Steve's 2019 UK Adventure

[Steve Herschbach]

On 10/11/2019 at 7:51 PM, strick said:

Great story Steve...Like the others have said we really appreciate hearing your adventures. One of the great things about this hobby is being able to mix it up with hunting for different things That Ax head is a treasure hunters dream for sure...some of the things that would be going through my mind...what did the person look like who forged it? was it the same person who used it? How many people did he kill with it? was he killed in battle using it? just a few things I would be thinking about. Also I was wondering Is that something you would even try to clean up at all ?

strick 

I’m hoping he was just chopping wood with it!  I don’t plan on doing anything with it except possibly treating it for bronze disease.

I do enjoy metal detecting for the different adventures it takes me on. Detecting nuggets in Alaska, Australia, and all over the western U.S. Detecting jewelry in Hawaii. Relic and coin hunting in the U.K. Some people specialize but I like doing it all, and that means no matter where I find myself there is some reason to go metal detecting. A nugget in the desert, a coin at the park, a ring at the beach, a relic in the field... its all the same fun and thrills for me. Greatest hobby in the world!

[Steve Herschbach]

12 hours ago, mn90403 said:

Simon, we beat the Master into the group!

I’ll never be a master of anything, but always a student.  There are a lot more knowledgeable and proficient detectorists than me. I don’t know anything about anything really but do like to share what little I know if it helps somebody.

[Ill Digger]

On 10/9/2019 at 1:46 PM, Steve Herschbach said:

Mug courtesy of Tim Blank... thanks Tim for recording the memory for me!

🤣 Absolutely no problem at all Steve!! I'm so glad I was there, and am honored, to be the one who got to take that picture! Like you said when a great find is found and your there to join in on the "great find high" it's almost just as if you had found it. And that was definitely the case for me when you walked up to me and said, "Is this what I think it is?" I immediately started to feel the adrenaline rush! My heart was thumping a little. Elevated heart and breathing rates. I even had the shakes a little lol! And to get an opportunity to touch it and hold it in my hands was very humbling. Such a great find and a great moment! 

  It was good seeing you, and a blast hunting with you again! Congrats on all of your keepers! Including the Roman bust, and of course the ax head! Some of my fondest memories of this trip, were those times when we would meet up out in the middle of a field somewhere and check in with each other. See what the other had found. Talking about the fields, the finds, the weather, or whatever else! Just relaxing somewhere in the middle of nowhere England!

[danielbecerra]

Grande Steve!!!! 

[Steve Herschbach]

OK, got my export papers so the goods should be on the way to me soon. 

Metal detecting finds for export found Sept 2019. Location Colchester.

1. Bronze Age (c.1500-1400 BC) cast copper alloy primary shield pattern palstave, dating to the Acton Park Phase.
5. 1279 Edward 1st hammered silver penny Obv + EDWAR R ANGL DNS hYB Rev CIVI/TAS/LON/DON - London mint
10. 1526-44 Henry VIII hammered silver half penny- 2nd issue, brush hair - - long cross fourchee - 2nd coinage - uncertain type i.m. Obv hDG ROSA SIE SPIA Rev CIVI/TAS/LON/DON - London mint
11. 1942 George VI milled silver sixpence
12. 1816 George III milled silver sixpence
13. 1824 George IV milled silver sixpence
14. 1625 Charles 1st hammered silver penny
15. 16th C Elizabeth 1st hammered silver penny
16. 1586 Hans Krauwincel II Rose orb Jetton
17. 1680's Charles II milled silver three pence
18. 1934 George VI milled silver sixpence
19. 16th C Elizabeth 1st hammered silver penny
20. 16th C Victoria milled silver sixpence

1.1500-1650 buckle
2. 1422-61 AD Bronze coin weight - French Ecu - Three lis in shield type
3. Bell dongle
4. Roman bust
5.1500 – 1650 buckle
6.18th C crotal bell
7. 18th C crotal bell
8. 19th C buckle
9. 15th C lead token
10. Post medieval lead bale seal
11. Post medieval lead bale seal
12. Post medieval lead bale seal
13. Nail
14. Post medieval buckle
15. Georgian finial
16. 2 Georgian watch winders
17. Post medieval lead bale seal
18. Georgian pot foot
19. Georgian copper ring
20. 15th C lead token

24 – 18th to 20th C copper coins

1. 1500 -1700 mount
2. 2nd C Roman copper coin - illegible
3. 20th C East Essex Co op Colchester 1 old pence token
4. 1942 George VI milled silver sixpence
5. Post medieval lead bale seal
6. Georgian pipe tamper
7. 1500-1700 mount
8. Georgian lead tobacco jar lid handle
9. Post medieval lead hanging weight
10. Post medieval lead bale seal
11. Post medieval lead hanging weight
12. Post medieval lead hanging weight
13. Post medieval lead cloth seal
14. Post medieval lead hanging weight
15. Post medieval lead bale seal
16. Lead rod
17. Georgian watch winder
18. Victorian silver mount
19. Georgian mount fragment
20. Medieval purse bar swivel

1. 10 Post Tudor buttons
6. Victoria 'Model Eight farthing' 1848 0.29 g, 8.4 mm

If you look at my finds from 2010 you will see I have become a lot pickier. On that trip I kept all sorts of stuff, but now I leave the musket balls, brass nails, and unmarked buttons behind, along with oddball things like pipe stem fragments and glass bits, etc. I tossed about half the 18th -20th century "greenie" coins I found as being too worn to bother with. Many are nothing more than a featureless green disc. I suppose some people would be horrified but I put that stuff in a discard pile for anyone that wanted it. I did the same thing last year and most of my discards ended up going home with other people. Funny how stuff people would go bonkers over in the States quickly becomes a commonplace item in the U.K. Unmarked 300-400 year old buttons are like zinc pennies and I only kept buttons with some sort of pattern or insignia on them, like the artillery buttons in the picture above. Long story short my pile would have been a lot larger if I had kept all that stuff but this is basically the cream of the crop.

I'll post some better detail photos of individual finds soon.

[Jim_Alaska]

That is nothing short of incredible for one trip Steve. Never did an coin or artifact hunting myself.

[Steve Herschbach]

Lots of gold prospectors think of detectors as another tool for finding gold, just like a gold pan or sluice box, so that is not unusual Jim. I got started detecting as a coin and jewelry hunter primarily but that was not for lack of trying for gold nuggets. It was more the detectors of the day were not really up to the task. Once they did get good enough I rarely went coin detecting anymore and never really did the relic detecting thing. I focused on gold nuggets and gold jewelry more than anything else.

The UK hunts though take coin and relic detecting to a whole different level just because of the incredible history with finds not just hundreds but thousands of years old a realistic possibility. For an old boy from Anchorage, Alaska who thought a 1936 Mercury dime was a really old coin, the finds I have made in the UK really are stunning and frankly hard to get my head around at times. Thousand year old finds are normal, and Roman coins a couple thousand years old not that unusual. My oldest find this trip outside of the bronze ax head was a 2nd century Roman coin, though in poor condition as is often the case with bronze coins that old.

All I can say was that I had a marvelously good time! it's not just the finds but great hunting conditions and excellent company. 

It will be fun to get the finds back as I found a lot of copper coins in very good condition but they have only just been barely rinsed off. I will give them a proper cleaning when I get them back and post better photos later. Many have sharp detail and will clean up real well I am sure.

[MSC]

Congratulations Steve. I have been on the fence about purchasing an 800, this story may have made my decision easier.

[Steve Herschbach]

The last two trips among several groups I really only saw two detectors in use - the Equinox and XP DEUS. And a few CTX 3030 for those who can swing one with a 17" coil all day long for a week straight. Other detector models are so rare as to be almost non-existent. I have used the Equinox with 15" coil in the UK for almost 5 weeks total now and if I was heading back tomorrow would choose the same. The DEUS is a sweet detector but I like the ground coverage and inch of extra depth that 15" coil gives me. The Equinox is still ridiculously sensitive to tiny targets even with the 15" coil.

[lucky mindy]

Steve, I know it's been a few years since we hunted together, but it was fun to re-live the experience. I'll never forget you on the walkie talkie reporting that lovely Celtic gold votive piece, and I was thrilled to see you dig up that gorgeous Bronze Age axe. I hope the gold comes back to you soon; the UK treasure system works but it's FAR too slow. Thanks for posting a photo too of Tim's quarter stater and my sweet little sceat. I don't think I've ever been more excited!