Incredible Metal Detecting Discoveries: True Stories of Amazing Treasures Found by Everyday People by Mark D Smith Read Free Book Online

father and son team who found this hoard supposedly
obtained permission to hunt the ancient monastic site of Derrynaflan,
but they did not have permission to dig on the land. The area was
protected under the National Monuments Act of 1930. This act
protected the land and prohibited any type of digging.

    When the father and son team made their incredible find,
they kept it hidden for three weeks. The find was deemed illegal and
the father and son team fought in court for over 7 years. They
claimed their find was worth £5,000,000 or $8,377,500. Because
they did not have any proof that they had permission to dig, they
were never able to legally claim the find. OUCH! As a result of the
claim lasting 7 years, the Irish laws of treasure trove were changed.

    Once again, always get permission in writing before your
dig on private property, and never attempt to dig on any type of
national monument!

    What
Was Found ?
A beautiful chalice
A silver paten. A paten is a small plate made from
silver or gold.
A hoop
A liturgical strainer
A bronze basin

    Here are a few items from this awesome find.

    Image courtesy of Kglavin
    The
chalice from the hoard

    Image courtesy of Kglavin
    The
paten or silver and gold plate from the hoard

    When
Was the Hoard Discovered?
    February 17 th 1980

    Where
Was the Hoard Discovered?
    This hoard was found on an island of pastureland off the
coast of Ireland near Killenaule, South Tipperary.

    Who
Found It?
    Michael Webb and his son.

    Where
Is It Now?
    The National Museum of Ireland

The Grouville Hoard
    Not all great treasures are found by first timer
rookies, and this hoard is the perfect example. Reg Mead and Richard
Miles were two lucky ones in this story. The two treasure hunters
researched an area they thought would be perfect for metal detecting.
Upon asking permission to hunt, the land owner told them a very
interesting story.

    A few years earlier while plowing the field, the land
owner came across an earthenware pot filled with silver coins. His
plow brought them to the surface and scattered them across the field.
When Reg and Richard heard this story, their eyes grew wide with
excitement.

    The land owner granted two treasure hunters permission
to hunt, but under very strict circumstances. The land owner would
only let the two guys use their metal detectors once a year for about
10-15 hours after the crops had been harvested.

    Obviously this didn't give the two eager treasure
hunters much time to locate any amount of treasure, but they did not
let that stop them. It would take them over 30 years to locate this
unbelievable find.

    On that fateful day in the summer of 2012, Reg and
Richard eagerly followed a trail of 60 silver coins. That trail would
eventually lead them to one gold coin, but those 61 coins were just
the icing on the cake. They were the tip of the iceberg! They were
nothing compared to what came next!

    The next target was big. It was huge. It was massive!
All of these phrases are understatements. The next target was a mass
of coins that weighed an eye popping 1650 pounds or 750 kilograms.
They quickly alerted the authorities who sent out a team of
archeologists to remove the coins.

    Here
is what they found!
    An estimated 70,000 silver and gold Roman coins and some
jewelry.

    If you look closely, you can see two gold torcs in the
giant coin mass.

    What Was It
Worth?
    At
the time of this writing, the value was still being determined. Each
coin could fetch as much as £100 - £200 or $167 - $335.
That means the entire hoard would be worth more than £7,000,000
or $11,756,500.00. Holy great finds!

    Where
Was the Hoard Discovered?
    The parish of Grouville on the east side of Jersey in
the Channel Islands. No, this is not New Jersey in America.

    Where
Is It Now?
    The hoard is currently being valued and cleaned. It is
expected to be on display at the Jersey Museum sometime in the year
2014.

    Never give up! Just imagine if these two had decided to
call it quits.

    All of these