The Fylde & Wyre Antiquarian

Metal detectors - valuable tool or dirty word?

As a "responsible" metal detectorist for some years now, I concur totally with Brian's comments. Sadly, there are people out there who view the hobby solely as a means to make money, by "night hawking" on archaeological sites. In my experiece responsible detectorists, who compose the bulk of those engaged in the hobby will tell you that the monetary value of an old coin or artifact they may unearth, is of far less importance to them than the historical context. And in any event it is only very rarely that such a find has serious financial value - a denarius of Hadrian I uncovered locally a few months ago is only valued at some £25. By contrast, I view the context is which it was found as far more important.

It is worth noting that well over 90% of the significant finds made in this country over the last thirty years, have been found by random searches conducted by metal detectorists - witness the recent Saxon hoard uncovered a few weeks ago. Quite often such a find can also lead to important archaeological work on a previously unknown site.