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The Melsonby Hoard is one of the largest and most significant Iron Age finds ever uncovered in the UK.The hoard contains over 800 objects from the Iron Age, dating back around 2,000 years. Early analysis suggests the items were buried in the first century AD, around the time of the Roman conquest of southern Britain.The discovery was made in December 2021 by metal detectorist Peter Heads, who quickly reported it. In 2022, a team from ‪@DurhamUniversity‬ with support from the ‪@britishmuseum‬ and over £120,000 in grant funding from Historic England, excavated the site. Now, the ‪@YorkMuseumsTrust‬ is launching a fundraising...

An ordinary spring day quickly became extraordinary after a nature-loving metal detectorist unearthed a cache of ancient treasure. Marius Mangeac confirmed the discovery to Fox News Digital. He said he found the hoard in a field near Letca Veche, a small village in southern Romania.. Mangeac said that he found the coins “on a beautiful Saturday that didn’t foreshadow anything of what was to come.” “I took my detector and went out alone, as I often do, for exercise and to relax in the fields and forests,”.. “I didn’t think this day would surprise me and bring me face to...

A miniature gold lock dated to the third to fourth centuries was found by a metal detectorist in Germany...An analysis of the tiny lock with CT scans revealed the artifact's inner workings, showcasing its high level of Roman craftsmanship and hinting at trade between northern Germany and Rome in the third century...Measuring just under half an inch (1.2 centimeters) in diameter, the tiny lock was identified by metal detector in a field in Westphalia, a region of northwestern Germany, in 2023...Experts at LWL immediately recognized the gold lock as a miniature version of regular locks made in the Roman provinces...

The Guardian reports that a hoard of ancient coins was discovered by a pair of metal detectorists in the Netherlands, in an area where Roman troops returning from Britain may have landed. The coins were placed in a cloth or leather pouch and deposited in a shallow pit in a swampy area. The hoard is made up of 44 gold staters bearing the name of the Celtic king Cunobelin, who ruled in southeastern Britain from A.D. 5 to 40. The hoard also contains some 360 Roman coins, including 72 gold aurei, and 288 silver denarii dated to between 200 B.C....

Live Science reports that nearly 3,000 poorly preserved coins were discovered by a metal detectorist in the Westerwald mountain range, in an area outside the borders of the Roman Empire and any known settlements of ancient Germanic tribes. The coins were unearthed by archaeologists who also recovered more than 200 unidentified thin silver fragments decorated with geometric designs from the site. The cache had been placed in a ceramic pot and hidden between two rocks. "Most of the coins are so called Antoniniani, which were the official silver coin in the Roman Empire in the third century [A.D.], but mostly...

An amateur metal detectorist profoundly believes in that maxim and it came true when he uncovered up to 15,000 Roman coins buried in a hoard that could be Wales' biggest-ever treasure find.The BBC reports David Moss, 36, from Cheshire, made the discovery that left him in disbelief after he dug up up two clay pots in an undisclosed northern part of the country.But the epic find in a muddy field left him fearing they could be stolen, so he slept with the treasure in his car for three days before taking the coins to experts, the BBC notes.The coins are...

When the Bedale hoard was first discovered by metal detectorists in 2012, it was immediately recognized as one of the most significant assemblages of Viking-era silver objects and jewelry that had ever been found in England. Dating to the late ninth or early tenth century, the collection consists of 29 silver ingots and several elaborate neck rings, among other items. According to a statement released by the University of Oxford, a recent study of the origins of the Bedale silver is shedding new light on the international scope and far-reaching extent of Viking trade. Researchers led by Oxford archaeologist Jane...

In the quiet woods near Kalisz, Poland, a group of amateur archaeologists uncovered not one, but three extraordinary treasures over the span of just five weeks this summer...The Denar Kalisz Group, in cooperation with the Voivodeship Office of Environmental Protection in Kalisz, conducted their exploration in the Grodziec Forest District of Zbiersk.Their work began in early June with the discovery of a Roman-period burial ground linked to the Przeworsk culture. Among the finds was the grave of a warrior, complete with a spearhead and shield boss.Just days later, they recovered a coin from the 11th century alongside a small ceramic...

A piece of silver associated with pirate folklore has been extracted from a dig site in a quiet Australian town. Prospector Angus James was searching for treasure in Stawell, 237km northwest of Melbourne, when he found half a Mexican 8 reales coin. “I first thought it might have been a half crown, but then I thought why is it cut in half? I was looking for the other half and couldn’t find it, so I took it home and washed it clean,” he told Yahoo News. Mexican 8 reales were linked to the term “pieces of eight” because they were...

A stunning gold Saxon sword pommel that was unearthed in a field in Leicestershire, England by an 81-year-old woman has sold at auction for $22,000 (£16k).The rare 7th-century artifact was found in 2021 while the long-time metal detector enthusiast was searching a field during a local gathering of detectives.They told her that there was nothing to be found in the field where she was searching, but she persevered and found the gold pommel seven inches beneath the ground...Weighing 20.5 grams, the pommel -- which the Leicester Museum declined to purchase -- would have been fixed to the end of the...

A 350-year-old ring belonging to the Sheriff of Nottingham is set to fetch thousands at auction after being unearthed by a metal detectorist in a find 'worthy of Robin Hood'.The ancient, high-carat gold signet ring was uncovered by chance by a lucky detectorist on farmland in Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire, last summer.The treasure once belonged to Sir Matthew Jenison, who served as High Sheriff of Nottingham between 1683 and 1684 and looked after trees in Sherwood Forest.His family were known for gleaning wealth from a hoard of valuables left in their safekeeping during the English Civil War which were never reclaimed.The ring,...

A metal detectorist who discovered a gold mourning ring dating from the 18th century is overjoyed after it was declared a British treasure.Malcolm Weale unearthed the ring in a field in the eastern county of Norfolk last August and said he was 'shaking' as it sparkled in the sunlight.The lost jewelry is believed to be a memorial ring for Sir Bassingbourne Gawdry -- the 3rd Baronet of Harling -- who died in 1723, a year that was engraved on the inside.Mourning rings are worn in memory of someone who has died, typically bearing the name and date of death of...

When farmer Ifor Edwards dropped his keys in a field he had no idea the search to find them would result in the discovery of buried treasure. Mr Edwards, 56 and his wife Anna, 40, called in enthusiasts from Wrexham Heritage Society when he lost his keys on land at Oak Farm in Bronington, near Whitchurch. But as well as finding his keys -- which had gone through a lawn mower -- the team armed with metal detectors also found 14 mediaeval coins dated from the 14th and 15th centuries. At an inquest in Ruthin the North East Wales Coroner...

The St. Anthony was nearly 200 years old, crashing the same year it was initially built. An 8-year-old boy out metal-detecting unearthed a steel spike that, after digging further, he realized was attached to a shipwreck. The ship remains was that of the St. Anthony, a schooner that was built in 1856 and wrecked later that same year. Experts determined that the best course of action was to simply re-bury the wreckage to maintain its structure. ======================================================================= When you’re a kid, and you get your first metal detector, it comes with big dreams of making some great discovery. That you’re...

Metal detectorists in southwest England have discovered an extraordinary Anglo-Saxon gold and garnet raven’s head. It dates to the 7th century and is intricately decorated with an inlaid garnet eye surrounded by a white enamel circle, individual feathers outlined in filigree and inlaid with garnets on a waffle-pattern foil backing, a technique found on many Anglo-Saxon objects. The raven was discovered by Chris Phillips at a rally this January with the group Ninth Region Metal Detecting Group. Another member of the group, Paul Gould, first discovered a flattened gold band inlaid with triangular garnets set in filigree outlines. Then Phillips...

It was unearthed by metal detectors Finn Ibsen and Lars Danielsen who were conducting survey work in a field outside Ringsted, a city on the island of Zealand, 50km southwest of Denmark's capital Copenhagen.The bronze fitting, known as a bracket, was given to Museum West Zealand... It's about 2.7 centimetres in diameter and made of a bronze alloy.The mini portrait dates to about 200 CE. This places it at roughly the same time as the Roman emperor Caracalla...Caracalla often "dressed with the same style and believed he was Alexander the Great reincarnated," Oldenburger adds. "Caracalla is also the only emperor...

The Miami Herald reports that two Polish metal detectorists combing a beach after a storm found a rare 2,500-year-old weapon embedded in a block of clay that had recently fallen from a cliffside. Although its exact location remains undisclosed, the 10-inch long, intricately designed dagger was found in West Pomeranian Voivodeship. Officials from the Museum of the History of the Kamień Land determined that it dated back to the Hallstatt period of the early Iron Age. "A true work of art!" said museum director Grzegorz Kurka. "I have not seen such a dagger in my experience with findings in Polish...

The man leading the search for King John's lost treasure says he has pinpointed a small area at the Sutton Bridge site which contains valuable targets.Raymond Kosschuk has been conducting tests at an undisclosed site in Sutton Bridge for over a year and says his equipment is picking up overwhelming evidence of the treasure, as we previously reported.Mr Kosschuk, from Keighleyin Yorkshire, believes that he has found scientific anomalies which are consistent with the high value items King John lost in 1216.King John lost the treasure to The Wash during an ill fated crossing from King's Lynn on October 12,...

A metal detectorist has unearthed a gold nugget that is currently up for auction and expected to sell for over $37,000. The largest gold nugget ever found in England was discovered by a man using a faulty metal detecting device. Metal detectorist Richard Brock unearthed the chunk of gold last May while exploring Shropshire, a county in western England, despite arriving late to a meetup with fellow treasure hunters and using an older detector, The Guardian reported. About 20 minutes into his search, Brock, who has been metal detecting for 35 years, discovered the nugget. The chunk of gold weighs...

Researchers have discovered that an ancient gold disc found in southern Denmark includes the earliest written reference to the Norse god Odin, revealing that he was worshiped up to 150 years earlier than previously thought, according to a report. The piece of jewelry — which dates to the 400s AD — was uncovered in Vindelev in central Denmark in 2020 amidst a treasure trove that included Roman coins. For years it was publicly displayed at a museum near the site before academics had the opportunity to study it, according to NBC News. A runic inscription with a reference to Odin,...