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Author Topic: Anybody digg ancient coins?  (Read 85253 times)

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Scipio Helveticus

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #125 on: May 12, 2007, 04:36:12 am »
What always comes to mind when I think on this is Mr. Clays story of on Cyprus, I believe, where a workman found numerous  jars or amphorae  of "ancient medallions" while his employer or boss or the landowner was absent and tried to sell the lot for the equivalent of $100.  Finding no takers, he then went to the local foundry and sold them for a pittance to be melted down.  The landowner returned and managed to rescue 1400 or so out of a possible 14,000 coins.


Bruce, that is a warped version of the real incident, which occured in my country of residence in MALTA. The amphorae were discovered by a labourer near Casal Zurrieka (nowadays the southern fishing village of Zurrieq.), in the early 19th century. Indeed, since he was a peasant who had actually lived under the the brief rule of Napoleon and the subsequent British rule, it is fair to assume that he did not recieve a classical education!! He therefore sold them to a  brass founder in Valletta where an aide to the British governer of malta managed to rescue what was left of the hoard.

When I return to the island, I will attempt to locate the exact position where the hoard was found. Zurrieq has a population of 10,000. Someone is bound to know!!

basemetal

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #126 on: May 12, 2007, 08:24:33 pm »
Thanks Scipio for setting the record straight!
I was working from memory only which even at the tender age of 53 is somewhat like a collander these days!
One interesting part of the story that I do remember is that the coins were called "medallions" which gives an intriqueing insight as to how large ancient coins were viewed at later times.
LOL...be sure and look around some other areas besides!

Scipio Helveticus

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #127 on: May 13, 2007, 12:14:19 pm »
 ;D No problem Bruce!! Will do. I can already visualize myself explaining to Farmer Joe with my copy of Treasure Hunting magazine and detector in hand why I want to trample all over his newley ploughed soil! Should be interesting! :-)

Marcus Aurelius

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #128 on: July 07, 2007, 05:58:33 am »
Hello again
I did not hunt past few months,but now wheat harvest is ended,and farmers started to plow.Also i am armed with new DFX machine  8) and i expect more finds this year.For start,this is few coins and one dove fibula found in one "beaten"cabbage field.
Best Regards

Scipio Helveticus

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #129 on: July 07, 2007, 06:11:20 am »
Quote from: Marcus A on July 07, 2007, 05:58:33 am
Hello again
I did not hunt past few months,but now wheat harvest is ended,and farmers started to plow.Also i am armed with new DFX machine  8) and i expect more finds this year.For start,this is few coins and one dove fibula found in one "beaten"cabbage field.
Best Regards


Marcus, question. How do you get farmers permission to detect on his soil. The locals farmers I ask always seem to look at me suspiciously and turn me away!

Nice finds btw.

His Star

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #130 on: July 07, 2007, 10:05:16 am »
Quote from: Marcus A on July 07, 2007, 05:58:33 am
Hello again
I did not hunt past few months,but now wheat harvest is ended,and farmers started to plow.Also i am armed with new DFX machine  8) and i expect more finds this year.For start,this is few coins and one dove fibula found in one "beaten"cabbage field.
Best Regards


Oh!  The dove is wonderful!  Good for you!

danikshin

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #131 on: July 07, 2007, 03:13:13 pm »
wow there must still be tons of coins yet to be found.
i was wonderin though , if it is illiegal to dig up coins in most of the countries in europe, then why can people still buy thousands of uncleaned coins at a time.....its confusing

scardan123

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #132 on: July 07, 2007, 04:36:31 pm »
well, on one hand many uncleaned coins are replicas or not-so-ancient coins which are sold as "roman" or "greek". On the other hand also killing people is illegal in many countries, yet thousands of people are murdered every year around the world. That is to say, unfortunately an action prohibited by the State can still be performed... and sometimes at a low risk of being caught, especially the looting of archeological sites in certain areas  :(

danikshin

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #133 on: July 07, 2007, 04:46:44 pm »
your right.......but why dont the state just make it legal to dig coins....they're not  tryin to dig them and they dont let anybody else dig them so the the coins just rot, what a waste......thats greedy from thier side 

Offline DruMAX

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #134 on: July 07, 2007, 05:20:28 pm »
yeah, most coins found in digs will be put away in a store room never to be seen again...

I like the dove...:) I hope you post when you get them cleaned.

danikshin

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #135 on: July 07, 2007, 05:29:48 pm »
i got a question for Marcus A:
when u go searching for coins,do u find some every time or is it sometimes


Marcus Aurelius

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #136 on: July 08, 2007, 01:49:10 am »
Well i find about 10 - 40 coins per every hunt in fall and winter season.Now i am limited to search on harvested wheat fields.But real hunt will start when corn and sugar beat harvest start.
I told this before and i don`t want to go back to that subject-For 10 years coin hunting,nobody told me bad word here about hunting coins.I hunt only in fields around my town,and farmers know me and they let me hunt.Also i backfill every single hole i dug!Do you know how many broken coins and fibulas i find during the year?Tractors and chemicals destroy it :(
Here is one ruin lead Roman Icon that i found recently.What a pity  ??? i will never know how this Icon look like.

Vladimir

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #137 on: July 08, 2007, 02:51:56 am »
Mracus  make us a favor-- keep digging

His Star

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #138 on: July 08, 2007, 01:24:57 pm »
Quote from: Marcus A on July 08, 2007, 01:49:10 am
Here is one ruin lead Roman Icon that i found recently.What a pity  ??? i will never know how this Icon look like.

Maybe it is part of a Roman "Curse Tablet"

Quote
"To the god Maglus, I give the wrongdoer who stole the cloak of Servandus. Silvester, Roimandus … that he destroy him before the ninth day, the person who stole the cloak of Servandus …" A list of the names of 18 or 19 suspects follows.


Full story here: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/12/061205-roman-curse.html

It looks like they may have found an old residence from one of your ancestors???  ???
What is in your backyard?   8)

danikshin

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #139 on: July 08, 2007, 03:40:16 pm »
Quote from: Marcus A on July 08, 2007, 01:49:10 am
Well i find about 10 - 40 coins per every hunt in fall and winter season.
do you mean you find that many coins per day when you hunt

Quote from: Marcus A on July 08, 2007, 01:49:10 am
nobody told me bad word here about hunting coins.I hunt only in fields around my town,and farmers know me and they let me hunt

so then your country lets you dig, just not in the certain cites or certain places,right?



Quote from: Marcus A on July 08, 2007, 01:49:10 am
Do you know how many broken coins and fibulas i find during the year?Tractors and chemicals destroy it :(

thats really sad

Marcus Aurelius

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #140 on: July 09, 2007, 05:01:48 am »
His Star i  have one picture of lead Roman Icon and i really don`t know English word for that object.
I can tell you what is in my backyard.It is Emperor Licinius Thermae,the tallest building in Sirmium in that time.It is one big site size like football field,but unfortunately now is bury with so much trash.I ask so many times authority`s to do something about it,but...When i was a kid,in time of communist president Tito that site was very neat,and there was guard who take care of that site.

I will answer to danikshin now.Yes i find about 10 - 40 coins for one day.
Also we cant hunt in sites (although many hunters do) but authority`s don`t mind if we hunt in fields around Sirmium.You can find coins here on almost every field,if not Roman or Celtic then medieval...Turkish,Hungarian or Austro-Ungarian coins,coins from WW II ...
Regards

His Star

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #141 on: July 09, 2007, 12:33:42 pm »
Quote from: Marcus A on July 09, 2007, 05:01:48 am
His Star i  have one picture of lead Roman Icon and i really don`t know English word for that object.
I can tell you what is in my backyard.It is Emperor Licinius Thermae,the tallest building in Sirmium in that time.

Oh my gosh!  What a backyard you have!  No wonder you find so much treasure!
the glorious mother of cities  . . .
You have an ancient mint in your backyard!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirmium

interesting notes from this source:
In early 1970s American archeologists sponsored by the US Government made an offer to the citizens of Sremska Mitrovica to completely rebuild the town on another location so that the town could be excavated. The town government refused the request immediately, under pressure from the then hard-socialist Yugoslav government.

and
During work on the new Sremska Mitrovica trade center in 1972, a worker accidentally broke into an old Roman pot, about 2m deep, over the site of an old Sirmium settlement. 33 gold Roman coins enclosed in a leather pouch were found inside a Roman house wall, 4 Constantius II era coins, considered the most valuable examples from the late Roman empire of the fourth century AD. The young worker whose shovel brought this significant discovery to light was never rewarded.

one of the oldest cities in Europe - organized human life on the site of Sirmium dating from the 5000 BC. When the Romans conquered the city in the 1st century BC, Sirmium already was a settlement with a long tradition.

what an exciting place to live and hunt for treasure!


His Star

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #142 on: July 12, 2007, 11:58:36 pm »
Quote from: Marcus A on July 12, 2007, 03:23:30 pm
Hi again
Only 4 coins today.One large mint in Viminacium,and 3 medieval coins.I think this Viminacium will be nice after cleaning. :laugh:
Regards

the one on the lower left looks like part of a Russian Orthodox cross

Marcus Aurelius

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #143 on: August 18, 2007, 03:47:46 pm »
Hi all
I hunt today after long,long time,but i have good excuse for that:my 6 year old daughter fall from the stairs-3 metars high,right on her head,maybe month ago.It took 3 years of my life,because i saw that.She is fine now and she told me today;"dad go hunt some coins for me".
And i did.
14 Roman coins and two Fibula`s for my little angel.
Best Regards

Offline Marius

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #144 on: August 19, 2007, 04:10:17 am »
Hi Marcus,
I am so glad your daughter is ok.  I have a six year old daughter too.  There is nothing so precious to me as her head, and it is like a knife to my heart heart to see her fall and hit her head (though she never fell nearly as far as your daughter did) so I know how you must have felt.  That is a happy ending - 14 coins and two fibula.
Richard
Richard Marius Beale
Four Bad Years:  http://sonic.net/~marius1/mysite/

Offline SC

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #145 on: August 21, 2007, 10:56:57 am »
My daughter took a tumble onto her head years ago when we were on vacation near Dubrovnik.  The nice people at the Dubrovnik hospital took care of her and she now has a Harry Potter scar on her forehead.  But man do head wounds bleed.  I gained many white hairs that night.

You found her some interesting stuff.  Please let us know what the coins are when you clean them.   I am intrigued since the fibulae come from varied times.  An early 1st century Aucissa (though there are indications the design was in use in Balkans a bit later still unlikely to be after say 150 AD) and a 4th century "cross-bow".  I wonder if the coins vary too or are all 4th century??

Shawn

SC
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Marcus Aurelius

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #146 on: August 21, 2007, 04:11:39 pm »
Hello
Coins from that field are 3-rd and 4-th Century.Here is one half-cleaned Constantius II from that lot.Please tell me more about Aucissa fibula.Is it Celtics fibula?I noticed Celtics gray ceramics shattered on the field,and i found also fragments from Celtics belts,but no luck with Celtic coins.
There is so many different fields for coin hunt here."Mixed" fields where you can find anything...I found on my uncle field:Republic denar,Celtic silver drachm,Vespasianus denar,Geta denar,Marcus Aurelius denar,Gepid bird fibula....even Medieval Hungarian and Byzant coins..
Also i know few fields where you cant expect anything but Celtic coins,or first Century coins.Usually i hunt there for few days just to get one or two coins.But most fields are 3-rd and 4-th C and i  usually dug about 10 - 20 coins in this time of year,and when sugar beat harvest start about 20 - 40 for one day (5-6 hours).
I noticed that there is large number of field where you can find 1-st Century ceramics and Medieval.It is logic because Romans build there settlements on such an excellent places (near streams and rivers),so medieval people just build their houses on Roman ruins.Near settlement is usually cemetery,and i can tell that by large number of profile bricks,also large number of human bones shattered all around.
Best Regards


Offline SC

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #147 on: August 21, 2007, 05:49:57 pm »
Marcus,

The Aucissa is quite early (Augustan to Claudian) and was especially common in the 20 to 50/60 AD era.  It is common on Roman military sites on the Danube and Rhine limes and in southern Britain and is though to be a true military fibula.  The large arch would take a very large fold of material such as for a heavy woolen cloak.

They are named because several have the word "AVCISSA" on the front.  It is thought to be the name of the location or workshop of manufacture.

It is also known as Bohme type 8; Jobst type 1; Ettlinger type 29; Hull type 51; and Hofheim type 5.

I would date that "crossbow", or zweibelkopf fibula you found with it to 280 - 360, likely 300-330.  Clean view of the foot would make it more precise.

Shawn
SC
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Offline mestreaudi

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #148 on: August 25, 2007, 01:13:44 pm »
Have you guys seen this video about metal detecting?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh0U8kS_X-0

Very interesting!

Offline mestreaudi

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Re: Anybody digg ancient coins?
« Reply #149 on: August 26, 2007, 09:52:21 am »
Quote from: Scipio Helveticus on August 25, 2007, 01:46:52 pm
Im going down to Stonehaven, Scotland, near the site of a roman camp with a group come Monday :azn:! Promise to report everything with photos! Wish me luck!

GOOD LUCK!!!!!

I hope you find some very interesting coins! :)

 

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