Hi,

I'm a responsible 39 year old metal detectorist looking for pastures new in the Staffordshire area. If you would like me to unearth the hidden treasures on your land ( I won't charge you for the work involved, i promise ;) ) ..then please contact me. All searching will adhere to Treasure Act and Portable Antiquities Scheme so please do not contact me if you wish me to dig stuff up and sell ASAP. The history is priceless too you know!

 

Please contact Adrian on 0793 140 1130. cheers

 

Sounds fascinating. I have 180 acres in Staffs that might be of interest. What happens to the things that are found?

Hi,

It certainly is interesting, we really have no idea what is lying there under the soil, as the Staffordhire Hoard alone proved.

What happens to items found? Well, anything classed as treasure (which very broadly speaking are items over 300 years old ) . Here's some links with more info

http://www.finds.org.uk/treasure/treasure_summary.php

http://www.finds.org.uk/conservation/note2.php

I would adhere strictly to the law, documenting finds etc. Every little artefact found is another piece to the jigsaw puzzle of the past.

Anything classed as treasure and subsequently sold ( usually to museums) , profit would be split 50/50 between us. We would both sign an agreement such as this one http://www.detecnicks.co.uk/agreement-with-farmer.pdf  before any detecting takes place . I would also adhere to all request re boundaries, allowed fields etc.

Everything else of interest? Well, as the landowner you would get first refusal on the other items found. It's inevitable that within 180 acres there would be many weird and wonderful objects....and treasure?...who knows :)      You could have a little display cabinet full of stuff!

Any junk ( and there'd be plenty) would be bagged and removed , there would be no point throwing away a shotgun cartridge to the side only to detect it again a few weeks later.

I could go on but i won't bore you. needless to say if you would like to discuss further then please email me at adrianfinegan@googlemail.com or call me on 07931401130.

BTW in the meantime, if you've noticed any shells, old pottery, discolouration in soil from one place to another then these could be signs of an old settlement = people = great potential. 

Worth bearing in mind when out and about.

 Be great to hear from you.

Kind Regards, 

Adrian

Actually, I wouldn't feel comfortable with either of us keeping any of the objects as I wouldn't feel they truly belonged to us. I was thinking I could present them all to my local museum as a complete display. I'd be happy to give them sufficient money for display facilities etc. Would this be of interest to you?

mchurch,

For the majority the thrill is in the search & discovery. Most detectorists record their finds with the Portable Antiquities scheme (PAS) via a local Finds Liason Officer. We often find that museums will not accept finds ,even when donated ,due to lack of storage, constraints on finance for preservation & stabilisation,or "they have a better preserved" coin or artefact!

By accurately recording using GPS we are able to help build a picture for future generations as we aren`t here very long ourselves!!

I have also long held the belief that metal detectorists should pay landowners for access to land. Even if a "nominal" fee is charged the landowner can donate the money to a favourite charity.

Many other hobbies pay for access & detecting shouldn`t see itself any differently. The small Midlands club I belong to recently raised £280 for the Teenage Cancer Trust by charging our members (28 of them) on a one day search of 44 acres.

Hope that might help.

Kind regards

John

No I certainly don't want paying thanks in fact I'm happy to pay the museum for display and preservation. I'd quite like them to be able to mount a global display of my village's history. Assuming I can persuade them would you be interested in the project?

I certainly would be. If you were willing to negotiate with your local museum then the fee charged to club members could just as easily contribute towards their costs for display & conservation ? Sometimes they can be swayed especially when funding is involved!!

It can be suprisingly easy to build a picture of preceeding village life from metallic artefacts as most are fairly time specific in their design. It has to be said that an awful lot of what we find is "junk" but even that , such as lead, is sorted and sold for scrap. Feel free to drop me an e-mail at jcmaloney@btinternet.com  to arrange a time or date for a more face to face conversation.

best wishes

John

Well I would prefer a single detectorist, not a club. I would envisage a long term project.

Hello again,

I took it that you were going to go with the other gentleman and his group, so, even though I'd posted the original 'Metal Detecting Sites Wanted' ad, I had bowed out. However, if you are still interested and happy with all the information I have provided in my other posts re: signed agreements, full compliance with legal and Portable Antiquities Scheme etc please contact me on my private email and we can arrange a meeting to discuss. I am a single detectorist and would definitely prefer a long-term project as well. 180 acres is a lot of ground and a lot of detecting!

 Best wishes whatever you decide,

 Adrian

adrianfinegan@googlemail.com