was lucky that day. The financial value and collectability of that coin is unimportant to me; it's the fact that I found it nearly 400 years after it fell through a hole in someone's pocket. I'd love to know who that was.

 

It was my Great Uncle Frank and I re-claim it in his name.

 

A couple more field finds. First this, on 21 June. It's either a microlith or a flake, but either way it's man-made (we just happened to have an archaeologist visit us a few days later and he confirmed that). You could call it a lucky spot, but since finding that coin I watch the ground a bit more carefully.



Then yesterday I picked this up. I'm not 100% certain but I think it's an arrowhead with one side broken off.



....and the obligatory end-of-walk timing photo:

 

I love that...the only thing we find in fields in the States are rocks, pull tabs and pieces of "old" farming equipment...
...and I suppose amber waves of grain...

 

great show!

 

I've found such as you speak, but also arrowheads, spearpoints and punches.

 

Nice. I love old coins. To think about all the people who have touched that thing...

I found this


My daughters are experts in making a mess and forget to clean up

 

That's an incredible find. I have a small collection of ancient and medieval coins myself, which I use mostly for teaching. But I've never been in a position to find one in its "natural" environment.

 

About 30 years ago or so, we were at a family reunion. The reunion occurred about 20 miles away from the site of an early 20th century homestead taken by my maternal grandfather. It is now a wheat field. My uncle knew the location of the well from homestead days. He knew that a lot of litter from the family home which was demolished about 70 years ago had been dumped into the well. These were items that had no value (then). We dug around and found broken crockery, glass perfume bottles, hinges, nails, and an earthenware door knob. Only thing I can locate right now is the earthenware door knob. Looks like a mushroom.

 

This threads reminds me of something that happened to me about 60 years ago.
I grew up in a small village 5 miles from where the Battle of Hastings took place.One day a bunch of us kids were running through our local woods when I tripped over something sticking out of the ground,when I went to see what it was I discovered it was a very rusty sword.I was only 7 or 8 at the time and really didn't have too much interest in it,from memory my father rang someone up and they came and collected it.I do wish I had kept it.

 

Now that's totally cool. I used to walk through fields in Oxfordshire after plowing and rain in search of ammonites--never found anything man-made. I did find this fossilized clam, which I have used for 40 years as a paperweight....

 

Very cool find.

 

You all need to watch Detectorists

 

My son spent a couple of years digging holes in the backyard, expecting to find a dinosaur (Jurassic Park has a lot to answer for). Nothing interesting was found.

 

Although I teach history for a living, I live in Michigan, which is a fascinating place for archaeology, IF you like pre-Ice Age mastodons and early Native American cultures. Since I did my graduate degree in medieval English history, I sometimes find myself wishing I could teach at a school in the UK. I'd love to stumble across something like this.

 

I found a .52 caliber bullet from the civil war. We found some cannon as well but couldn’t date it. I have the civil war bullet in a little frame. I agree though, the history of England is incredible, those are great finds