By Brynn Mannino
Metal detectors are often called "the gift that keeps
on giving," a description that certainly holds true in the case of these
10 lucky treasure hunters, who got much more than they bargained for when their
trusty machines alerted them to an underground discovery. From the largest-ever
unearthed golden nugget to a 67-year-old diamond engagement ring, these finds
are rich in history - and value.
In 1989, a Mexican detectorist (a.k.a. metal detector
hobbyist) was exploring the Sonora
Desert when he came
across a hefty hunk of gold. Today, that hunk is known as “The Boot of Cortez,”
and - weighing in at 26.6 pounds (32.4 troy pounds, the measurement system used
for precious metals) - is the largest nugget ever unearthed in the Western
Hemisphere. From 2006 through 2007, it was even displayed at the American Museum
of Natural History in New York
as part of the “Gold” exhibition.
“The Ringlemere Cup” - 2001
Retired electrician Cliff Bradshaw discovered this gold cup
on the then-private “Ringlemere Barrow” in England, which was later declared an
archaeological site, and thought to have been an early Bronze Age (1700–1500
B.C.) funerary location (though recent findings of “grooved ware” pottery
suggest an earlier Neolithic presence). Valued at just under $400,000, it was
acquired by London’s British Museum.
Five similar gold cups - including the celebrated Rillaton Cup - have also been
found in Britain.
Grandma’s Engagement Ring - 2008
In 1941, Violet Booth threw her gold and diamond engagement
ring into a field in central England
while fighting with her fiancé. Though the two made up and married, they didn’t
find the ring that day - or for the next 67 years. Enter Leighton Boyes, Booth’s
grandson, who had a penchant for metal detecting. Two hours after mapping out
the location, he discovered the lost ring four inches below the soil in perfect
condition. Sadly, Mr. Booth had died 15 years earlier and never witnessed the
ring’s return to his wife, who was 88 years old at the time of the
discovery.
Beowulf Cache - 2009
In the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, there is reference to
battling warriors stripping their enemies’ weapons of plush ornaments - similar,
perhaps, to the ones Terry Herbert found buried underground in Mercia, one of
five Anglo-Saxon kingdom sites. Consisting of 1,500 pieces of gold, silver and
precious stone-inlaid war loot worth a reported seven-figure sum, the
hoard - most recently on display at the Birmingham
Museum and Art
Gallery - gave new insight into the
wealth of the Germanic people, who ruled England during the fifth through
11th centuries.
Iron Age Neck Ornaments - 2009
One hour into Dave Booth’s first metal detecting mission in Stirlingshire, Scotland, he made the discovery - the
one all detectorists wait for. Grouped together in the soil were four gold,
silver and copper necklaces called torcs. The treasure - worth $1.5 million and
considered to be of Scottish or Irish origin - suggests there were links between
local Iron Age tribes in Scotland, which were previously thought to have lived
in isolation from each other.
“The Shrewsbury
Hoard” - 2009
One month after 30-year-old Nick Davies began detectoring,
he found the largest collection of Roman coins, called “nummi,” in recent
British history. Reportedly underground for 1,700 years and corralled in a
70-lb clay pot, the estimated 10,000 coins date to the reign of Constantine I, when Britain
was being used to produce food for the Roman Empire.
Peter Reavill, officer from the Portable Antiquities Scheme, told Heritage-Key.com
that it’s possible these coins were paid to a farmer, who kept them in a
"piggy-bank." The hoard is currently at the British Museum.
Medieval Gold Locket - 2009
Three-year-old James Hyatt may go down as one of the
luckiest babies in history. Out for an afternoon walk with his dad in Essex,
England, he was taking a turn with the detector when he discovered a one-inch
pendant featuring engravings of the Virgin Mary clutching a cross along with
“the five wounds of Christ,” believed to date from the 16th century. The relic,
which demonstrates “devotion to the blood and wounds of Christ” typical of
“late medieval piety,” is up to 73 percent gold, but it has not been officially
valued by the Treasure Valuation Committee.
Roman Lantern - 2010
On a “detecting rally” in Suffolk, England, 21-year-old
Danny Mills found - intact but twisted - a Roman lantern made of bronze, the only
one of its kind in Britain (the British Museum reportedly has fragments of
similar lanterns). The artifact, which currently lives at Ipswich
Museum and was once featured on an
episode of BBC’s Digging for Britain,
is speculated to have been used by a rich landowner to move between his
residence and the outhouses at night, as Suffolk
is known to have been home to plush Roman villas and country estates in the
second century.
Skeleton from Roman Times - 2010
During April, on an estate near Chichester, England,
detectorist Kenneth Mordle was out on a routine search, but what he found was
anything but ordinary. Thanks to a silver ring nestled nearby, the detectorist
discovered a skeleton believed to date back to the first or third centuries.
The British Museum examined the remains, and the
ring was returned to Mordle.
Civil War Cavalry Sword - 2010
When a neighbor showed 7-year-old Lucas Hall his collection
of Civil War–era bullets that he'd found on his Virginia property using a metal detector,
the boy became instantly hooked on the hobby. One week after Hall received a
detector for his birthday, proving even luckier than his neighbor, he found a
cavalry sword, which Gary Crawford, president of the Kernstown Battlefield
Association, described as an 1840 or 1860 lightweight saber. The family held on
to the relic despite its monetary worth.
Source : http://www.womansday.com
Posted : April 2011
Posted : April 2011
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