Free Republic

As the credit crunch hits pensioners across the country one pair have hit the jackpot by finding buried treasure. Barrie Plasom and Dave Phillips The finders of a hoard of thousands of Roman coins agree with the words inscribed on them; 'happy times are here again'. The collection of bronze coins, which may be worth hundreds of thousands in sterling, were discovered in a field north of Newport Pagnell and have now been declared as treasure. It was discovered by a pair of experienced metal detectorists on ploughed farmland on December 1, 2006. An investigation into the find was concluded...

A METAL detector enthusiast unearthed a 15th century silver cross depicting the figure of Christ while working in a field he had searched many times before. Retired postal worker Philip Fletcher, 53, discovered the small cross in the Ackworth area of Pontefract in February last year. He said yesterday: "I had an inkling it might be a significant find as I had found things on this land in the past which indicated a past medieval presence." The value of the find – which, once sold, will be divided between Mr Fletcher and the landowner, a farmer – has yet to...

When a Kent metal detecting enthusiast found something in a field of stubble he thought it looked interesting...and he was right! The gold pendant he discovered dated back more than 1,500 years and has been declared treasure trove. Fork lift truck driver Andy Sales, from Deal, found the ancient artefact near Worth. A coroner has declared the item treasure trove after an expert from the British Museum examined and dated it to between 491-518 AD. In his report to the hearing, the curator in early medieval coinage, Dr Gareth Williams, said it was a gold tremissis bearing the image of...

PART of a Romano/British ring found by a Leighton metal detectorist in fields near Hockliffe has been declared treaure. The ring, which has provided archaeologists with the missing link to a bloodthirsty ancient Celtic warrior god, was unearthed by Greg Dyer of Churchill Road in September 2005. At an inquest last Tuesday, Beds coroner David Morris told the court that the piece of ring, thought to be from the third century AD, contains 2.98 grammes of silver. The piece of jewellery, inscribed with the words 'Deo Tota Felix' is currently in the British Museum waiting to be valued. In a...

A 10th century finger ring, which was found by a man using a metal detector in a field at Kirk Deighton, near Wetherby, may go on permanent display in a museum in Yorkshire. Experts at the British Museum say the ring is 65 per cent gold, 33 per cent silver and two per cent copper with a weathered glass stone. The ring, which was formerly declared to be treasure yesterday at an inquest in Harrogate, was discovered only a few inches below the surface in an arable field by Colin Ashton, of Ilkley. Mr Ashton told the Coroner for the...

AN Ipswich metal detecting enthusiast has found treasure trove expected to be worth thousands of pounds in a farmer's field. John McLaughlin, 54, discovered silver gilt brooches, Anglo Saxon dress ornaments, silver studs, rings, knives, a spearhead and amber beads in Mark Partridge's north Ipswich field. The treasure was from disturbed burial sites from the Sixth and Seventh Century Anglo Saxon and Pagan periods. Mr McLaughlin said the landowner, Mr Partridge gave him permission to metal detect over his land after it was ploughed. He said he had been finding treasure there for the last three years. “This is my...

YUBA CITY, Calif. - A taxpayer advocate has complained to Sutter County supervisors that metal detectors at county buildings are so sensitive they are being set off by underwire bras. Sutter County Taxpayers Association member Roberta Fletcher said the male security guard seemed to enjoy waving the handheld metal detector over her chest. "It is, at a minimum, for a woman, embarrassing. And at a maximum, it is sexual harassment to hold your arms outstretched while a male officer waves a wand in front of your breasts," Fletcher told supervisors at their meeting Tuesday. Sheriff Jim Denney said courthouse guards...

The buzz began in the chow line. "Did you hear?" asked one relic hunter. "Yeah. A Mississippi plate," said another. "Absolutely perfect." The proud new owner of the Confederate belt plate embossed with an eagle held out his treasure on his dirt-caked palm.

Misadventures and hassles of airport security. Business travelers love to share stories of adventures and misadventures. My recent one about what people routinely refer to as airport security hassles, and what I call the TSA Follies, brought some doozies. Here's a sampler from the e-mail messages and from follow-up telephone interviews: "A friend who is an FBI agent was permitted to carry her gun on board an airplane after showing proper identification," said Stephen J. Firestone from Minnesota. "Her nail file, on the other hand, was confiscated because it could be used as a weapon." Then there is Barry David,...

Can some knowledgeable Freeper please inform me as to the best buy for the dollar on a metal detector in regard to discrimination and depth search capability? Thanks in advance.

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damon Stoudamire was arrested on marijuana charges in Tucson, Ariz., after allegedly trying to pass through an airport metal detector with almost 1-1/2 ounces of the drug wrapped in aluminum foil. The team immediately suspended him and fined him $250,000. Stoudamire was stopped at the Tucson airport as he prepared to board a flight Thursday to New Orleans, police said Monday. He was charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, both misdemeanors. Police said he was carrying almost 40 grams of marijuana. After Stoudamire set off the metal detector, he put the drug...

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - It took an airport metal detector to give a Canadian woman a clue to why she was suffering from persistent stomach aches four months after having abdominal surgery. Despite the detector's beep, airport security guards in Regina, Saskatchewan, were unable to find any metal on her body before the woman's October flight to Calgary, Alberta. Several days later the woman had an X-ray. It showed a 12-inch-long, 2-inch-wide surgical retractor, used to hold incisions open, had been left in her abdomen after surgery four months earlier at the Regina General Hospital. The woman now wants compensation...