Items For Sale / Wanted

We Hope That You Enjoyed Your Visit To our Web Site.

 

Other Interesting Finds

I would like to take this opportunity of thanking all of the Weekend Wanderers members who have given me permission to display their finds on this web page.

This page was last updated 17 Jan 2008

WWDC member Brian Feakes found the item below on a recent club dig in Buckinghamshire, we believe the item to be Roman.

Brian is having the item properly identified at the Museum in St Albans soon and I will update this entry with the Museum report as and when we have it.

WWDC member Charles Wood found the item below in the car-park field at a recent club dig

This item was identified at the dig by our on site FLO as a 13/14 century horse harness pendant.

Neil Hart found the pair of nut crackers shown below on a recent dig.

A WWDC member was well chuffed to find this medieval clothes fastener. 
He unearthed his find on a club dig in Hampshire and has been waiting 4 years for such a find

Peter Collins sent me the picture above and stated ..............

Roy Weller was lucky enough to find the Neolithic ground flint axe head tip shown below on a recent club dig in Surrey.

This was verified and recorded by our on Site FLO, an excellent find.

David Gearing found the lovely spear tip shown below on a recent Buckinghamshire dig.

The nice item shown above was found recently on a club dig by Fred Basson.
Fred tells me that the item has been gold plated and as you can see there is a bust of Edward V11 and Princess Alexandra, the writing around 'Edward V11 born 1841 crowned June 1901.

Graham Carrington found the item shown below on a recent Oxfordshire dig.

Have you any idea what this item is or what period its from ?

Graham suspects Saxon, do you agree. 

One of our members found the very interesting item shown below on a Buckinghamshire club dig.

The item is about 1.5 inches high and hollow, it looks like bronze.

If you have any idea what this item is or was used for please let me know and I will pass on any information to the finder.

I have had an e-mail from Ray Brand regarding this item, Ray thinks it may be a 12th century sword pommel.

Adrian Oates persevered through rain and very sticky mud on a recent Buckinghamshire dig and was rewarded with this medieval cruciform harness pendant & hanger - in almost perfect condition. 

If you look at the left image just to the right of the central hinge you can still see the remains of some gilding. 
It is quite small being 2.5cm long x 1cm wide.

Peter O'Connor sent me the picture below of a King James coin weight.

Peter found this item on a recent WWDC dig in Buckinghamshire.

Ken Tovey found this fine example of a 13th Century Pilgrims Flask at a recent Wanderers dig.

Thanks for sending me the picture Ken.

Thanks to Ken Tovey for sending me the following lovely picture of an unusual 17th Century Pipe tamper.

Gilles Belley sent me the picture below of a nice miniature cannon he found on one of our recent Sunday digs.

Paul Shields found this interesting item on a recent club dig.

Paul tells me the item is made of bronze and it is 63mm long by 49mm across (the widest part of the circular bit) and is 15mm deep, it is hollow inside and weighs approx. 170g-200g.

The British museum has told Paul, It seems that it is a sword pommel or Mace head of ceremonial nature and not the more usual studded cross type. The dates I have had are ranging from very late Saxon 10 century to about 12th century

Glenn Fleuchar found this lovely bronze bird on a recent club dig in Buckinghamshire.

Glenn thinks its a bronze eagle and asks if anyone can date this item.

Thanks for the fine picture Glenn.

Thanks go to club member Mark Heffernan for sending me this picture of his best ever find, a Bronze age spearhead.

Thanks again Mark and well done.

Club member Nick Green sent me the pictures shown below of 2 of his finds from a good days detecting on a club site.

The pictures have reproduced well, and look Roman to me.

Peter Brown found the item shown above on a recent Wanderers dig, have you any idea what it was used for ??

Thanks to John for the following on e-mail.................

Due to the pasture on this dig I was using a 15” dia WOT DD coil on the Explorer, gives it a vital extra few inches of depth! The signal from this item registered off the depth scale, and came from just over 14” before retrieved. At the time I did not give too much thought, but later posted the item for ID on a Web based Detecting Site.

The following response came from an Archaeologist who also detects

John, Is that gold object plated bronze?  It looks an awful lot like Roman Scale mail, usually worn by the commanding officer of Roman Auxiliary units Thank you for the posting of the reverse image and I am almost 100% sure that this is a piece of Scale mail ( I think the Latin is Lorica Murimillamata but don’t quote me on that).

The piece you have would be connected through the hole to the main chest Cuirass, which would have finer scales.  Your piece is from the shoulder arrangement and would have sat upon some padded leather.  This alone would serve 2 purposes:

1.  Comfort when wearing and  2.  To make the wearer appear more broad.

There are several other examples for you to look at if you get the chance from Housesteads, Caerleon, Bath and Duras Europa on the Syria / Isreal border.  Other drawn examples are to be found in the Journal of Roman studies and ARMA , which is a private Super nerd journal for Roman military boffs. 

A fantastic find and thanks for posting it on the board, makes a nice change form Roman grots and Denarii!

Derek sent me the pictures below and said " At last weekends dig I found the object shown. It is made of  a type of bronze and is a hollowed out head with the mouth opened,  the diameter of the head is 14mm.
At the base of the neck protrudes an eyelet for some sort of attachment. It also shows a shaped hair line or a helmet. It has only been washed in water to remove the mud. I wonder if any other  members can identify what it is and from which period"

If you can shed any light on the object please drop me an e-mail and I will pass it on to Derek.

JPN found the selection of finds shown below at a recent Buckinghamshire dig

One of our members found the item pictured below and would be interested to hear anyone's views on what the item is. If you know drop me an e-mail and I will forward the details.

The finder stated via e-mail ...... Details of 'object' I have called Salter's curio.
The photo was taken before all the soil had been cleaned off. The dark/soil
just off centre covers a single hole that goes from front to back at a slight angle.
It is 3.5cm's wide, about 0.5cm at thickest point and weighs 20g approx.
There is evidence of a silver coloured coating which is more noticeable
between the raised parts of the design.
It was found not far from a public right of way between two villages which
could have been in use for more than three hundred years. The oldest of the
many coins found along the 'footpath' are four George II Halfpennies in
reasonable / recognisable condition. Other items found include three rings in
very poor condition, parts of spoons, couple of brooches, Tudor cufflinks
and the inevitable buttons. Any help identifying this item would be appreciated.

Thanks to Brian for sending me the scans of what he believes is a silver pill box with a French Hall mark on both the bottom of the base and the edge of the lid and it's gilded on the inside.

Brian found the item on a Wanderers dig in Buckinghamshire and says he doesn't have any idea of its age or value so any help would be nice.

A medieval pouring spout found by Dave Tombs at a recent Sunday dig in Buckinghamshire. Photo by Graham Stringer

Doug McKellar sent me the fine picture below of a special find he made with us lately.

Thanks to Rob Abbot who sent an e-mail saying ..... The find id'd on the gallery page next to the 2 pence piece is in fact a Silver Bodkin or Hair Pin dating to around the early to mid 1600's, the scoop that part at the top near the hole would have has a small pearl in it. I have 1 identical to this and it can be found in several books.

Mark Spinney sent me the pictures below of 4 of his recent finds from Weekend Wanderers digs.

The pictures show a Roman casket key, a Medieval Clothing fastener, a Spur and a Medieval pendant.

Many thanks to Peter Grigg for sending me the picture below of a wonderful medieval heraldic pendant he found on a recent Wanderers dig in Buckinghamshire

Rachel Jenkins found the lovely medal shown below on a recent Weekend Wanderers dig with her Tesoro Cortez. The medal is 38mm x 38mm.

Many thanks to Spinks for the identification, The medal is one of many types awarded by the Army Temperance Association - awarded to soldiers for abstinence from alcohol for a number of years (6 in this case). There is a very large variety of these awards, presented by different societies at different times - part of the Nonconformist / Liberal attempt to combat the demon drink !

Thanks to Graham Stringer who sent me the pictures

Thanks to Graham Stringer who sent me the picture of the Pipe tamper shown below.

Graham took the picture for one of our members who found the item at a recent dig in Bedfordshire but unfortunately we are not sure who it was that found this tamper, if it was you please get in touch.

John sent me the picture below of the results of a long days detecting.

Amongst Johns finds were a Wee Lizzie hammered and an enameled buckle plate which was once gilded.

Thanks again to George for sending me the pictures below of another of his token finds, I really enjoy this kind of find and doing the research to find out a little more about the token.

The writing on the back of the token states :- "The Gigantic Wheel at Earls Court is 284 feet in diameter and weighs about 908 tons there are 40 cars each to carry 30 persons from the top of the wheel about 300 feet Windsor Castle is visible on the west."

This token was produced to commemorate The Big Ferris Wheel which was erected in Earl's Court, London  at the Oriental Exhibition of 1895.
The Wheel was constructed by the British engineer Walter B. Basset. He also constructed other wheels in Vienna, Blackpool and Paris.  The British wheel was dismantled soon after the exhibition finished but the Vienna wheel lasted till it was bombed during the war, the wheel was rebuilt after the war and still exists today.  You may remember the Vienna Ferris wheel appearing in the films The Third Man and in 1986 it appeared in the James Bond film "The Living Daylights"

Thanks to Martin Parker for sending me the picture of the lovely Roman Wine Strainer he found on a recent Wanderers dig.

George sent me the scan below of a nice token he found recently on a Wanderers dig.

.

The token was issued in 1922 from the Gold Coast for the export of Cocoa.

The Bronze age Spear head shown below was found recently by Wanderers member Brigitte on a recent dig in Buckinghamshire.

Well done Brigitte on an excellent find and thanks for letting me show it here.

Many congratulations to Andrew Coe on the lovely find he made shown below.

Andrew believes the item is a Charles 2nd silver cufflink.  Thanks for letting us show your find here Andrew.

Thanks go to Dave for allowing me to picture and show his lovely Bronze age Socketed Axe Head found recently with his XLT.

Many thanks to Weekend Wanderers club member Peter O'Connor for sending me the picture and text below. 

Peter stated the following in his e-mail :-

 I have checked with the British Museum and the item is a small bronze age tanged knife which was found in Buckinghamshire last year. They were apparently made in various sizes and made throughout the Bronze age so the exact phase of the bronze age is difficult to ascertain. The knife is bronze and green in colour although the pictures do not show it so well. There is a chamfered edge on both sides of the point again not so well defined in the pictures, one tang is missing but otherwise the blade is complete.

Alan Matthews was lucky enough to find the spear head shown below on a recent Weekend Wanderers dig in Hampshire.

Alan has had the spear head professionally identified as being from the Bronze age which dates the find to around 1800-500 BC. An excellent find, well done Alan.

Simon Neal found the item below on a Wanderers dig recently and thought the item may be a silver ring.

If you can identify the find pictured above please drop me an e-mail and I will pass any info on to Simon.

WWDC member John Moore found the lovely pistol pictured below.

John tells me the pistol is made of Pewter and has been dated to between 1660 and 1680.

Many thanks to Simon Neal for sending me the picture below of a wonderful spear head he found in Oxfordshire with his Explorer XS.

Simon has had the spear head  looked at by the British Museum and they informed him that it is a 'Basal Looped' spear head, and dates to
the Middle Bronze Age, circa 1500-1150 BC.

Ace buttoneer Julian decided to have a change today and loaded his thingy finder programme in to his XLT.

He did find a thingy as pictured above, any ideas what this particular thingy was used for ???

Thanks to Chris for his e-mail identifying this find for us, Chris tells us the item above is a Votive Umbrella, so obvious really I dint know why we didn't spot it!!

Weekend Wanderers member Merlin would like to know more about the find below, if you can help please e-mail me and I will pass on any information.

The item appears to be Chinese or Japanese and looks like a small necklace locket.

I have pictured the find next to a 20p coin so you can get an idea of size.

The locket looks like a small book and when opened it contains a fold out piece of cloth which has pictures mounted on it of what I think are Oriental  Army or Navy Officers as shown below.

If you have ever seen anything like this find before please get in touch.

Weekend Wanderers member Merlin would like to know more about the medallion shown below showing HMS Prince of Wales.

If you can help please e-mail me and I will pass on any information.

Bill found the item above and believes it to be a dagger or knife Hilt, does anyone agree ?? 

************************************

The item above looks like a Pendant hanger or purse bar, do you agree ??

An e-mail from Denny Woodthorpe has confirmed the item above as a 13th - 14th century Pendant hanger.  Thanks for the info Denny.

Thanks for sending me the excellent scans Bill.

Mike made a couple of very nice finds indeed on recent Weekend Wanderers digs and he has been kind enough to send me scans of them for this page.

Mike said the following about this lovely Bronze casket Key :-

At around 5.00 p.m. with my arm getting tired and thoughts turning to
home, I made my way down another crushed track still ever hopeful for a
hammered to finish the day. About 50 meters down this run I was stopped by a rare but positive signal from my Laser B1. The target was small so hopes were
high for a silver coin...please, even a lizzy sixpence with her face erased
would do! The first scoop of soil had brought up my find and it didn't take long
to find within the spoil the key pictured above. My first reaction was slight
disappointment as it wasn't the desired hammered, but I now realise this lovely find is something special!

Brian & Mo Cross made some wonderful finds on a recent "Wanderers" dig including the items shown below.

Brian and Mo thought this lock looked like a Saxon or Roman piece, they have  had it checked out and it has been positively identified as a Saxon lock.

**************************

The picture below also found by Brian & Mo has been identified as a Saxon pin.

Many thanks to Brian & Mo for sending me the scans of their finds. Brian and Mo also run "Museum Reproductions" they can make you identical copies of your special finds. Check out their web site for more details. 

Our Doris was wondering if anyone can help out with a date for this shield.

It is the secret signs give away by the Wizzard comic book it has a picture of the footballer Joe Hulme on the reverse.

I finally managed to catch up with Weekend Wanderers club member Aljie today to take the picture below of the excellent find he made earlier this year near Reading.

The picture shows a fine example of a Saxon spear head found with his Minelab Explorer, Well done and thanks for sharing it with us.

I received a plea from one of our web site regular visitors from up North in Bolton the other day, Nigel said " I found this item at the side of a roman road and it is killing me as to what it is !  It is made of bronze with a nice patina, it spirals down to a point from a flat piece that has an elongated hole in the end.  The hole has minute traces of rust suggesting and iron "pin" went through.  I have checked all my books etc to no avail"

Is there anyone out there that can put Nigel out of his misery and identify this find for him, have you found something just like it ? any e-mails received will be forwarded to Nigel.

Only one reply to this one from our Peter, who said " I have seen this sort of thing before. It is interesting that it was found next to a Roman road as that is the first clue as to what it was used for. This is a tool being used today by builders. It is screwed or tapped into brickwork as a pin for a 'line'. You will see bricklayers with similar devices nowadays. It simply secures one end of the line into brickwork. In this case it was probably used to assist in road making and was more than likely fixed into a metalled road, again to get a straight line. The category to look under would be Roman building and surveyors tools".

The beautiful picture below was sent to me by Weekend Wanderers member Mark Spinney, Mark found this wonderful bust on the 2nd April at our Buckinghamshire dig. Thank you for letting me show it on this web page Mark.

Mark isn't sure exactly what this find is, a Roman statue of some kind or maybe a pipe tamper ??.  If you can help identify this find please e-mail us and I will pass on your thoughts to Mark. 

Weekend Wanderers members Ted and Phyllis found this lovely medallion / coin and they would like to know more about it.  Can you help ????

............. 

This coin type item is about 2 inches across.  It shows Alexandra Princess of Wales on one side and on the other it has "Hanbury Memorial Prize" in the centre and around the circumference it has the words "Home for little boys, Established in 1864".  If you have any ideas please E-Mail me and I will pass on your suggestions to Ted.

Thank you Ted and Phyllis for letting me show your finds on this web site.

Weekend Wanderers Detecting Club member Dave Phillips has made some fantastic finds over the years.  Some were on club digs and some were on Dave's own sites.  Dave has agreed to let us display some of them here for you to see and hopefully to help identify some of them, if you have any thoughts on any of these please e-mail us and I will pass the details on to Dave 

********************

Dave has been told the above is a Norman or Viking incense burner, do you know better ??, if you recognise this artifact drop us an e-mail please.

********************

Dave also found this lovely Tudor dress pin on one of his outings.

********************

What about this then !!  I have included my hand in the picture to give you an idea of the size of this fully working Crotal bell, Dave tells me it is a horse bell made in 1746 by John Stairs. Wonderful !!!

********************

Dave thinks the artifact above is a Saxon stirrup buckle, it has a face on the front of it, what do you think it is ???

********************

Dave found this spear head and he has been told it is a fish spear.

Have you ever seen such a thing before ????

Thank you Dave for permitting us to show these items on this web site.

The following item was found by Weekend Wanderers members Ted and Phyllis Duffield on one of their own sites in Surrey and they wanted to share it with you.

This beautiful artefact was found in the middle of a pond,  Phyllis tells me that she took it to the Museum in London and they told her that this item is made of lead and it commemorates the bombing of the Houses of Parliament at 1 am on the 11th May 1941.  Apparently it was made from lead from the roof of the Palace of Westminster after the bombing,  the clock actually shows the time of 1 am.   Phyllis is wondering if anyone has ever seen one of these before ???