|
|
|
| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
|
|
Thanks BenLurkin for the ping, and nickcarraway for the topic. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. |
|
|
|
|
Posted on 07/01/2012 4:57:12 PM PDT by nickcarraway
June 30, 2012 For more than 30 years, Richard Miles and Reg Mead scoured the fields of their native Jersey with metal detectors, hoping to one day come across an ancient coin or two. Earlier this week, the detector beeped and they found the world's largest-ever stash of Celtic coins. Host Scott Simon speaks with Reg Mead about their find.
Copyright © 2012 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Reg Mead and Richard Miles began to scour a field on their home island of Jersey - the one that's British, not the one next to New York - after hearing talk that a farmer had found some silver coins on the land. They are amateur metal detector hobbyists and they kept searching for 30 years. Well, earlier this week, they struck gold. Or at least silver.
With the help of some professionals, Reg Mead and Richard Miles unearthed a literal ton of coins - tens of thousands worth an estimated 10 million pounds - $15 million. Guess that pays off more than playing weekend golf for 30 years. Reg Mead and Richard Miles join us from their homes in Jersey. Gentlemen, thanks for being with us.
RICHARD MILES: Hello. Good evening.
SIMON: So, I mean, what kept you searching for 30 years?
MILES: Well, Reg heard the initial story about these coins. We knew that possibly these were Celtic staters, so then the hunt was on. We searched for many, many years in a number of the fields around the locality and this is the one that we struck lucky in.
SIMON: I understand that for a month; I don't understand it for 30 years.
REG MEAD: It wasn't actually every day for 30 years. What it was, was we have very little time between crops here in Jersey because we have the Royal potatoes that come out very early and then you have all the other filling crops. So roughly each year at a maximum 10 to 15 man hours was put into the fields whenever we were allowed on there.
SIMON: Could you give us the exact coordinates of the field so we can help you dig?
(LAUGHTER)
MEAD: Thank you very much. Yes. Yes. Do you know where the airport is?
SIMON: Oh, I'll Google it.
(LAUGHTER)
MEAD: Well, it's nowhere near there.
(LAUGHTER)
SIMON: Forgive me, I don't know the local laws. Is it finders keepers there in Jersey?
MILES: We have an old practice called the practice of trove and (unintelligible) on it's recorded at the correct time and if it is declared to be treasure trove then they will allow the museums or the authority will hang onto everything. If they don't want them, then they will give us the coins back. If they wish to retain them, then they will give us the full market value.
SIMON: And the full market value could be up to, well, all the coins would be $15 million.
MEAD: If everybody's happy with that figure, fine, but honestly and truly don't know.
SIMON: Oh. It could be just a few pounds too, right? If the museums want to keep most of them?
MEAD: I wouldn't go that far.
(LAUGHTER)
SIMON: Maybe you'll get a nice set of cufflinks out of it or something.
MEAD: Yeah. Gold ones, Richard?
MILES: Yeah. They would be nice, wouldn't they? A memento of our times.
SIMON: One last question. Being from Jersey are you big Bruce Springsteen fans?
MEAD: Yeah, there you go. My wife loves him.
(LAUGHTER)
MEAD: I like that.
SIMON: Well, that's Reg Mead and Richard Miles. They're amateur coin finders from the island of Jersey. Maybe they shouldn't be amateurs anymore. Thanks very much for speaking with us.
MEAD: It's been a pleasure. Thank you.
MILES: Thank you, Scott.
SIMON: This is NPR News.
Wacky American humor. I expect such low-level wit from NPR.
Most likely not “low level wit”. The NPR guy was probably serious. Not trying to be funny just stupid. Plus, like the guys that found all that gold in the Atlantic, shut up and dig all night. Tell NO ONE!!!!!! Melt it down and sell it off a little at a time. Otherwise, forget even getting cufflinks. The only cuff is the one upside your head for telling anybody.
Helping keep mankind warm for 65 years.
Awesome. As my name suggests yes I detect and all seem to find is pennies, and the occasional silver coin or gold ring. :)
I wonder what is the land owner’s percentage of the treasure? If these guys have been checking out the same fields for 30 years, certainly there’s a contract in there somewhere.
I detect also and saw this on my metal detecting forum...I was wondering where in JERSEY they found it...then I read the article and realized JERSEY was in Europe not the US...
I am still looking for Captain kids treasure....
Not a single question about the ... coins!
What years are they from? Who might have minted them? Is there anything NPR listeners might be interested I other than the fact that this couple might make 15 million?
Way to sensible for the U.S.
Way too sensible etc.
ping
|
|
|
| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
|
|
|
Thanks BenLurkin for the ping, and nickcarraway for the topic. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. |
|
|
|
|
I heard a story about a couple in California who liked to go camping in the Sierras and he liked to poke around with his metal detector.
He comes back to camp after about four hours and decides to take a nap, she had never used the detector but goes off with it anyway.
Comes back a while later and says she didn’t find any gold but there was a rock “over there” that was making weird noises...
He takes a hike over, big chuck of quartz there, when they finally get it dug out, broken open and cleaned up they had more that seven ounces of museum quality crystalline gold specimens.
And good quality pieces like that are usually worth AT LEAST five times more than spot!!
I know a guy who goes and hunts in old mine dumps. He finds some pretty nice specimens that the old timers missed.
Nice bit of change those blokes snagged!
Thank you for the correction of using the right "too". The wrong use of to/too kind of annoys me a bit. Often the second o is not employed, when it is suppose to be employed for proper usage.
FTA:
After all, even when they’ve split it three ways with the landowner (optimistic as ever, they’ve had a written agreement in place for decades, just in case) there should be plenty of change from £10 million.
‘Ten million? That’s pie in the bloody sky! It’s going to be a long, hard legal battle before anyone sees any money.’
Everyone should go to the link that brityank posted. The complete story is there and it is fascinating.
Neil Mahrer, Conservator for the Jersey Heritage Museum inspects some of the coins uncovered in Europe's largest hoard of Iron Age coins worth up to GBP10 million
The Islands are much closer to France than England and were the only "British" territory occupied by Germany in WWII.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
