A Medieval Rarity

Many of us dream of finding handfuls of gold and silver coins, but every so often a find is made that is not made of gold or silver but is equally (if not more) important and of historical interest.

- Gary Cook

It may not look like much now and it may not be made of gold, but in its day it was a real high-status item and an incredible looking object.

A few months ago, I was out detecting with my good friend and detecting buddy Steve Murtie – we were both using our trusty XP Deus machines and were out on permission that we have had for about 10 years. Over that time it has produced mainly Roman and Celtic coinage and artifacts. We have also found the odd hammered coin but nothing to suggest an awful lot of medieval activity.

After an hour or so, Steve radioed through to me saying that he had found something rather strange looking. I was not too far away from him and curiosity got the better of me, so I wandered over to take a look – Steve is a very experienced detectorist, so if he says it’s strange then trust me, it must be.