A Louis the Pious Imitation Solidus. c.816
Details of the coin can be found here at the Spink Auction Page.
For one lucky detectorist back in September of this year, he set off out on a hunt just like I expect we all do, dreaming of a nice find, and boy did his dream come true. He found the gold coin above, it was only about 4" deep so any machine would have found it. That coin yesterday sold at auction for £36,000. What a result.
Good news for the finder and good news for the landowner. What a happy Christmas they'll have.
Barford is already suggesting this coin may have been stolen:-
ReplyDelete"So was this coin really found at the metal detecting group 'dig' of 7th September, or was it in fact found earlier, perhaps even on a different landowner's property? Why is there this discrepancy between three different sources? How reliable are the "data" in the hastily-compiled PAS "database" of finds made by metal detecting collectors for personal entertainment and profit? What knowledge went missing with the sale of this object?"
It's a sad old life when all one can do is troll through detecting forums looking for discrepancies in dates. It was found and reported to the PAS in August, and as far as I can make out, legally found, and properly recorded. Great find!
John Howland
I think you will find that what concerns Mr Barford is whether the truth is being told about where the thing comes from. What gives UK metal detecting any legitimacy it has is when it is done responsibly, which means transparent and honest reporting so the find and details about it can become part of the record. Here we find a find being announced on a forum (see my post for the link) as "found today" during an organized event when the record both in the PAS database and on the dealer's website show that it had been found a full month earlier. Since the object cannot have been found on the organized event before it took place, someone here is not reporting true information - which casts doubt on the reliability of it all. Which is not "proper recording". Why announce it as "found today" when it was not? Did the PAS vet and confirm the reported details of the finding? How?
ReplyDeleteA person has forked out 36000 quid for a coin believing (because it is included in the PAS database) it was legally found and responsibly reported when there in fact remain unexplained discrepancies in the accounts of its finding. Do not unexplained events like this, taken with other cases cast serious doubt on the model of legitimisation of metal detecting through responsible behaviour? In a word, yes. Metal detectorists may disagree, but there are serious questions to be discussed and continually attempting to shout down those who ask them will achieve nothing except alienate so-called 'responsible detectorists' by showing that they in fact do not intend taking any responsibility at all for the way their hobby is conducted, they want to turn their backs on these issues and hope the problems go away. they will not.
A person has forked out 36000 quid for a coin i bet you wish it was you Mr Commie Barford the detecting forum troll . No one takes any notice of you so why do you bother ? PAS employees think you are biased and don't help them one bit you just hinder them. Take a good look at the behavior of this chap and see if he is the person you want to have your vote for moron of the year
ReplyDelete"I think you will find that what concerns Mr Barford is whether the truth is being told..." Jeez...now there's a first! Since when have you been a broker for Truth? Hahahahahaha! Don't come that old balls!
ReplyDeleteMetal detecting in the UK is wholesome, legitimate, and finds are recorded to the PAS on a VOLUNTARY basis. If you don't like that, well, hard luck pal.
That which is said on a forums - as well you know - ain't 'evidence', though in the Communist country to which you fled and which gave you succour, that kind of 'evidence' would have been enough to get the writer at best, a severe working-over from the SB....er, you do know about the SB don't you? They murdered priests among others, while you were pocketing zlotys. The fact that you rely on such 'evidence' says volumes.
I'm not sure what it takes to register with you, but soon you'll have to get it thorough your thick skull that no-one involved in this magnificent hobby of ours is in any way beholden to you, or has to answer any of your questions. However, when you persist in name-calling, abuse,and generally behaving like a child that can't get its way and throws toys out of the pram, then you can expect censure.
John Howland
There is no name-calling or abuse in my comment above, though this blog seems to think such behaviour is appropriate from both the above commentators. I raise perfectly civilly a valid point about how 'factual' PAS data are - above it is metal detectorists who want to start a slanging match to deflect attention away from it. The coin either was found on the event as reported (regardless of where), or it was not.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI am an Archeologist ( shock horror ) and i was invited to join two local detectorists on a dig one day , the one thing that i was impressed with was the accuracy of their machines and also the accuracy of their recording. Every item they found including lead bits were recorded on note pads, including the exact spot using hand held GPS units . After they had finished they went off and did all of their homework and plotted out the finds. They sent me a plan of the finds and had worked out that the area was a one time Roman settlement , this was a settlement that was not recorded but now it is. All of the finds were recorded with the PAS overall i was most impressed with them. I will admit i was skeptical about people with metal detectors and their intentions , but after watching and talking to these two chaps i now think very highly of this hobby.This settlement and many others would never be discovered without their help, we do not have the funding to pay for the whole of England to be surveyed but with chaps like these we can rely on a lot of it being surveyed for free.
ReplyDeleteIf you really are an archaeologist, then I fully understand why you choose to be anonymous, Anonymous. I am just so sorry that you and your colleagues are weighed down with the garbage from the fellow from Warsaw. The irony is that while he questions the veracity of the PAS, he's the prime architect of arguably the biggest nonsense foisted on the public since the Hitler Diaries debacle...the widely derided, and discredited, Artifact Erosion Counter.
ReplyDeleteJohn Howland
Hi Janner:
ReplyDeleteIt's toys-out-of-the-pram-time again! Barford reckons:
"Written style - and spelling - indicates a lot about an author:" I wasn't sure that this was a truism until I read a little further down his spluttering blog and came across this sample of Barford's turgid prose style:
"Once again, in the light of dullard lack of comprehension of what is written, I am required to explain that although fully endorse it, I am not the "prime architect" of anything produced by Heritage Action, I contributed some thoughts to their Artefact Erosion Counter, but I am not its creator or curator." Ouch! Ooh, painful.
Never worry again about your spelling, nor should any contributor. 'Anonymous' has really wound him up too!
Best Wishes
John Howland
The poor man needs serious help he questions as to if i am an Archeologist or not without even knowing me . Does he think we are all private school educated ? Maybe he wonders why i post on this blog and not his , i did read his blog and was led to this blog and find it much more open minded less biased and i can post without saying i am Mr X .Enjoy your life Mr Barford you only get one so why waste it being so bitter .
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous:
DeleteDid you pick-up on the comment by that nitwit Nigel Swift, the Anton Rogers lookalike, who reckons he has certain proof that I am you!!! Jeeez, you couldn't make this up! Using Swift's reasoning, you might even be Swift or Barford yourself, and he even goes so far as to suggest that I have contributed anonymously to his piss-poor blog. His personal insults at one time, bordered the libelous leaving me with little option but to refer them to, and which were subsequently logged, by the West Mercia Police.
Judging from Barford and Swift's prose style, Secondary Modern education, and the Soviet system has a lot to answer for if their literary efforts are the result. Come over to the Malamute Saloon on Dick Stout's blog....you might enjoy it when you have time.
I doubt - nor do I much care - that Barford will ever rid himself of his ingrained bitterness...presumably caused by his failure to make his mark among his peers, though some of the stray mongrels he attracts no doubt think his excrement is aromatic.
Seasons greetings
John Howland
Please don't take this the wrong way, but I would imagine the reason your profession is questioned is because most people can spell what they do for a living. :)
ReplyDeleteWhere did you train by the way? (that's a genuine question as I am interested).
Yes i did misspell it that was on purpose to see what sort of a reply i would get ( Archaeologist ) I trained at UEA University of East Anglia . I was present at Ham Hill such a fascinating place , I was on the History channel back in February it was part of ‘Grave trade’ series funny to see yourself on the television, I am not convinced though that it was some sort of mass slaughter. Have a nice Christmas play nicely now .
ReplyDeleteI freelanced for over thirty years and eventually worked on one of the largest circulation lifestyle magazines in the UK travelling across norther France doing reviews on houses, living, brocantes, restaurants, and hotels. Have a look at my 'intro' on Stout Standards. Ha! You're saying I can't spell my profession?
ReplyDeleteIf you're tempted into the world of freelancing remember one thing....You are only as good as your last piece. If you are an arkie, then write about what you know and do it in such a way that it leaves much of the current pap in your wake. Don't write under a pseudonym either. Make a name for yourself and become an expert in one or two aspects of your chosen subject.
Good luck
John Howland
"You are only as good as your last piece. If you are an arkie, then write about what you know and do it in such a way that it leaves much of the current pap in your wake". That's not too difficult given that 90% of Archaeologists when faced with a situation they don't understand label everything as "ritual".
ReplyDeleteHappy Christmas everybody.
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